Mortal Kombat: Conquest

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!

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 started watching this show, cause I thought it was late night trash. Something to watch cause there was nothing else on. This all changed about 6-7 episodes into the series though. MKC started to introduce story arcs ( the characters memories arn't wiped after 45 mins for a new episode ). Things happen in this show, relationships and politics that you don't really expect.

At the end of every episode, I was left saying to myself " that was the best episode yet...". The final episode totally confirms this, seeing as the show was not revived for a 2nd series, this is probably the most refreshing finale I have ever seen.

Despite the disappointing beginnings, this series really picks up speed for a thrilling finale which certainly left me a bit stunned.

At the start of the series it seemed this was just another lame TV program which would be cancelled after five shows; the fight scenes and Taja were the only things which kept your interest while the stories tailed off half way through. However the more episodes you saw, more characters were added and as the acting improved, so did the plots.

By the end Conquest had made up for both the early episodes and the awful Annihilation. The only questions that remain are as to whether there will be another series and just why Taja was hardly ever involved in the fights after an impressive first bout.

As good as could be expected.

I am a very big Mortal Kombat fan. I love both movies and I thought this series was a good one. Back when this on TV I was a huge wrestling fan (I am not happy with today's wrestling but I still love the classic WWF & WCW days back in the 80s & early 90s) and I'd watch this right after WCW's Monday Nitro show. Mortal Kombat: Conquest had good actors and actresses which included the beautiful Kristanna Loken which her character looked so good looking and neat in this series. Fans of Terminator 3 should check her out because she is very good in this. There was notable good acting by the other cast members Bruce Locke, Daniel Bernhardt, Jeffrey Meek, Tracy Douglas, Paolo Montalban, and others. There was even guest stars in some good roles such as Eva Mendes and WCW's Bryan Clarke of Kronic (WWF's Adam Bomb) in some episodes. The series had some big time potential but it didn't air long on television. If you are able to watch this series and if you love Mortal Kombat then watch it!