Finish Him! No Encore!
July 23rd, 2010 | By: Charles Francis Moran VI | 12 Comments
During a time when it was totally acceptable to have Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers take the stage in live, Broadway style productions, the promotion machine behind all things Mortal Kombat decided such a spectacle would be a brilliant way to capitalize on the fame of one of the most violent videogames of all time. Thus was born the family friendly stage spectacle known as Mortal Kombat: Live Tour. Since the formation of the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board), Mortal Kombat had been specifically cited as not for children, but that wasn’t going to stop the “rated R” game from opening a 200 show tour at Radio City Music Hall.
This was the late in the summer of 1995. Media, technology and entertainment began to make a significant metamorphosis while I was working at Tower Records (all of which have since closed, RIP). We were selling a new computer operating system called Windows 95, OJ Simpson was very much on trial for a double murder (a very real bit of violence for which he was eventually found not guilty) and Mortal Kombat was everywhere. By year’s end the franchise conquered arcades, home consoles, movie screen and, strangest of all, the stage – with the Mortal Kombat: Live Tour.
Fifteen years ago this September. Where does the time go?
Like all good train wrecks there was audience participation, something to fill the void where Fatalities used to be. Yes, that’s right. It may come as a shock, but there were no fatality moves during the performance. Not once did Sub Zero removing anyone’s frozen head and attached spine. Perhaps they just didn’t know the button combos.
Fatalities wound up being replaced with some call and answer with the audience. Of course, didn’t say anything fun like, “Test your might!” or “Finish Him!” No, the audience would simply yell out, “Run!” and, “Kick him!” during any scenes where someone needed to run or be kicked.
I might be able to sing a little, but I certainly can’t dance or do karate. That said, these dancers are probably a lot closer to Step Up! 3D than Enter the Dragon.
Surprisingly, there was never a Mortal Kombat: Live Tour II.
Nothing says expensive theater souvenirs like fully embroidered denim jackets.
I will send you a dollar if you make it through this whole video.
I ain't gonna lie. I couldn't make it through the whole video. I had to skip parts. I'm not sure what was worse: 'Shang Tsung' trying (and failing) to defend Mortal Kombat as a positive influence for kids, the reporter lusting after Sonya Blade's eight pack or the fact that 'Kabal' visibly prances more than once.
Jesus christ…
That's four minutes and 24 seconds of my life that I'll never get back…
Also in the "I don't know what's worse" category: the sound effects when Sonya Blade fought back from the reporter's advances, or the reporter's crane stance at the fade out.
Also the reporter's hair.
was pretty stylin'?
Lulz, I like the mortal combat music at the beginning, kinda died off after that. You owe me a dollar =P
I really tried to make it through the whole video. I really did. Couldn't do it.
haha awesome!
[...] from here [...]
I made it through the whole video, can I have a dollar?
I just decided to google the Live Tour and stumbled upon this site. I was 19 years old when I got hired on that show. It was my first professional job. All of us had martial arts backgrounds, not a dancer in the group, although this was about the time when Capoeira first broke in the states. Many of the people in that photo went on to great careers in stunts, fight choreography and action design in films. And it all started in cheap spandex, haha. Anyway, it helped me pay for college, which was great, and I made some life long friends. I got to travel across the US and go to Argentina and Ireland. It was an exciting time in my life, one I'm very grateful for. I remember selling out in El Paso, and literally surrounded by thousands of kids, screaming for out autographs. That jacket is buried away in my memory box, but man, those were great memories.
I think of those people in that photo all the time, and hope that life has continued to treat them well.
Interesting insight. Thanks for posting!
Possibly Naive Question: you mentioned your martial arts background and that no one in the group was a dancer. Was choreography a challenge seeing as it was your first job?