movies/tv The Super Mario Bros. movie.

[Ron Jeremy 2,032]

Super Mario Bros.

 

The 1993 film.

 

Many people dislike this film, for many reasons. But does it really deserve the bad rap it gets?

 

The main complaint people have with the film is that it doesn’t follow the plot of the games. That’s understandable for people to complain about, right? The most obvious thing you would want the film to do is be faithful to it’s source material. It’s just common sense. Or so you would think.

 

Here is an excerpt from an official Nintendo publication (The Official Nintendo Player’s Guide), that is the “plot” or Super Mario Bros.

 

“One day the Koopa tribe, led by the powerful sorcerer, Bowser, invaded the peaceful Mushroom kingdom. The Mushroom people were ruled by a good king and queen. Although these gentle people fought together against the Koopa, they were defeated and turned into horsetails, shoots, bricks, rocks and other things. The only one who can release them from Bowser's magical spell and return life to the ruined Mushroom Kingdom, is Toadstool, the princess of the kingdom. But princess Toadstool was captured and imprisoned in the dungeon of a faraway castle. When Mario heard this story, he felt sorry for the Mushroom tribe. So, he's about to start a long, torturous journey to rescue the princess and help restore peace to the Kingdom of the Mushrooms.”

 

This film was made in America. And so, if they had actually followed the “plot” of Super Mario Bros. the game, it would have ended up featuring Bowser as a stereotype witch doctor, the Koopas as stereotype tribals, and a bunch of horsetails, bricks, rocks and other things laying around. Does that sound better than the Super Mario Bros. film we have? I don’t think so.

 

Now, you may say “But what I wanted was a film that followed the game’s plot!”.

 

Tell me, what is the plot of Super Mario Bros.? It’s a plumber (and his brother, if playing 2 player) jumping over obstacles and repeatedly entering the wrong castles to search for a princess. You can’t make a film out of that. It would just be watching an actor jump over bricks and stomping on turtles and brown mushrooms for the length of a film. Sounds boring, right?

 

The other games vary the plot slightly, but the same thing remains: The Mario series is not a story-driven one. The little story it has, even with all the games released by 1993 put in consideration, does not even come close to being properly adaptable to a screenplay.

 

So, what are they left to do? Nintendo wants a Super Mario Bros. film made, but there’s barely anything to work with. So what can they do to try to make something like Super Mario Bros. entertaining to the viewer, and not just essentially watching somebody play the game?

 

Artistic license.

 

The Super Mario Bros. film is not a terrible film. There are far worse films out there by far. It’s case is unfortunate: Since it bears the name of a beloved video game, people expected something entirely different. They went in with the wrong mindset, and as a result, it bombed.

 

But, let’s look at the film for a moment, pretending it has no affiliation with the Super Mario Bros. game:

 

A couple plumbers living in Brooklyn are being driven out of business by a ruthless competitor, Scapelli. One of the brothers falls in love with a student conducting an archaeological dig under the Brooklyn bridge, named Daisy. Scapelli’s men sabotage the dig site by leaving water pipes open, and while the brothers are fixing the pipes they are knocked out by a couple strange men and Daisy is kidnapped and dragged to another dimension. The brothers must rescue her.

 

Sounds like an interesting film, right? As long as it has decent acting, a good musical score, and great effects? These are all things the Super Mario Bros. film has going for it.

 

Now, I’m not saying the film is perfect, but it doesn’t deserve the bad reputation it gets. The acting is great, the effects are superb for the time, it tries it’s best, and all and all it’s an entertaining film, its biggest problem being that it became a popular thing to hate.

 

If you’re interested, you might try watching the movie again, with a different mindset. If you have never seen the movie before, you could at least try watching it before forming an opinion.

[FLARE 951]

I've never seen it, but it actually does sound like a good movie to watch, I might watch it one day...

but yeah, seems silly that the fans would complain about inconstant plot, seeing as the game had next to none.

