Mortal Kombat: Legacy (Episodes I - IV, 2011)

Tagline:

They came from different places, different worlds. But they all came for the same purpose: To fight!

Show Review:

When I first heard about a new Mortal Kombat it was just as everyone else found out. From out of nowhere, a trailer dropped (see below) that starred Michael Jai White as Captain Jackson Briggs aka Jax, a police detective profiling some most wanted types in the out-of-control Deacon city; Reptile a disfigured serial killer, Baraka a psychotic doctor, Johnny Cage a failed action movie star who ended up being decapitated by Baraka and Scorpion, a man hellbent on gaining revenge against Sub-Zero. Even Sonya Blade and Shang Tsung were thrown into the mix. The trailer showed only glimpses of what would be possible if a full series or movie were commissioned but it got a lot of people talking, including me.

On April 12th, Internet media company Machinima.com started showing on YouTube a brand new series Mortal Kombat: Legacy, comprising ten episodes of ten minutes length each. Some of the actors and plot has changed from the trailer; thankfully Johnny Cage is no longer dead and Baraka appears to now be a demon - both changes for the better. Michael Jai White stayed on to play Jax again and along with him are many known faces; Jeri Ryan (the Borg 'Seven of Nine' on Star Trek: Voyager) reprising her role as Sonya Blade, Matt Mullins (Bloodfist 2050) as kickboxing movie star Johnny Cage, a role he is just poured into. The killer criminal Kano is played by Darren Shahlavi, who was the bad guy in Seagal's latest movie. Not shown by episode four are others like Ian Anthony Dale (Tekken) as Scorpion and Ryan Robbins (the werewolf from SyFy's Sanctuary) as Raiden, a role I'm very curious to see played out by him as I just can't picture it.

The first two episodes deal with Jax, Sonya and Kano; Kano is holding Sonya hostage in a warehouse and Jax and his SWAT team go in to rescue her. It's of course not easy as Kano's henchman attack and Kano himself takes on Jax in a great display of kickfighting. I started wondering how the series was going to play out as it was all very 'earthy' so far, and if you know the game you will know that the tournament is held in another dimension called Outworld, not in a warehouse in a run down American city. That's when a shock grenade that looks very out-of-the-ordinary detonates in a flash that takes out half the SWAT. In a final fight with Kano, Jax rips his right eye out before being (supposedly) blown up. The last thing we see is Kano being dragged away by forces unknown, laid on a table and having the famous cyborg eye implant attached.

The third episode is brilliant and plays a bit like JCVD's self-titled movie. Johnny Cage is an action star who can't get work and has put together a footage reel of a reality series he wants to make; In the Cage . He funded the trailer with his own money but his producers can't see it working and dump him. Cage even references Seagal's Lawman series ("No-one ever does anything in it!") and pleads for a chance but is hung out to dry. That's when he hears in the other room the producers pitching his idea to a new up-and-coming glamour girl as a 'tough chick' show. Cage loses it and beats the hell out of the guys before fleeing the scene, now on the run. Mullin's kickboxing skills are some of the absolute best that I have ever seen on screen - astonishingly fast at times. I was impressed in Bloodfist 2050 with him and he's just gotten better.

The fourth episode is a strange hybrid of live action and Japanese-style violent anime and it works well. This is the Mortal Kombat I was expecting; a 'fantasy' world setting in the Netherrealm, with appearances by Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn, the lord of the underworld, ninjas galore and demons like Baraka. After decimating a nearby world, Shao Kahn takes Queen Sindel hostage and as his wife. She brings with her a baby daughter, Kitana, who Shao Kahn clones a sister, Mileena, using Tarkatan blood (Tarkatan's being a cross-breed of human and Neatherrealm folk) and trains them himself as warriors. The live action is interspersed with the animation well and both serve different purposes; live action for much of the narrative and anime for much of the over-the-top action, though by the end we do see Mileena and Kitana about to square off.

There's been a lot of game fanboy bitching about the series on the Internet. Socrpion's costume doesn't look right. Baraka looks like an orc from Lord of the Rings. Sonya isn't hot enough. All those people can have a coke and a smile because these episodes are the best Mortal Kombat representations on film thus far. Sure some of the acting is over the top (Kano and Shao Kahn especially), but what I've seen in the first four episodes so far has gotten me really excited to see the remaining six. Michael Jai White as Jax and Matt Mullins as Johnny Cage are inspired choices. The whole series looks far more expensive than it probably is, a testament to the work that has gone into it.

The links are below for you to watch, so be sure to check them out. It won't cost you anything but your time, and at ten minutes each you won't even have time to finish your coffee. Hopefully you'll be as impressed with the series as I am, and there are a lot of cool characters from the game like Sub-Zero, Cyrax and Raiden still to come.

The Video:

The YouTube 1080p stream on my flatscreen looks fantastic. Sharp lines, crisp colours and deep blacks. A punching stereo soundtrack. Each episodes runs about 10 minutes.

Sourced From:

You can watch all episodes online!

Bloodfist 2050 (2005)

Tagline:

To avenge his brother's death, Alex Danko must enter the erotic and deadly criminal underground of the near future where he finds the fight of his life!

Back of DVD:

In a brutal future Los Angeles, where the streets run red with the blood of fallen fighters, street fighter Alex Danko (five times world martial arts champion Matt Mullins) searches desperately to find his brother's killer. To find the truth, Alex must enter the vicious world of "THE PIT", an arena where extreme, and often lethal, martial arts are a way of life. Will Alex prove himself and learn the truth? Or will the pit claim yet another casualty?

Movie Review:

The Direct to Video Connoisseur recently reviewed the first Bloodfist movie, a genre classic starring Don "The Dragon" Wilson. I picked up the whole series of eight movies for a total of $16 which was a bit of a bargain but I am yet to watch a single one of them. Recently I discovered when pilfering through bargain bins that there was a ninth movie made, Bloodfist 2050, that did not star Don but starred five-times world martial arts champion Matt Mullins and was somewhat of a remake of the first one.

The movie literally starts with a bang as we are thrown into the deep end of a battle between Mad Max type thugs and 2019: After the Fall of New York type thugs with tonnes of gunfire and explosions and a car chase of Matt Mullins trying to escape it all in his Interceptor rip off. I have no real idea why this sequence was tacked onto the front of a pit fighting movie but I think the producers are trying to remind us it's the post-apocalyptic future of 2050. Mullins hits his afterburner and the footage goes into double speed.

Before the fights had even started I knew I was onto gold. I was also double checking the production year. 2005, really? This made-for-TV movie looks like it came out in 1987. I would usually go on about the video quality in a separate section, but I couldn't leave this till the end. Perhaps it was the old Filipino cameras that were used or some ancient film stock, but Bloodfist 2050 could easily be disguised as a prequel to the original movie from 1989. If it wasn't for a handful of bad CG renders of the cityscape and the techno playing in the nightclubs you wouldn't be able to tell. There is also quite a lot of stock footage used here but I won't ruin it for you; it's fun trying to pick the scenes out. I will say that not all of the titty-bar scenes were filmed for Bloodfist 2050. And I'm pretty sure the opening war is lifted from The New Gladiators or something else from the Concorde vaults.

Speaking of titty-bars (like that segway?) that's where we end up next. After a minor war outside a fighting ring between various gangs, we are introduced briefly to a fight underway between two combatants, one wearing running mascara and the other kickboxing his head in. After the fight the winner goes out to celebrate by watching one of the biggest pair of breasts I've seen on camera. It's all too much for the tired and inebriated fighter who goes outside for a slash. Out of the darkness a ninja attacks him and the guy dies, then a bum steals his jacket. Victory is fleeting.

