In this list originally published by the Marvelous Videos channel in March 11, 2021, and in this article you have here, there are twelve action and fighting films that feel tailored for fans of Mortal Kombat, the classic and bloody fighting game franchise that began in 1992 with the release of the game of the same name.
Mortal Kombat emerged from the intersection of cinema and video games. Back in 1992, when Jean-Claude Van Damme starred in Universal Soldier, the film’s producers approached Midway Games for an adaptation, but to create something inspired by another Van Damme hit, Bloodsport. They brought in Ed Boon and John Tobias, and what was initially meant to be a star vehicle for Van Damme, even without in (Master Pesina replaced him) evolved into a cultural phenomenon that outgrew all expectations — influencing not only future games but also shaping the tone and aesthetics of countless martial arts and fantasy movies that followed.
Some of the titles listed in this article were certainly inspired by Mortal Kombat, while others, especially the older ones, obviously could only serve as inspiration. And there are some films that don’t actually seem to be Mortal Kombat-like, but they should at least be watchable. So, without any further ado, let’s check those flicks out.
The Quest (1996)
Jean-Claude Van Damme not only stars but also directs and, along with Frank Dux (the real dude portrayed by Van Damme in Bloodsport), writes this globe-trotting martial arts adventure that feels like a spiritual sibling to Mortal Kombat. In fact, its the one that looks like the game the most, especially the first one. The story follows Christopher Dubois, a street hustler turned Muay Thai fighter who finds himself drawn into a mystical tournament in Tibet known as the Ghang-Gheng, where the world’s best warriors battle for a golden dragon.
The echoes with Mortal Kombat are unmistakable — from the dragon emblem to the international lineup of fighters, each representing their nation and style. Van Damme reportedly wanted to bring to The Quest what he couldn’t realize in the Mortal Kombat game that Midway originally pitched around him. Ironically, the influence flowed both ways: Ed Boon and John Tobias later borrowed some of The Quest’s tournament vibes and fighting styles for newer MK titles. The plot may fade once the fists start flying, but who cares? The sheer diversity of martial arts on display keeps the energy high and the nostalgia alive.
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Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
Before Mortal Kombat wasn’t even a shine in Tobias’ and Boon’s eyes, John Carpenter’s cult classic—Big Trouble in Little China—was already summoning lightning, sorcery, and supernatural warriors in the back alleys of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Kurt Russell plays Jack Burton, a brash truck driver who gets caught up in an ancient battle involving the sorcerer Lo Pan and his elemental enforcers — Thunder, Rain, and Lightning.
It’s not hard to see how this movie electrified Mortal Kombat’s DNA. Raiden was practically born from the “Three Storms,” and Lo Pan’s sinister aura inspired Shang Tsung’s iconic design. Carpenter’s mix of mysticism and street-level grit set a template for blending fantasy and martial arts that the game would later perfect. Add a bit of what-if casting trivia — the studio originally wanted Jackie Chan for Wang Chi — and you’ve got a 1980s action fantasy that feels like a prototype of Mortal Kombat before the fatalities.
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Game of Death (1979)
Bruce Lee’s unfinished swan song, completed posthumously, Game of Death stands as both a bittersweet farewell and a key influence on Mortal Kombat’s archetypes. The film follows Billy Lo, a martial artist who fakes his death to dismantle a corrupt crime syndicate, culminating in a series of escalating one-on-one fights inside a pagoda.
Even though only fragments of Lee’s original footage survived, his philosophy of Jeet Kune Do — fluid, adaptive combat — lived on. Mortal Kombat’s Liu Kang directly channels Lee’s image: the lean frame, black pants, white sneakers, and fiery resolve. Game of Death isn’t flawless — it’s patched together with body doubles and old footage — but its symbolic power endures. Every high kick and spinning strike from Liu Kang still feels like a salute to the Dragon himself.
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Yamada: The Samurai of Ayothaya (2010)
A Thai-Japanese collaboration inspired by a real 17th-century samurai who rose to prominence in Siam, Yamada: The Samurai of Ayothaya is an underappreciated gem of pure martial arts cinema. It tells the story of Yamada Nagamasa, a Japanese warrior betrayed by his own and taken in by Thai soldiers, where he learns the art of Muay Thai and fights to defend his adopted kingdom.
The film’s beauty lies in its authenticity — bone-crunching fight choreography, graceful swordplay, and reverence for martial discipline. It’s easy to see shades of Mortal Kombat’s East-meets-West energy here: the fusion of fighting traditions, the honor-bound warrior arcs, and the balance between cinematic style and brutal realism. It may not reinvent the genre, but it delivers exactly what MK fans crave — blood, honor, and combat that feels earned.
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Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (1994)
Released just two years after Mortal Kombat, this insanely cool anime adaptation of Capcom’s legendary fighting game remains one of the most faithful and exhilarating video game movies ever made. Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie pits Ryu and Ken against the sinister M. Bison and his Shadowlaw syndicate, with Chun-Li and Guile caught in the crossfire.
Every punch, kick, and hadoken bursts with the kinetic energy that Mortal Kombat would later translate into live-action spectacle. What makes it stand out is its respect for the source material — the characters are expressive, the choreography feels real, and the fights carry emotional weight. For MK fans, it could be like watching an alternate universe where Street Fighter took the darker, bloodier path. Either way, it’s pure ‘90s adrenaline in animated form.
Unofficial music video (from MegaDriver)
Ninja Assassin (2009)
As violent as its title promises, Ninja Assassin slices through the screen with torrents of blood and shadow. The story follows Raizo, a former member of a secret clan of assassins who rebels after witnessing its cruelty. When he teams up with a Europol agent to expose the clan’s existence, the film erupts into a storm of blades, shurikens, and limbs flying across neon-lit backdrops.
