Episode 81 — Mortal Kombat

[JulyDiaz 2797]

If you loved the game, you might hate this movie. Put Your Hands Together/Wham Bam Pow host Cameron Esposito joins Paul, June, and Jason to talk all about MORTAL KOMBAT. They discuss the mortals being unfazed by the supernatural, Christopher Lambert’s wig, and the anticlimactic fight with Goro aka four arms. Plus, we learn about June’s relationship with video games, find out Jason’s thoughts on the movie’s soundtrack, and hear one of the most amazing reviews during Second Opinions. People of Los Angeles, make sure to get tickets for a LIVE How Did This Get Made? on Friday, March 14th at Largo! Get tickets at www.largo-la.com

[Gym Sockerman 1326]

What exactly is a Mortal Kombat?

[TrashBoat 0]

I used to love this movie as a kid. I cant wait to listen to this.

[wonderboy 26]

This is still considered the best video game movie. I love the movie, but that's how bad this genre is.

 

Fun Fact: Ron Livingston of Office Space and The Conjuring was going to play Goro, but was too short to attach the extra arms.

[WEdidITagain 458]

FIVE MINUTES IN AND JUNE ALREADY KILLS IT.

[wonderboy 26]

OMG, Paul you dummy. Jax is the black guy who gets robotic arms in the sequel.

[Handinpants 91]

Who's the bespectacled nerd wearing the Jason wig/beard?

 

On the subject of Iron Chef:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TdA_yP8sV8

 

Chairman Kaga really shows his teeth with the bell pepper bite at 2:05.

[Smigg 1488]

Okay, some of the things brought up;

 

The Island - It's not on Earth,

 

The Autographed Picture - That's a reference of the "Friendship" finishing moves started in Mortal Kombat II, which was introduced to make fun of the lobbyists looking to ban the games.

 

"The Cyborg Guy" (Kano) - He's from Earth, but he's a traitor, so he's kept away from the rest of the Earthrealm fighters.

 

Kitana - She's the adopted daughter of Shao Kahn (the skull mask emperor guy at the end). She's actually good. Her real father was the King of a realm called Edenia, however, it was absorbed into Outworld, the King was killed, Shao Kahn married the Queen (Sindel, who is in later games and the sequel) and adopted Kitana.

 

The Goro Nut Punch - That's a reference to Jean Claude Van Damme, the Mortal Kombat game was originally going to be a vehical for JCVD, but he backed out before the game was made. JCVD did that move in Bloodsport, and in the game, Johnny Cage is wearing what JCVD wore in Bloodsport.

 

Goro - He's of the "Shokan" race, There are two more in the games, Kintaro and Sheeva (Kamini Somakandakram...) the latter being in the movie sequel.

 

Scorpion ripping his face off - He's not actually human, he's a spectre.

 

Sonya Blade's Occupation - The Wiki tells of her position from Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, around that time, she was just "Special Forces", there was even a terrible spin off game called "Mortal Kombat: Special Forces".

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

I have not been able to listen to this yet, but I love Cameron Esposito, I love/HATE/am nostalgic for/hate myself for being nostalgic for this movie, so I cannot wait ti listen...

[Dhezballah 462]

I loved 'Frog cross the street'.

[Smigg 1488]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JikPgxdmpJY

 

This is needed for this thread.

[nathanpierce 400]

June: "The Asian Guy"

 

Jason: "Liu Kang?"

 

June: "I guess"

 

lol

[mattman92ish 823]

I watched this movie with my friends and even getting doug before it could not make it good love the game though.. June is quickly becoming my favorite.. step it up chumps! haha fantastic episode!

 

that last review was saddening and amazing..

 

june is a pinball wizard

[imhatch 271]

i want a new series where june learns about pop culture things that are new to her and then immediately explains it to the audience

[imhatch 271]

Who's the bespectacled nerd wearing the Jason wig/beard?

 

On the subject of Iron Chef:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TdA_yP8sV8

 

Chairman Kaga really shows his teeth with the bell pepper bite at 2:05.

love that sang sum

[GabrielAgosto 0]

Very entertaining episode. One thing that was not explored: There are a lot of homages to other martial art tournament movies. Several nods to Enter the Dragon and Bloodsport.

[Louisjab 50]

Other points I like about this movie:

 

- I like the absolute lack of urgency in Raiden's voice. If they lose the Tournament, he failed as protector of the Earth and Earth is essentially invaded and destroyed. They also lost the last 9 tournaments, which is to say that whatever he was doing before wasn't working. Yet, he provides no actual tips or training, he talks in riddles and admits right before the tournament that his team is not ready.

