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Released by: Warner Brothers
Released on: March 31st, 2015.
Director: Various
Cast: Paolo Montalbí¡n, Daniel Bernhardt, Kristanna Loken, Tracy Douglas, Bruce Locke, Jeffrey Meek
Year: 1998/1999
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The Series:
This short lived television series based on the enduringly popular Mortal Kombat series of video games lasted only one season but it has gone on to earn itself a bit of a cult following. The series is, in one word, ridiculous - but as ridiculous as it may be, it's not that hard to have a good time with this if you don't need to take your live action video game adaptations too seriously.
"In each of us there burns a soul of a warrior. In every generation a few are chosen to prove it. Centuries ago, in a time of darkness and fury, that fate befell three strangers: A monk, Kung Lao; an exiled guard, Siro; and a thief, Taja, who have to defend our earth realm from the forces of Outworld by fighting for their lives, by fighting for their honor and by fighting for their realm... in a tournament called Mortal Kombat.â€
That introduction opened each episode of the series, but a bit more background info would help, right? So the story goes, centuries back our planet was a veritable Shangri-La until the sinister Shao Kahn (Jeffrey Meeke) decided to add it portfolio of captive planets (which he refers to as Outworld). There were, however, those who would stop Shao Kahn from taking the Earth's bounty and to make that happen they set up the Mortal Kombat tournaments. Here, competitors from Outworld sanctioned by Shao Kahn would arrive to do battle with representatives from Earth, with the fate of the planet and its people hanging in the balance. In those centuries past, Kung Lao (Paolo Montalbí¡n) the warrior monk laid waste to Shang Tsung (Bruce Locke), the warrior sorcerer employed by Shao Kahn. As punishment for his defeat, Shang Tsung was sent to the mines of Outworld.
As time went on Kung Lao was responsible for training a new generation of fighters to compete in the Mortal Kombat tournaments. Chief amongst these are the hulking Siro (Daniel Bernhardt) and a former thief named Taja (Kristanna Loken), both with their own set of unique skills and talents. They, along with Kung Lao, are allied with Raiden (Meeke again) to deal not only with Shao Kahn, but with Shang Tsung - eventually free and looking for revenge - and many others as well - Sub-Zero (J.J. Perry), Scorpion (Chris Casamassa), Vorpax (Tracy Douglas) and quite a few more.
The series is about as goofy as they come but if you want wacky, colorful characters and fairly non-stop martial arts action, this'll fit the bill. It's not a good series, not by any sort of traditional standards you may care to apply, but why label it if you don't have to? The stories do sort of lead into one another so there is some continuity here but for the most part each episode follow the same formula - introduce some characters and make them fight! In fairness to the writers, the formula does get expanded upon as the final episodes come at us. In these last few chapters things do come to a pretty satisfying conclusion and they do contain a few interesting surprises. Mortal Kombat enthusiasts will probably pick it apart and could easily criticize what the series gets wrong but if you're able to look at this as its own beast, this is pulpy entertainment.
That said, while relationships do develop and characters do evolve over the different story arcs that make up the entirety of the show, it's all done to appeal to the mindset of your typical teenage boy. There's nothing inherently wrong with that and for what it is, this works well enough, but it is fairly adolescent in its execution. The quality of the fight choreography is decent tough, and the costumes are sets are, if obviously made on a modest budget, colorful and strange enough to work. Turn off your brain and you can have a decent time with this show.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Mortal Kombat: Conquest looks okay on DVD, presented here in its original broadcast aspect ratio. Some softness is present throughout but the image is clean and the discs well authored so that there aren't any serious problems with compression artifacts. Colors look okay and while detail will never floor you, the presentation is perfectly acceptable.
The English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo tracks for the series are also fine. The levels are properly balanced and the audio is free of any hiss or distortion. The opening theme music has a decent amount of punch behind it and the sound effects have the right amount of impact. Optional English closed captioning is provided.
Aside from static menus offering episode selection, there are no extra features included with this collection.
The Final Word:
Mortal Kombat: Conquest definitely has its fans and those fans will be happy to own the complete series at long last without having to deal with dodgy bootlegs of pricey imports. There aren't really any extras here, unfortunately, but the presentation is decent enough. The series is good mindless fun, if you're into the Mortal Kombat universe and the characters that inhabit it, you can have a good time with this stuff. Mindless entertainment, but entertainment none the less.
