Mortal Kombat (1995) Cast: Then and Now [27 Years After] Mortal Kombat is a 1995 American fantasy martial arts action film, starring Robin Shou, Linden Ashby, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Bridgette Wilson, Talisa Soto and Christopher Lambert.

The plot of the film follows the warrior monk Liu Kang, the actor Johnny Cage, and the soldier Sonya Blade, all three guided by the god Raiden, on their journey to combat the evil sorcerer Shang Tsung and his forces in a tournament to save Earth.

God of Thunder and Protector of Earthrealm’ who guides the warriors on their journey. He desires to aid the heroes in defending Earthrealm, but as he himself is not mortal,

he is not permitted to participate in the tournament and may only advise them and act to prevent cheating. He is depicted as the god of thunder who possesses control over lightning.

He fulfills his duty by selecting and training the warriors who defend Earthrealm from various threats, while also participating directly in the realm’s defense.

Raiden generally serves as a mentor figure to the franchise’s heroes, although he sometimes assumes a darker role in the story, which sees him become more ruthless in his protection of the realm.

Director Paul W.S. Anderson credits Christopher Lambert for smoothing over his first job on a big movie. Lambert, a veteran of several Hollywood blockbusters,

never got overwhelmed by the large scale of the production, and his laid-back attitude positively influenced the other, less-experienced people on the set.


Even Ed Boon, co-creator of the original video game, admitted that Lambert did a great job, despite not being Asian like the character’s depiction in the game.

Since Lambert was the most expensive actor on set, the production could only afford him for a few weeks of close-ups in an LA studio; a stand-in would be used for the wide shots filmed in Thailand.

However, Lambert believed that the movie would be better if it was him all the time, so he came to Thailand for no extra charge (no doubt to the chagrin of his agent and managers). He even paid for the wrap party afterwards.