 

- On the same subject, Liu Kang is called the chosen one, which seems to imply that there was some kind of prophecy that he would come along and save the day after the 9 previous defeats. So, that means that for the 9 previous generations, they took the best warriors on Earth and send them to slaughter, knowing in advance that they would not win and would all be killed, which would also provide souls for Shang Tsung, therefore making him more powerful.

 

- There must be some kind of rule about only helping people only by talking to them in riddles. Probably that if you tell them right away, that's cheating, but if you give them a riddle, even a shitty one, it's okay because they found the answer by themselves? Kitana says to Liu Kang something about using the element that gives life. At that point, she might just say water. And yet, Liu Kang is so dumb that he doesn't get it right away and she has to show up during the fight with Sub-Zero to remind him of the riddle and then he gets it, because that's the only thing that's nearby! "The element that brings life? I don't know I only got this bucket of water right here.... wait a minute..."

 

- When Johnny Cage leaves the set after the missed take, the Spielberg wanna be tells him something like "Come on, Johnny, this is the last day of shooting, don't do this to me." I like that they take the time to set up that this is the last day of shooting, because although Johnny Cage is the kind of guy who would leave a promising movie career to go fight in a tournament to the death in the middle of nowhere, he wait until the shooting is done and saves the Earth on his own time.

 

- Shang Tsung spends a whole scene warning Goro and Kano not to let Kitana talk to Liu Kang under any circumstances. This is the worst thing that could happen. Yet, 10 minutes later, he sets up a fight between Liu Kang and Kitana! I suppose that this 10 minutes was absolutely crucial.

 

There is so much to talk about in this movie.

[RyanSz 3140]

As stated earlier in this thread, this is probably the best adaptation of a video game because it follows the source material so closely, because at the time MK only had a couple games in the series and wasn't so bogged down by the mythology. The movie didn't add anything that wasn't there like other video game movies (Mario Bros. and Street Fighter) or change things completely (any Uwe Boll movie). But after listening to this episode I so want them to do an episode on the sequel which makes this movie look like Citizen Kane. If only to hear Jason blow up over trying to figure out how you go from Christopher Lambert playing an Asian man to even whiter James Remar replacing him to play an Asian man.

[Rodney 5]

More points:

 

-Why was Liu the only monk from the temple to come fight? There didn't seem to be any limit to who could go, so why not stack the odds? This is the fate of the world after all.

 

-Why in he first fight with the dreadlocks were he and Liu both given staffs to fight with? In no other fight does this occur.

 

-When our 3 heroes get caught snooping around and are confronted by the strongmen with their faces covered, Liu and Johnny are each confronted by 3 men, Sonya only with 1. So it seems like they were already showing she's not as strong a fighter as the other guys.

 

-I think Paul breezed past it, but the deal between Johnny and Shang Tsung was ridiculous. Johnny wants to challenge Goro (makes sense, he didn't want anyone else to lose and have their souls sucked) and Shang's side of the deal is something like "I can challenge ANYONE at ANYTIME and that will be the ONLY fight that determines who wins the tournament"! And then Raiden is happy Johnny makes that deal because Johnny finally understands Mortal Kombat.

[grog1138 60]

[tarpsichord 2]

Jason wrote Ride Along!? I just read Save the Cat!, which I remember you guys talked about in the Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot episode, and Blake Snyder uses Ride Along as an example in that book several times. Just a connection I got really excited about in my mind, but now, having typed it up in the comments section, I realize isn't that exciting.

[CullenRyan 4]

I searched the internet for definitive proof, and came up empty- but I swear this is true: It was in an article in a magazine- I'm guessing my little brother's copy of Sport Illustrated for Kids- but I'm positive, positive, positive, Tiger Woods said this was his favorite movie. Mortal Kombat was Tiger Wood's FAVORITE movie.

 

...I couldn't find it mentioned anywhere online, but I did find an article where he said his favorite movie is 300. ...So it kinda makes sense!

[Rattrap007 52]

The leg split groin punch thing Johnny Cage does was in the game from the beginning and was a nod to JCVD's leg splits.

[Joven 373]

correction on the Ending with children: that was back at the "Temple of Light" where Liu Kang is from, not on the island, which means they got back on the magic boat off the island, back to the scummy dock in Hong Kong, then over to that temple in China and THEN reunited with Raiden, and in the meantime Sonya has not changed out of her prisoner dress.

[Captain P1an3t 3]

This movie is upsetting. Also, I think I'm beginning to fall in love with June. Guess what Paul?! You. Me. MORTAL KOMBAT!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

PS: I watched this movie with three girls and two guys and the girls were more interested than the guys. They were really invested in the Cage-Blade storyline as well as Sonya getting revenge on Kano.