Mortal Kombat: Annihilation Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		2.0

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 4, 2026

Note: This version of this film is available on disc as part of Arrow's Mortal Kombat Kollection.

This far into the 21st century it may understandably be hard for some to decide which by this point is more quaint, the original Mortal Kombat arcade game, its home console version(s), or the two films aggregated in this new set from Arrow Video. Both of the films in this collection had 1080 releases well over a decade ago courtesy of home studio Warner Brothers Home Entertainment (see below for review links), but despite at least their cult status if not overwhelming popularity, kind of interestingly neither has been re-released with any significant technical upgrades or new special features in the interim. Arrow is providing both films in standalone 1080 and 4K editions, with their usual generous supply of on disc supplements and packaging swag.

As mentioned above, both of these first two Mortal Kombat feature films had 1080 releases many years ago, and those interested are encouraged to read Ken Brown's reviews linked to directly below, both of which contain plot information, lists of supplements and Ken's reaction to the technical presentations.

Mortal Kombat Blu-ray review

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation Blu-ray review

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow sent check discs for their 1080 releases of both films, but they did provide their retail final of their standalone Mortal Kombat Kollection 4K edition. I'm assuming that per their standard operating procedure they've provided the same insert booklet for their 1080 release, even if the following verbiage (which lumps both films together) includes obvious 4K specific terminology (as with many other prior Arrow 1080 releases that had their own standalone 4K releases):

Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation have been restored by Arrow Films. Both films are presented in their original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with 5.1 and stereo audio, and are presented in 4K resolution in HDR and Dolby Vision.

The original 35mm camera negatives were scanned at 4K / 16 bit resolution at Warner Brothers Motion Picture Imaging. The films were restored in 4K resolution and color graded at Duplitech.

The stereo and 5.1 audio mixes for Mortal Kombat were remastered by Þorsteinn Gíslason.

The new restoration of Mortal Kombat has been approved by Director Paul W.S. Anderson.

The new restoration of Mortal Kombat: Annihilation has been approved by Director John R. Leonetti.

Ken was even less pleased with the look of Warner's old 1080 presentation of this film than he was with regard to the Warner 1080 release of the first film, and unfortunately I'm going to echo that downgrade here, though both Arrow's 1080 and 4K editions certainly improve on at least some of the shoddier issues that Ken details in his review. The opening reuses some footage from the first film, which for understandable reasons doesn't look nearly as vibrant here as in the original (newly restored) version, and there is some of the same blurry, near banding appearance to the cloud effects in particular that I noted in my review of the first film. The most interesting thing here to my eyes was the rather pronounced purplish cast that is quite evident here even in SDR, though it's even more evident in the HDR / Dolby Vision grades that Arrow's 4K presentation offers. That gives a lot of the film a slightly alien look, but it also tends to slightly tint blacks toward purple as well. As with the first film, and arguably even more so, a lot of the dimly lit interior material is quite murky, something that kind of curiously is really not improved that much with the blandishments of HDR in Arrow's 4K presentation. This story is probably hobbled visually by having none of the brightly lit outdoor material of the first film, and as such shadow detail throughout is less than fulsome a lot of the time. There are a couple of brief moments of relatively normal color temperatures and bright lighting at around the 48 minute mark and then again at the very end right before the credits roll, and both of those brief moments look considerably better detailed and more natural than the bulk of the presentation. Grain can be pretty splotchy, especially in some smoke or mist laden environments. The VFX are almost comically bad at times, including the ludicrous looking climax.

Note: I recommend those interested in this release to parse the many other screenshots available in both the "Kollection" reviews (1080 and 4K), as well as the standalone reviews of both films in 4K and 1080 as I have attempted to reproduce some of the screenshots Ken uploaded to accompany his reviews. Those who take time to do this will see numerous differences, including color temperature, grain resolution and brightness values.

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The bar was set so low in terms of the video quality of Warner's old 1080 release that it's probably understandable that Ken was at least marginally more pleased with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track on that disc, and several of his comments are still salient, if at least somewhat ameliorated, in this new presentation. There is some clear engagement of the side and rear channels, and in one of the few moments where this audio presentation may outdo the original, the opening goofy theme music has even more panning than in the first film. Action sequences are still probably the most evident uses of the surround channels, but as with the first film this is often a very front anchored presentation. Also as with the first release by Warner, and perhaps indicating insurmountable issues with the original mix, there are some times when the sheer onslaught of audio effects can slightly bury dialogue, which may not be an entirely bad thing (that's a joke, folks). Otherwise, though, all spoken material, including narration, is delivered without any major issues. Optional English subtitles are available.

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentaries

Commentary by John R. Leonetti & Gillian Wallace Horvat




Commentary by Dave Baxter

• The Queen of the Night (HD; 18:29) is a 2026 interview with Musetta Vander.


• Techno, Taiko, Orcho (HD; 16:21) is a 2026 interview with composer George S. Clinton.


• The Man of a Thousand Deaths (HD; 19:56) is a 2026 interview with stunt performer J.J. Perry.


• Behind the Scenes (HD; 14:34) has some fun candid footage.


• On Set Soundbites

John Leonetti (HD; 00:53)




Lawrence Kasanoff (HD; 00:59)




Irina Pantaeva (HD; 00:39)




Lynn 'Red' Williams (HD; 1:17)




Sandra Hess (HD; 1:18)




Talisa Soto (HD; 1:02)




Robin Shou (HD; 1:14)

• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 1:30)


• TV Spots (HD; 1:18)


• Image Gallery (HD)

This is another nicely packaged Limited Edition from Arrow, with an O ring slipcover enclosing a slipbox which itself encloses two keepcases, a booklet and a double sided foldout poster. The keepcases feature reversible sleeves, and the Mortal Kombat: Annihilation keepcases holds a second double sided foldout poster. The collectors' booklet is perfect bound and contains essays by Simon Ward and John Torrani.

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's probably not much you say about Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, especially if your Mother warned you not to say anything at all if you don't have something nice to share. This is a pretty abysmal film by any stretch, but Arrow is providing fans (are there any?) with improved technical merits, enjoyable on disc supplements and some handsome packaging with fun non disc swag.