Mortal Kombat Coming to Netflix in April

“MORTAL KOMBAT!” That famous battlecry will soon be filling the televisions of viewers all over America again, as Netflix has announced that the Mortal Kombat movie (1995) is going to be on the streaming service starting in April. The announcement was made in Netflix’s monthly listing of titles being added or removed from the service, and it couldn’t come at a better time. With so many Americans currently stranded at home during the national crisis of the COVD-19 pandemic, streaming services have suddenly become paramount to keeping viewers supplied TV and movie content. And with all the Mortal Kombat franchise has in the works, this couldn’t be a better time for the 1995 film to return.

Check out the synposis for the Mortal Kombat movie :“The Emperor of Outworld has his sights set on conquering the realm of Earth. But in order to do so, he has to win 10 straight the ancient Mortal Kombat tournaments. The Emperor’s sorcerer, Shang Tsung, has led Outworld’s forces to nine straight victories. The only thing standing between Earth and the Emperor’s evil forces are three humans: Liu Kang, who is only at the tournament to kill Shang Tsung for the murder of his brother; Sonya Blade, a law enforcement officer who was lured to the ship under the pretenses of catching her partner’s killer; and Johnny Cage, an egotistical movie star who the press has dubbed as a fake and is only at the tournament as a way to prove himself. It will be up to Lord Rayden to teach his three warriors to look deep inside themselves to find the ability to beat Shang Tsung and save the realm of Earth from devastation.”

Mortal Kombat was one of the earliest directorial breakouts for Paul W.S. Anderson, who would eventually go on to embrace the idea of B-movie video game adaptations in full-force, launching the Resident Evil franchise alongside his wife, Milla Jovovich. Those six films (released between 2002 and 2016) would gross over $1.2 Billion worldwide, making them the most profitable video game movies ever. Unfortunately, Anderson only directed the first Mortal Kombat movie; the sequel film, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation lives in infamy as quite possibly the worst video game movie (and arguably worst movie) ever made.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is not the only reason why it’s a timely return for Mortal Kombat: a highly-anticipated reboot film is currently in production, and was supposed to be released in January. Obviously, only time will tell if that schedule holds true.

Catch Mortal Kombat (1995) on Netflix this April.