Creepypasta Stories

Mortal Kombat Annihilation Original Version

By: Unknown Writer

Mortal Kombat Annihilation is a 1997 film based on the Mortal Kombat video game series and the sequel to the 1995 film Mortal Kombat. This movie is infamously known for sucking major ass. Almost everyone from the first film was recast, the special effects look like utter shit, and the plot of the movie is all over the place, which leads to the film making very little sense. Lots of fan-favorite characters from the first three games, including the likes of Ermac, Rain, Smoke, Cyrax, Sheeva, Mileena, and Baraka, appear in the movie but they are completely wasted, being killed off or not utilized well. Not to mention, Johnny Cage, one of the most popular characters in the video game and one of the beloved elements of the first film, is killed by Shao Kahn in the first 5 minutes of the movie after having his neck snapped. The fact that it was a box office bomb is only the cherry on top. Needless to say, this movie sucks. It was so bad that it canceled the planned sequel under the name of Mortal Kombat Devestation, which probably would have been based on Mortal Kombat 4 and maybe Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. Most people who follow and support the Mortal Kombat series are very well aware of this, but I can guarantee that you will never hear about a lost piece of media which is the original cut of Mortal Kombat Annihilation.

In 2014, I learned about this version of this travesty through my job at an Indian film archive. Our assignment that week was to find footage to submit to some lost media archive in the US, and whoever found what was most valuable would have a pretty decent pay raise. Looking for footage to submit to the lost media archives, I recalled something I saw long ago. It was on an old Mortal Kombat forum where I stumbled upon information regarding what was said to be the original sequel to the Mortal Kombat movie from 1995. Even though the post has since been deleted, it was not the end of it. It is my job to do shit like this. So I was on a mission to determine if this original sequel was legit or if this website is just pulling my leg.

That year, I traveled to different parts of the world to obtain information regarding this Mortal Kombat movie. After much talk with different people involved, I received a VHS tape during an interview with the original director of the movie. The VHS tape with a big New Line Cinema logo drawn on the front, which we took back to the film archive and watched, contained what was left of the original version. Only about an hour or less of the tape survived, through deterioration. As a result, scenes flow in and out of context.

Now, here's a bit of background. This original sequel to the 1995 film Mortal Kombat, of course, based on the games, was said to be bigger and better than the original. Shooting began before the first even hit theaters, with some original actors, such as Robin Shou, Linden Ashby, and Christopher Lambert, returning to reprise their roles. However, some of the main characters were recast as well, Sonya and Jax particularly. Because he was busy with Event Horizon, this film was not directed by Paul Anderson, instead, a former Japanese game developer who was a Mortal Kombat fan was chosen for the project.

Now, this dude wanted this to be a more faithful adaptation of the video game. He wasn't thrilled with the first film's lack of gore, and he would openly speak of his dislike towards the censored SNES version of Mortal Kombat. So, under his direction, the movie would have been more violent and bloody in line with the video games the movies were based on. This would have drastically deviated from the first film's tone. Minor note, the film was not titled Mortal Kombat Annihilation, instead of being "Mortal Kombat 2", like the game.

The VHS tape we watched opens with the New Line Cinema logo, but without the iconic Mortal Kombat theme song. The opening credits are simply a black screen with white text and the opening music from the arcade version of Mortal Kombat 2. After this, it opens with Raiden recapping the events of the first film and then cutting to the Chinese temple being swarmed by outworld's warriors, and eventually Shao Kahn himself. Here, Shao Kahn is not played by Brian Thompson but instead a different actor, with his voice dubbed in by Frank Welker, reprising his role in the first film. Another notable difference is that Kahn keeps his helmet on. Much like in what we got, Sindel and Motaro are also present at the beginning of the film, but notably, Ermac and Rain are not. Instead, Baraka and Mileena take their places, appearing much earlier on and having a bigger part throughout the film. I do not know if stuntman Denis Keiffer played Baraka in this version, however, Mileena is played by the same actress as Kitana, as the two are twin sisters. An element cut from the final version is that Mileena's voice is dubbed over to sound more menacing and monstrous. Additionally, the character of Sheeva was not in the film. Instead of her, the plan was to feature Kintaro, the tiger-striped Shokan who was first seen in Mortal Kombat II. However, due to the living hell it was to have Goro on the big screen in the first film, he was mostly substituted with CGI effects, similar to how Reptile looks in his lizard form in the first film. Some shots with Kintaro were practical, but it was only the top half so you could only see his head and shoulders.