Mortal Kombat: Conquest

I'll be the first to admit that, when I first saw this series back in 1998 following WCW Monday Nitro on TNT, I did not like it. I watched the pilot episodes and a third one and thought "oh gawd!" I stopped watching until I happened to catch an episode near the end of the season. Something much bigger was happening in the show, on screen and off screen. The writing felt compelling and pulled me into the series, the acting improved ten fold, and the direction of the show was clever and complex. What started out as a rather tame and slow show developed into a deep character driven show. Conquest if it was filled the senseless violence and rest of the traits of the games would have made a poor show. It never would have made the light of day in a theater or on the small screen. Remember any fatalities in either of the movies? Me neither. When it comes to Conquest, despite a low, very low budget the writers and producers had enough faith to just focus on the show and not the politics at the network. The finale of the show proves how risky pays off and makes you wonder who was sick enough to pull off such a nihilistic ending. Have you caught Resident Evil (2002)? It was bold and frankly ballsy.

Anyone with an "all-region" dvd player the UK does have more than the one volume on dvd there. You just have to know where to look to get them. I got mine from the UK Amazon.com store. Type in Mortal Kombat and search the dvds, there are five dvd's in total. One of those has 6 episodes, the others are two a piece. These are all cut together into 1hr, 20 min. or better movies on each disc. It's very cool to see it done this way. The first disc with 6 episodes, pulls together the Scorpion and Subzero saga seamlessly. Final Battle is perhaps the most seamless entry on dvd as those two episodes are so tight you won't notice where the original cut off point was to jump to that final episode.

I found Mortal Kombat Conquest to be a much more entertaining series than any of the movies. The plot is created in such a way that it allows the underlying story to evolve over multiple series and not be resolved in a mere 120 minutes like the movies. It is much more interesting to watch because of its myriad of different storylines. In addition, there are many more hot looking scantily dressed gals in the series, which is also a plus. Just love the redhead Taja played by Kristanna Loken. However, I never knew that people were so glamorous and fashionably dressed in ancient times, oh well!

This is probably the best of the video game to TV adaptation that I've seen. Threshold did an excellent job in the way that they mixed the gaming element: characters such as Kung Lao, Rayden, Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Shang Tsung, and even the legendary Noob Saibot... with the movie elements, bringing new characters such as Taja, Vorpax, and Siro just to name a few. Perhaps one of the greatest aspects is the true fighting skill the actors, actresses, and in some cases, stunt doubles, display. This isn't the old "Biff" "Pow" type episode. It is very well-done martial arts being displayed, and quite energizing to watch! Congrats on a job well done!

Sure, the stories are tired out, juvenile, morality plays. Sure, they attach a 90's value system to people supposedly from times centuries past. Nevertheless, this thing has some of the coolest fight scenes ever shot. Besides, all the women look and dress like they just jumped out of an adolescent's daydream. Baywatch is nothing compared to these babes.

MKC was an excellent series. I never saw the first couple of episodes because i never knew it was on. When i found out i go hooked on it. But, I agree with some of on the fact that Kung Lao character should have been a little bit stronger. His meant to be the champion and leader. Jeffery Meek is an excellent actor the 2 roles he played were excellent. So were Taja, Siro, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. The ending of the series was superb. It would have made for an excellent second season. New characters could have been added and what really happened to Rayden, Kung Lao and his gang could have been explained. And who the untouchable black cloaked guys were. You cant kill them. It's been along time since i saw the series so I've forgotten what they were.

8.5/10