Original Mortal Kombat Movie Director Says the Film Still Holds Up Thanks to Its Fights

In case you missed it, the original 1995 Mortal Kombat movie recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, and as part of the occasion, director Paul W.S. Anderson went on the record once again looking back at the film. While he was fairly positive in general, he admitted that he thinks the movie still holds up thanks in large part to its excellent fights.

"We delivered something fresh and exciting that hadn't been seen before in American cinema, and I think that stuff still holds up," Anderson told EW. "Two actors who really know how to fight going at it, that's a thing of beauty that holds up whether it was done 30 years ago or three weeks ago. That's something Mortal Kombat has in spades, which is why I think it's cool."

The original 1995 Mortal Kombat starred Robin Shou as Liu Kang, Linden Ashby as Johnny Cage, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras as Sonya Blade, Talisa Soto as Kitana, Christopher Lambert as Raiden, Chris Casamassa as Scorpion, Francois Petit as Sub-Zero, and Trevor Goddard as Kano. The 1997 followup film, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, was widely panned.

The upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot film is currently scheduled to release on January 15, 2021. It wrapped filming late last year. The known cast includes Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Josh Lawson as Kano, Tadanobu Asano as Raiden, Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Sisi Stringer as Mileena, Max Huang as Kung Lao, and Lewis Tan in an unnamed role, which some speculate to be Johnny Cage. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the film right here.

What do you think of what we've heard about the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie so far? Do you still enjoy the 1995 original? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming!