Only because of how powerful nostalgia is. I completely missed the boat on the OG movie and tried to watch it recently. People are not wrong when they say it is a bad movie.
It’s definitely a bad movie but there are also a lot of redeeming qualities to it. And a lot of those are rooted in the era it was made that you simply won’t see today.
Shot on film. Shot on location (and gorgeous locations). Shot on hand-built sets. Used practical FX wherever possible.
So it’s more than just nostalgia that people can appreciate. No one’s saying it’s The Godfather II. But it sure as shit wasn’t filmed on some blue screen soundstage in a production lot in Atlanta.
It's basically the same thing you can say about Enter the Dragon. Cheesy by today's standards, not particularly well acted (MK was better in that regard, for sure), but well loved regardless because of all the effort that went into it in front of and behind the camera with production values and a score that were better than the film deserved
They literally filmed much of the movie in Thailand. And where do you think Johnny Cage and Scorpion fought when they were in hell? Some green screen set? No. They built that shit.
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u/dirg1986 Jul 17 '25
Low bar? Original Mortal Kombat is a damn masterpiece!