MovieChat Forums > Mortal Kombat (1995) Discussion > Sp.effects/cgi didn’t age well

Sp.effects/cgi didn’t age well

posted 4 years ago by JohnMatrix (726)
5 replies | jump to latest

I remember when I saw this movie the sp.effects, the cgi looked so cool back then, but now it looks very dated. The sp.effects didn’t age so well here. I remember when I saw this first time in the movie theater, in the opening fight between Liu Kang’s brother and Shang Tsung. When Shang Tsung said your soul is mine and his face morphed into a skull that seemed like a such cool cgi effect. The whole audience gasped in fear. Or when Shang Tsung was defeated at the end of the movie, after he landed on the spears his body decayed instantly, also was a cool cgi effect for its time. Now those sp.effects are no big deal any more of course, oh but back than it was!

[–] CoachGainz (453) 4 years ago

Sure! CGI typically doesn't age well especially if you're not using the A team. MK had an assortment of different CGI companies working on the visual effects. Not exactly Phil Tippton or ILM. Remember MK was made on a very low budget(For a Wide Release) for it's time 18M and I believe they were aiming for 10M.

Movie's that hold up CGI wise from that time Jurassic Park, ID4, and Starship Troopers had 60M, 72M and 100M budgets.

MK had about the same budget as Power Rangers the Movie 95. Let that one sink in.

[–] JohnMatrix (726) 4 years ago

That’s an interesting comparison. And Power Rangers must have wasted their money on something else since there’s not much CGI in it I assume (never seen it). So then MK was made on a really tight budget and they made every dollar stretch a long way while making it.

[–] Threadkiller (3089) 4 years ago

I actually think the opposite true. Considering the movie came out nearly 3 decades ago on what was a modest budget at the time, I'd say they did a pretty damn job with the effects, most of it still more or less holding up. The only really poorly aged special effect that I can think of off the top of my head is the cgi Reptile. Frankly it didn't look too great at the time either. I'm actually surprised by how good the Shang Tsung shapeshifting scenes still look.

[–] CoachGainz (453) 4 years ago

Yup. While not Jurassic Park level the CGI isn't bad at all for it's time. Except the reptile CGI that's like Direct to DVD level CGI. Unfortunately movies typically get judged by their worst CGI not their best.

[–] blue1981 (8186) 4 years ago

I'm watching it right now and although the effects are better than Mortal Kombat Annihilation they still look cheap. Also the Goro suit looks cool but the mouth barely moves when speaking any of the dialogue.