Review of Super Mario Bros. (1993) by C.j. O — 29 Aug 2012

This was the first movie to be based on a video and it flopped big time. Mostly due to poor marketing. The film went through a nightmarish production similar to Apocalypse Now, Baron Munchausen, Waterworld, Alien 3 and Star Wars.

The film's original directors, wife and husband Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton were fired after several weeks. Bob Hoskins had nothing nice to say about them. So one of the producers and the cinematographer took over directing from a jumbled up script.

Yes, the number 1 problem with this movie is that it acts NOTHING like the games. Instead of being set in the Mushroom Kingdom, it's set in strange Blade Runner like dimension. Surprisingly, David Snyder who was the art director on Blade Runner was the production designer for this film.

Any mushrooms to be found, well, very little. Most of the city is covered in fungus. Toad is a folk singer singing anti-Koopa songs, he gets turned into a Goomba and him and the other Goombas never get changed back. I feel sorry for them.

The Goombas themselves look ridiculous. They're giants with small heads. I suppose when the cast saw them, they thought "Those are the Goombas? Really? Yep, this movie's gonna be a hit.".

Barry Marrow, who co-wrote Rain Man wrote a draft that was very true to the games, why didn't they green light his version. But no, make why for a Blade Runner meets Jurassic Park version. Funnily, Jurassic Park and Mario came out the same year.

The only thing they got right was casting Bob Hoskins as Mario. He looks and acts the part. John Leguizamo as Luigi, not so much. The late Dennis Hopper as Bowser....... sorry, Koopa. (Why did they call him Koopa in this film and in the cartoon?) Anyway, Hopper chews the scenery. These three leads and everyone else in the cast had a miserable time making it. If you ever come across any member of the cast, do NOT, repeat, do NOT ask them about this film, unless you want a black eye.

Also, we never see Mario and Luigi in their plumbing outfits until the third act, and it's not jeans and jumpers, it's overalls...........Okay. Costume Designer Joseph Porro would later work on Resident Evil: Extinction, another movie based on a video game.

So, what do I think if it? I thought it was fun. I liked this as a kid and I like it now. Oh the shame. Oh, the shame of it all! For me, movies based on video games should belong in the "Guilty Pleasures" section. Except for Uwe Boll's movies, they're just guilty.

The sets are good, the score is good, Alan Silversti is one of my favourite composers, and there are a few references to the game, like the Bob-omb, the dinosaurs are a reference to Super Mario World, there's places called "Hammer Bros" and "Thwomp", the scene where Mario and Bowser.... sorry, Koopa are on the bridge is like in the game where you have to jump over Bowser to hit the switch, bullet bills in the stompers, a few sound effects from the game are used and so on.

Super Mario Bros is defiantly a love it- or hate it film. If you're a fan of the games, you might love or hate it. But if you're into a brainless adventure film that doesn't take itself seriously, you might have fun. Just turn off your brain and enjoy the ride.