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Let's talk about the importance of good music to a martial arts film, and importantly the heritage of Mortal Kombat's soundtrack. As a computer game adaptation, you'd think that "electronic music" would be a no-brainer for a soundtrack choice. Yet there is some precedent to this particular fusion of marital arts + electronic music before video game adaptations were even a thing. Snake in the Eadle's Shadow (1978) made excellent use of electronic music (Jean-Michel Jarre's Oxygene) alongside what is one of the all-time great training montages: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEsQ-2Z_bq0 Mortal Kombat, almost twenty years later, takes on the mantle of elctronic music + martial arts by fusing a brilliant techno soundtrack with what at the time was quite authentic martial arts action (for Hollywood), including some early Hollywood wire-fu. The film opens with Techno Syndrome by The Immortals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlzzD-dHJ1g, arguably one of the most instantly recongizable themes for any movie, let alone a martial arts film, and the best fight in the film (Liu Kang vs Reptile) is set to an instrumental of Control by Traci Lords: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJOJTsmJLLA. The Matrix would subsequently go on to use techno, industrial and metal in its soundtrack. We now arrive at Mortal Kombat 2021, which quite inexplicably adopts an orchestral soundtrack by Benjamin Wallfisch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0XlVAV18oE It's not overtly bad per se, but it is absolutely forgettably generic, and discards the electronic/techno heritage that MK 95 (and to a lesser extent MK: Annihilation) had such an outsize role in creating. It's also somewhat incongruous to have Hans-Zimmer style orchestral music reminiscent of Gladiator to accompany fights that occur in a gym, outside someone's house, outside a cave, etc. Now, it's no coincidence that the (terrible) remix of Techno Syndrome which is relegated to playing over the credits currently has nearly 2 million views on the official WaterTower music youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/WaterTowerWB/videos) while all the other orchestral songs have around 2k - 15k views. It's just an absolutely baffling decision by the studio to go with such a bland soundtrack, and it also highlights how little the director seems to have cared about this production.
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Apr 28, 2021 02:42
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I really don't think the director was the problem other than being a first timer who was pushed around. It seems like he was forced to make an MK movie with some pretty serious studio mandates and I will wager the soundtrack was one of them.
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Apr 28, 2021 02:49
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Wtf is this magical suit bullshit. My boy Johnny Cage fought and defeated Goro with sunglasses and a dick punch.
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Apr 28, 2021 03:23
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I still can't get over magical robot arms. Like that's so dumb I can't believe someone was paid to come up with that.
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Apr 28, 2021 03:33
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JT Smiley posted:I still can't get over magical robot arms. Like that's so dumb I can't believe someone was paid to come up with that. Yeah what a lovely extension of an already lovely idea. Having the characters develop "powers" after tapping into some vague personal trait was dumb enough. Metal arms spontaneously growing bigger and more metal-y while lifting a rock was even dumber. You also knew that was exactly what would happen once you got a feel for how bad a movie it was.
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Apr 28, 2021 04:01
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JT Smiley posted:I still can't get over magical robot arms. Like that's so dumb I can't believe someone was paid to come up with that. I like it because it's stupid: The Arkana (you know it uses a K) is an aspect of destiny - Kung Lao was destined to have fire powers, Kano an eye laser. Jax was destined to have huge arms. When his human arms were destroyed, destiny didn't give a poo poo, and just made good on the promise that Jax's arms would be ridiculous. It just had no care that these were replacement arms. It means that, had Jax not lost his huge guns, the flesh originals would've been even larger than they were.
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Apr 28, 2021 04:27
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well why not posted:I like it because it's stupid: The Arkana (you know it uses a K) is an aspect of destiny - Kung Lao was destined to have fire powers, Kano an eye laser. Jax was destined to have huge arms. When his human arms were destroyed, destiny didn't give a poo poo, and just made good on the promise that Jax's arms would be ridiculous. It just had no care that these were replacement arms. just fyi: Kung Lao = hat guy Liu Kang = fire guy
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Apr 28, 2021 04:52
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Megaman's Jockstrap posted:That's actually the Lin Kuei! There's quite a bit of lore around them being manipulated and corrupted by Shang Tsung, they are quite a fertile ground for story beats. Considering how well Sub Zero performed against that chevy, the Lin Kuei are totally boned once Dominic Toretto and the gang show up for the inevitable Fast & Furious crossover.