Matt Mullins arrives at the city gates and pays a blind man to watch his car (?), then goes to his brothers apartment. His brother is not there but his friends Randy and Nadia are and they tell Mullins that his brother Johnny is dead. If you hadn't worked it out, Mullins' brother is the guy who was killed by the ninja. Immediately he wants revenge and ends up in a five-way fight with one of the gangs in a factory. This is pretty sweet; kicking out windows, throwing barrels, spin kicks, cartwheels... Mullins' is very good at his martial art, like a modern Van Damme. Then Joe Sabatino turns up and shoots into the air, scaring the gang away. He tells Mullins that he looks like he needs a drink and takes him to, you guessed it, the titty bar.

Now this bit is fantastic. We are treated to a full strip show by the very hot Beverly Lynne (star of such classy movies as Bikini Royale II and Bikini Chain Gang) who incidentally is married to Glen Meadows, the guy that plays Randy, her brother in this movie. The strip is fine but what is fantastic about it is it's filmed with every single transition effect you can possibly imagine. I'm talking page rolls, star wipes, venetian blinds - all the good stuff you used to find on home video editing hardware from Tandy and Jaycar (or Radio Shack for our US readers). It's hilarious.

Anyway, the fights! Mullins befriends Sabatino who turns out to be a cop and has connections that can get him into the ring. They go to watch the reigning champion fight, the Great Ahmed Khan (featuring the Great Drawn-on Tattoos), Filipino Monsour Del Rosario, also in Bloodfist II but as a different character. Speaking of same actor/different character, the ring announcer here is Joe Mari Avellana - Kwong in Bloodfist and Su in Bloodfist II! When announcing the rules of the match he notices two guys making an illegal side-bet. Obviously the house gets no money from this so Joe yells to them "No side bets!". He is ignored, so Joe shoots them with a flare gun. Baha!

The audio in this is pretty terrible, but simultaneously awesome. The dialog is muffled and when filmed indoors it has a bad echo to it. The fight sounds are great though with those fantastic chop-sockey fight sounds from 1970's kung-fu movies making up the majority of the fight sounds. When there's no fights we get dark synth soundtrack that is reminiscent of early 80's Doctor Who. Sometimes it's played so loud it makes it even harder to hear the dialogue. Top stuff.

Mullins suspects Khan killed his brother and confronts him, to which he replies "Watch your ass.. it's gonna be mine!" Then Mullins and Sabatino go... that's right! To the strip club! This time the Beverly Lynne is covering herself in moisturising cream. Mullins' enjoys the show. That's it. Eventually Mullins' is called for his first fight against some huge guy called The Monster and positively smashes him with his kickboxing skills and even does some backflips. Then to the titty-bar. It's a great cycle, and eventually we get a softcore scene with Mullins and Beverly Lynne. I know some people might just be shouting "get on with the fights!" at their screens but I thought the excessive displays of the female form in Bloodfist 2050 were a great if highly amusing addition. And don't get me wrong, there are plenty of fights to be had.

Randy gets up for his fight against Khan but gets his arse handed to him and his neck broken. Medics perform CPR but I don't know what they hoped to achieve. You can't glue his neck back together with shock paddles. Ultimately the movie ends with a great fight in another factory setting between Mullins and his brother's killer.

Roger Corman produced all nine Bloodfist movies according to IMDB. He had even more staying power in this franchise than Don "The Dragon" Wilson. He is also reunited by the director of the first two Bloodfist's, Cirio H. Santiago. I think they did a fantastic job overall. This is such a fun fight movie that doesn't overstay it's welcome, clocking in at only 78 minutes. There is little pointless plot exposition; just the basic revenge theme, the fights and of course the tits. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what we are all here for.

The Video:

Like I mentioned in the review, the video is pretty poor a lot of the time but that comes down to how it was filmed. The DVD is adequate though there is a lot of noise in some darker scenes. The sound is a mixed bag; the fights sound fine but the dialog was clearly recorded with a microphone attached to someones lapel. Runtime 78 minutes.

Sourced From:

Somewhere random for $2, which is the RRP! Best two bucks I ever spent.

Trailer:

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