Director James McTeigue studied anime classics like Samurai Champloo and Ninja Scroll to craft this hyper-stylized spectacle, and it shows. South Korean pop star Rain performs most of his own stunts, bringing agility and precision that would make Scorpion proud. If Mortal Kombat fatalities were filmed in live-action with a Hollywood budget, maybe they would look like something like this.
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Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991)
Few cult movies have ever gone as far over the top as Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky. Set in a dystopian future where prisons are privatized and corruption reigns, the film follows Ricky, a superhuman martial artist who unleashes righteous fury on sadistic wardens and gang leaders. Limbs tear, skulls burst, and intestines double as makeshift stitches.
It’s outrageous, gory, and completely self-aware — a live-action cartoon of pain that feels like a precursor to Mortal Kombat’s X-ray fatalities. Ricky’s long hair, chiseled body, and unbreakable moral compass even recall Liu Kang’s earliest appearances. It’s not about realism; it’s about righteous vengeance in pure pulp form. For anyone who ever shouted “Finish him!” at the screen, Riki-Oh delivers exactly that.
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The Street Fighter (1974)
Before Van Damme, before Jet Li, before digital blood, there was Sonny Chiba. In The Street Fighter, he plays Terry Tsurugi, a mercenary whose fists hit hard enough to crack skulls — literally. One x-ray-style shot even shows the internal damage from a punch, decades before Ed Boon and John Tobias made it one of the new Mortal Kombat games trademark.
The film was so violent it became the first in U.S. history to receive an X rating solely for its brutality. Chiba’s presence is magnetic — part antihero, part human wrecking ball — and his fights are as raw as they come. For Mortal Kombat fans, this is the missing link between old-school martial arts cinema and the visceral energy that would later define the franchise’s aesthetic of beautiful carnage.
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Ninja (2009)
Directed by Isaac Florentine and starring the incredibly skilled Scott Adkins (Yuri Boyka, from the Undisputed series), Ninja revives the classic East-meets-West dojo rivalry with modern flair. The story follows Casey Bowman, an American student of ninjutsu forced to protect a sacred relic — the Yoroi Bitsu — from a vengeful former classmate turned assassin.
The film’s plot might be simple, but its execution is anything but. While still far from Undisputed‘s quality, every fight scene is tightly choreographed, fluid, and cleanly shot, showcasing real martial artists doing their craft with precision. The finale, filled with blades, bows, and brutal close combat, is a love letter to traditional ninja films with the slickness of a modern action flick. It’s the kind of disciplined chaos that would fit perfectly inside a Mortal Kombat stage.
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Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture (1994)
Anime lovers of the ‘90s will instantly recognize this one. Based on SNK’s Fatal Fury games, Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture dives into mythic territory as martial artists hunt for pieces of a cursed armor said to grant divine power — at the cost of one’s sanity. It’s equal parts Indiana Jones and Mortal Kombat, with intense fights, sweeping fantasy visuals, and a touch of melodrama.
Sure, it has plot holes and the occasional anime absurdity, but its spirit is pure arcade nostalgia. Blood, honor, and supernatural combat define its rhythm. The result is a forgotten classic that embodies the same East-meets-mysticism energy that fueled Mortal Kombat’s early mythos — and it does it with hand-drawn flair.
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Triple Threat (2019)
A modern martial arts ensemble like no other, Triple Threat unites an all-star lineup of action names from more recent decades: Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Tiger Chen, Scott Adkins, and Michael Jai White, among others. The plot — assassins, revenge, and betrayal in Southeast Asia — is mainly a backdrop for some of the most explosive combat choreography of the last decade.
Director Jesse V. Johnson blends gunfights, Muay Thai, and silat into a symphony of controlled chaos. Each fighter brings their own signature style, echoing the diversity of Mortal Kombat’s roster, but that’s the only connection we could find here. In anyway, even though we feel that Undisputed III should be here instead, Triple Threat is not a bad movie at all.
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The Warrior’s Gate (2016)
Lighthearted yet action-packed, The Warrior’s Gate is a cross-cultural fantasy that feels like Big Trouble in Little China for a new generation that follows Jack, a gamer who gets transported into an ancient Chinese realm through a magical artifact, where he must use his “video game kung fu” to save a princess and defeat an evil warlord.
It’s silly? Yes. We don’t know what this flick is doing here? Yes. It’s likely a filler that Marvelous Videos added to make the content more lengthy? Yes. But the film should be also surprisingly endearing — packed with fun fight sequences, colorful villains, and a dash of time-bending humor. Written by Luc Besson, the film doesn’t take itself too seriously, which makes it the perfect cooldown after so much blood and grit. It’s a reminder that the Mortal Kombat spirit isn’t only about violence — it’s also about adventure, imagination, and that feeling of being part of a world where fighting means something epic.
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And there you have it. From classic grindhouse brawls to anime and modern CGI showdowns, each of these twelve films that echo, inspire, or celebrate the spirit of Mortal Kombat, reflecting how cinema and gaming have been punching, kicking, and evolving together for over three decades.
In fact, over the past three decades, both cinema and gaming have evolved in ways that constantly echo each other. What began with developers modeling characters like Raiden and Shang Tsung after movie icons soon grew into a shared language of storytelling — from mid-’90s cutscenes that deepened game lore to filmmakers embracing game aesthetics packed with CGI and visual spectacle. Today, the boundary between controller and camera is thinner than ever.
If you’re a Mortal Kombat fan hungry for more cinematic mayhem, this list of twelve action and fighting films is your next fatal move. Don’t forget to watch it, comment here and share with your friends who like the games and this kind of movies…if they aren’t afraid of a few good old-fashioned beatings.
Thanks for reading, and… finish them!
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- Channel: Marvelous Videos
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