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Apr 28, 2021 05:29
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEZ5O4RPPzw Lewis Tan actually knows his MK lore, which is a nice surprise
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Apr 28, 2021 07:10
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well why not posted:I like it because it's stupid: The Arkana (you know it uses a K) is an aspect of destiny - Kung Lao was destined to have fire powers, Kano an eye laser. Jax was destined to have huge arms. When his human arms were destroyed, destiny didn't give a poo poo, and just made good on the promise that Jax's arms would be ridiculous. It just had no care that these were replacement arms. Exactly, that's one of the few things in the movie that's engagingly cheesy instead of embarrassingly so. It's almost worth the cost of the arkana bullshit altogether to watch fate go "I SAID you're gonna get JUICED."
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Apr 28, 2021 08:21
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I also like "I did six tours MOTHERFUCKER" because it implies he was in either iraq or afghanistan doing kung fu fights
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Apr 28, 2021 09:32
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The end credits song is so so bad. Its just a casio keyboard playing all its different "Club Beats" in a row
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Apr 28, 2021 09:34
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The Saddest Rhino posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEZ5O4RPPzw I'm sorry, a guy named Triborg is made up of four cyber ninjas?
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Apr 28, 2021 11:56
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Mortal Kombat Annihilation is also on HBO. It has a 2% Rotten Tomatoes score, and is the superior film in every way. This is neither ironic nor a purely relative assessment; it's legitimately fun as gently caress to watch.
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Apr 28, 2021 14:09
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POWELL CURES KIDS posted:Mortal Kombat Annihilation is also on HBO. It has a 2% Rotten Tomatoes score, and is the superior film in every way. This is neither ironic nor a purely relative assessment; it's legitimately fun as gently caress to watch. It's not an action moment but this is by far my favorite part of the movie and one of my favorite dorky scenes ever in any movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMrg2luTZts
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Apr 28, 2021 14:12
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I want to go back in time and experience MK Annihilation but on acid.
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Apr 28, 2021 14:17
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boop the snoot posted:I want to go back in time and experience MK Annihilation but on acid. too bad you... shall die!
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Apr 28, 2021 14:22
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Kitana and Liu Kang hurtle through a hollow earth hyperloop, encased in some kind of nu-metal Super Monkey Ball. Kitana, alarmed: "Hold on to me!" They embrace in the traditional style of cousins. Liu Kang's boner, his first since junior high, is merely implied; nevertheless it is the focus of the scene. Princess Kitana, Heir to the Throne of Edenia, gently cums. Neo Rasa posted:It's not an action moment but this is by far my favorite part of the movie and one of my favorite dorky scenes ever in any movie: Renaissance Faire Juggling Comedian Raiden has been mortal for 2 minutes. He is horny. Horny...for babes.
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Apr 28, 2021 14:28
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Neo Rasa posted:It's not an action moment but this is by far my favorite part of the movie and one of my favorite dorky scenes ever in any movie: The fact that the new MK didn't slowly pan up woman's body makes it superior, though they might just have put too many cuts in the shot for me to notice.
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Apr 28, 2021 15:16
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LadyPictureShow posted:I'm sorry, a guy named Triborg is made up of four cyber ninjas? One of the four was a “secret” variant.
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Apr 28, 2021 15:34
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Shao Kahn's quietly unresolved daddy issues actually make him the most nuanced, well-written character in any Mortal Kombat film, and even I cannot tell if I am loving around when I say that.
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Apr 28, 2021 16:30
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Xenomrph posted:One of the four was a “secret” variant. I take it back, that's actually pretty savvy on Triborg's part. His opponent isn't going to expect a fourth power.
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Apr 28, 2021 17:17
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LadyPictureShow posted:I take it back, that's actually pretty savvy on Triborg's part. His opponent isn't going to expect a fourth power. Kind of like the joke of "If I were an action hero I would take the name 'The Masterful Swordsman' and then carry a huge gently caress-off gun. My enemies wouldn't expect it!"
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Apr 28, 2021 17:52
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Spider-Man should have just said he got his powers from a monkey from space or something. People like monkeys.
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Apr 28, 2021 17:59
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nobody wants to be associated with the gibbon or that one weird bald guy with the psychic monkey sidekicks
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Apr 28, 2021 18:02
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Halloween Jack posted:Spider-Man should have just said he got his powers from a monkey from space or something. People like monkeys. Now that he's been outed in the MCU, he'll just be Night Monkey full-time.
