The Summer of 1995 was about as phenomenal in the pop culture aspect as you could get if you were a 90s kid. We were either singing every line of TLC’s “Waterfalls” or Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” on the way to the local theater to see the big Summer Blockbuster film. Movies like Clueless, Batman Forever, and Braveheart were some notable hits among our angsty teenage group. However, the BIG ONE everyone was waiting for arrived late in the game before school commenced, ensuring we’d all be spending our first day of class most likely in detention trying to perfect that sidekick to the kidneys. And that film was, of course, MORTAL KOMBAT.

That totally fuckin’ happened too.

On the heels of the surprise and highly awaited trailer for the new 2021 film dropped recently, I felt obligated in my soul to talk about one of the greatest damn intro entrances ever pulled off in a movie.

August 18th, 1995 was the day of reckoning as I and a group of friends took the bus down to our local nine-screen theater to get in line for the most anticipated event of the year. Anxious to see our favorite game of blood and guts played out on the big screen, we stood in line for the 6:00 PM showing that ended up being a sold-out show. Lucky for us, we got there early and avoided the dreaded front-row bullshit. As a then 13-year-old, I was pretty proud of my planning strategies. We nabbed some decent seats toward the back and with our hearts pounding, heard that glorious techno music open our minds to a live-action presentation of the game stick-in-the-ass parents’ tried desperately to get banned from our “fragile little minds”.

Pfft…

As we walked through each exciting introduction of familiar faces, none matched the simplistic execution of not one, but TWO of arguably, the game’s most popular characters- Scorpion and Sub-Zero. The scene is set up beautifully as a determined Sonya Blade is tracking Kano on the boat taking them to the tournament. As she’s scoping the area, Shang Tsung steps out of the shadows like a creepy stalker to greet the military officer, and extends an invitation to give her a tour in the sense of a kidnapper offering candy to a kid. With Johnny Cage and Liu Kang following closely behind, they intervene and that’s when shit starts getting real.

The entire sold-out theater rumbled like a goddamn earthquake when the two ninjas stepped into the room. The thunderous applause of every 90s kid losing their ever-loving minds upon the first glimpse of Scorpion and Sub-Zero is something I’ll never forget- mainly because I was one of them. They enter, Sub-Zero first, and when Scorpion appeared behind him, we all needed a change of pants. The heavy guitar riffs that made up the score of the scene got more intense as they assumed their ninja position ready for a fight. It seems so simple, yet so perfect, and is easily not only one of the greatest moments in the movie, and oh man there are a lot of those, but the most memorable and greatest introduction entrances of a couple of iconic characters even to this day.

Now, only if Sonja had said “Freeze” instead of “move aside”, that would have been the cherry on top of this toasty sundae.

Mortal Kombat Triple Feature (Mortal Kombat / Mortal Kombat: Annihilation / Mortal Kombat: Legacy) [Blu-ray]

So tell me, do the rest of my 90s’ nostalgic nuggets agree? How about your favorite part of the movie? Let’s just talk some good ol’ MK goodness!