I really enjoyed MK 30 years ago. Lived on that great soundtrack and PWSA’s “go for it, budget be damned” attitude. I think I saw it twice in theaters.
The Goro puppet is GREAT.
It really has aged much better than I thought it would. It’s obviously not high art but it has something about it that makes it just…pleasant and watchable. Most of the action is still good. It’s just one of those movies that works exactly like it intends to..
I rewatched the OG MK. Was pleasant. They get a lot of mileage out of their locations and sets (and music). Then for punishment, I watched the first 5 minutes of MK:A. I saw that abomination in theaters as well.
Mortal Kombat has Johnny Cage unironically doing a split, then punching Goro in the nads, who proceeds to hang off a cliff at which point Johnny, calling back to his opening scene says ‘This is where you fall down’ and Goro falls into some Myst-era swirling graphics and it’s the greatest, most 90s thing ever. Everyone understood what they were doing.
And that final banger of a song after the final fight? Still slaps, still listen to it.
Oh! August 18th was its birthday. Happy 30th, Mortal Kombat!
ETA: re: Costner - 2027 can’t get here soon enough.
:: gets his mail carrier ready ::
I loved the gory arcade game so a neutered pg-13 adaptation was a no go. I remember my best friend and I riding our bikes to see MK and being really disappointed with the movie and then heading to the local arcade to play a different ultra violent knock-off to wash the taste of the movie from our brains. It might be more fun than I remember but I’m not going to find out anytime soon.
Fun fact: the ending song from MK95 (Halcyon and On and On, Orbital) was also used as the ending-into-credits transition song for Mean Girls.
Never forget: Gene Siskel liked Mortal Kombat more than Apocalypse Now, Aliens and Silence of the Lambs..
I mean, I think I’d rather watch MK than those others - on a sheer scale of entertainment. The others are commitments; MK is a find on tv and watch for like five minutes kinda deal.
It’s so weird that, as a kid, I was sure that Siskel was the more discerning critic and Ebert was the people’s champ- but in reality, Ebert was both the people’s champ AND a great critic, and Gene was just kinda weird, man.
(Just goes to show how the way one carried oneself really informed our idea of what a critic was, back then.)
Gene Siskel was definitely an odd duck at times. He seemed like such a stick in the mud lol…and then he’d bust out with a review like that..
Silence of the Lambs isn’t much longer than Mortal Kombat…unless you mean it’s a mental/emotional commitment..
They each had goofy movies they liked and classics they didn’t (as we all do). Ebert liked COP AND A HALF more than A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, THE THING and DIE HARD.
I forgot that they both dogged Die Hard pretty badly. Weird. But they LOVED Die Hard 2.
And Ebert gave Spawn ***1/2 …I enjoy (“enjoy”) Spawn but good grief…I think he might have actually been high or intoxicated or otherwise impaired for that one..
It’s important to remember that the rating system isn’t a comparative one. It’s a shorthand way to answer ‘does this movie accomplish what it sets out to do in the manner specific to itself and in doing so, how much of an impact does it have on the viewer’’ (I’m sure others can better describe that). Each is judged on its merits, not that it comes short of THE GODFATHER PT II
You think Spawn accomplishes what it set out to do to the tune of ***1/2? Out of ****? But Mortal Kombat did not?
And just for the sake of argument…Ebert gave Blade *** and The Matrix ***.
I mean…I’m jus’ sayin’. He was trippin’ on that one no matter how you look at it..
Of course not. But Ebert liked it. I don’t know why. It’s terrible. But he did.
I guess…people have weird tastes? Even and especially critics?
Yes, and…?
That one just really baffles me because Spawn doesn’t work even as an effects bonanza. Half of the effects look HORRIBLE. I’m honestly at a loss to understand what Ebert really saw in Spawn. I’ve read his review and seen the segment on their show and I still don’t get it. The only way I could see giving Spawn such a high rating…even if it’s just for the visuals…is if I dropped some top tier acid right before watching it. Like…the GOOD shit. And had a good, happy trip.
But yeah…they could be weird sometimes with some peculiar opinions. That’s just the most glaring example in my opinion.
ETA: I just went back and watched the segment of their show where they reviewed it to make sure I wasn’t off my rocker. He gave it ***1/2 based on the Hell scenes. The visuals of Hell which he said were worthy of Hieronymous Bosch. I mean…he HAD to have been high lol because those scenes are the worst visuals in the movie! They’re not even interesting. They’re just BAD. Siskel’s face as he’s trying to justify his opinion was killing me. He was as baffled as I am. That’s all I’ll say on it because I’m off topic lol..
But, like…seriously, do you have any of the good shit? Cuz I have an idea…
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