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Apr 28, 2021 18:09
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Grimdude posted:I also watched the 95 movie a day later as a reference and yeah it wasn't good. Some real nostalgia goggles going on for a lot of people. No poo poo; I'm sorry the 1995 martial arts video game movie actually made you cringe. Scorpion's "get over here" looked terrible even in 1995, it was never good, there's no nostalgia goggles about the atrocious CGI at least. What was cool about Scorpion 1995 was the fight in the hell dimension - it's neat that "hell" for MK characters is actually an evil jungle gym with acrobatics bars etc, except it's very badly maintained and will likely kill you. The practical sets in MK 95 were excellent, and the animatronic Goro is one of the best practical effects in cinema history. For the longest time I thought that thing was stop motion, but it's actually a dude in a suit with a fully animatronic head that could emote convincingly and animatronic/puppeteered upper arms I believe. They put so much effort into it for only a few brief minutes of screen time. As people have said, 2021 Goro is just a lazy monster by comparison. Rabelais D fucked around with this message at 02:51 on Apr 29, 2021 |
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Apr 29, 2021 02:34
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It isn’t just a dude in a suit, it’s Tom Woodruff Jr, who also played the Aliens in Alien3, Resurrection, and the two AvP movies. His practical effects studio that he runs with Alec Gillis, Amalgamated Dynamics, is awesome.
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Apr 29, 2021 02:47
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Oh wow, it was Amalgamated Dynamics. No wonder it's so good. Goro must have been more expensive that any of the other actors...except maybe Christopher Lambert?
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Apr 29, 2021 03:01
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I'm sorry, but while the 95 movie is better written, fight choreography in American mid budget action movies has come a long way.
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Apr 29, 2021 03:08
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MK95 is laughably bad and the only good thing in the entire movie is Robin Shou. I just watched it again this week and just about nothing holds up minus the theme song.
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Apr 29, 2021 03:18
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Halloween Jack posted:I'm sorry, but while the 95 movie is better written, fight choreography in American mid budget action movies has come a long way. This is very true, which is why the new one is so disappointing. The fights are better choreographed sure, but also visually less interesting and, by the standard of modern martial arts movies, still not good at all.
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Apr 29, 2021 03:22
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Rabelais D posted:Oh wow, it was Amalgamated Dynamics. No wonder it's so good. Goro must have been more expensive that any of the other actors...except maybe Christopher Lambert? https://youtu.be/vVi2klX_feE
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Apr 29, 2021 03:25
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Vintersorg posted:MK95 is laughably bad and the only good thing in the entire movie is Robin Shou. I just watched it again this week and just about nothing holds up minus the theme song. Dude so much of it holds up. The screenplay is easy, simple and to the point. The characters all look like they’re supposed to and do their moves. The soundtrack is still full of bangers. The scorpion/ Cage fight scene is legit awesome. In fact most of the fight scenes are good to great. Goro is an amazing animatronic. The sets are all well done and interesting to look at. I really don’t know what you’re talking about.
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Apr 29, 2021 03:25
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Christopher lambert laughing after explaining the stakes to the heroes was him breaking character and I won't hear otherwise It made mk95 the masterpiece it is and always will be
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Apr 29, 2021 04:05
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Yeah, it's a real fun movie and holds up fine, I don't get this "actually, it was trash" mentality.
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Apr 29, 2021 05:57
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The_Rob posted:Dude so much of it holds up. The screenplay is easy, simple and to the point. The characters all look like they’re supposed to and do their moves. The soundtrack is still full of bangers. The scorpion/ Cage fight scene is legit awesome. In fact most of the fight scenes are good to great. Goro is an amazing animatronic. The sets are all well done and interesting to look at. I really don’t know what you’re talking about. And in the film-to-film comparison, the editing is kinetic but not hyperactive and lets you actually appreciate the choreography on display.
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Apr 29, 2021 06:28
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imo there's no doubt that sonya and jax were originally the leads in this film and someone went, woah woah woah, a black man with a white lady? no way.
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Apr 29, 2021 08:10
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They specifically said they wanted an Asian lead, which is pretty reasonable considering how much MK has copied from Asian culture. I watched Scorpion's Revenge and it's about what I expected. 80ish minutes of fighting, some neat scenes and a lot of blood. It's honestly a bit much. Scorpion has a body count near the triple digits by the end of this thing, which is insane for the runtime. I'd recommend it to hear Joel McHale do Johnny Cage, and for a large serving of "Scorpion is so pissed off he busts out of hell". I don't think it's fair to say it's better than the 2021 movie, but it is still worth checking out if you like the dumb pseudo-anime edgy vibe that Netflix Castlevania had. Why not, it's like 80 minutes and Johnny Cage's music is vaporwave for some reason.
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Apr 29, 2021 09:29
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Megaman's Jockstrap posted:Kind of like the joke of "If I were an action hero I would take the name 'The Masterful Swordsman' and then carry a huge gently caress-off gun. My enemies wouldn't expect it!" In the kung-fu classic Master of the Flying Guillotine, one of the antagonists is a Japanese martial artist called Win-Without-A-Knife Yakuma, and you'll never believe what his gimmick is
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Apr 29, 2021 11:22
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