[SrFrog 926]

I never truly understood why there's so much hate for this movie, it was fun for what it was. It was campy, over the top fun and like you said it's kind of difficult to work around something with little source material. The movie never took itself to seriously and that's what made it fun, unlike The Double Dragon movie.

[Discolt 53]

It's one of my favorite movies from my childhood. I still don't get why people hate it so much. I think it's a fun film.

Edited February 29, 2012 by Discolt

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

I loved this movie! I found it fun, entertaining, and overall enjoyed the plot. I think I should go rewatch it sometime soon reading this. And I think you make some very excellent points, Roop. Very good post. That's pretty much probably why people hate it, I think. I myself never truly understood why it was hated until you made these points.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

I thought it was pretty entertaining and funny! I have it on DVD, too.

[Senn555 242]

I remember Bob Hoskins quoting this movie as saying it was the absolute worst acting experience he ever had, and that trying to work with the production crew, directors/producers/etc. was a nightmare.

 

I never understood the hate for this movie either - when I first found out this movie existed (a decade ago, when I was 10), I didn't expect it to be an exact copy of the games it was based on. I enjoyed it then, and I still enjoy it now.

 

It would have been nice if the DVD had been a bit more than a bare-bones release, but I can't imagine anyone who worked on this wants to talk about its production nearly 20 years later. Maybe I'm wrong... IMDb does have a bunch of storyboard sketches, however.

 

I also want Alan Silvestri's score to be released on CD. I actually own a copy of that bootleg CD that has the Super Mario Bros. / No Mercy scores on it, which is apparently limited to 500 units... but the score really needs a remaster and a public, legitimate, officially licensed release.

 

I'm referring to this, by the way:

http://www.soundtrack.net/albums/database/?id=1642

http://themushroomkingdom.net/mania/albums/nmsmb

Edited February 29, 2012 by Senn555

[Ron Jeremy 2,032]

I'm touched by all the fans of the movie. I see it get a lot of hate on the intertubes. Nice to see so many people who actually like the movie in one place.

@Sen555: That's so rare, I never heard of it until your post. How exactly did you get something like that?

[PlNKlE PIE 363]

This film isn't the atrocity the majority makes it out to be. When approached about it, yeah, most will criticize it for deviating from the (almost nonexistent) story of the original game.

 

As a kid, despite catching the tremendous differences from the games, I enjoyed watching it, and still do. It isn't a replication of the games, yet it's still entertaining and makes for a good laugh when contrasting between itself and them; comparable to the old animated Mario Bros. series. Both the movie and cartoons are very different from the games for which they were based, but those differences are what make them entertaining.

 

But I digress... If you're looking for a near-perfect film adaptation of the first Mario game, there is one. Produced in the year following SMB's release, "SMB: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach," was an obscure anime movie that did a great job at capturing the essence of the Bros. initial Mushroom Kingdom adventure. Of course, anything is possible through animation. One could not say the same about live action in 1993.

[Senn555 242]

@Sen555: That's so rare, I never heard of it until your post. How exactly did you get something like that?

 

I found out about it five years ago and bought it off eBay. I forget how much I paid for it... $40?

[Tom The Diamond 1,828]

Just gonna...

 

Pop this in here.

 

There we go, and now I'm off!

[Gyruss 125]

This movie really was great.  I haven't seen it in a long time and I still remember a lot of the scenes.  I kinda want to reminisce on them, actually, by listing my three favorite scenes.

1.  Police car chase.

2.  Big Bertha at the Boom-Boom Bar.  It's so delightful to hear the music change from the slow "Love is a Drug" to "Everybody Walk The Dinosaur!"

3.  The icy pipe chase on mattresses.

Honorable Mention:  Luigi using the bob-omb.

Honestly it's a movie I'd absolutely love to see again.  Heck, when I first watched it as a kid I didn't even know it was hated.  I was just a kid trying to enjoy a movie.

Edit:  Yay 40th post.

Edited March 7, 2014 by Gyruss

[Midnight Dragon 264]

I personally find it to be "so bad it's fun". And give it some credit--at least it's far better than Video Brinquedo...

 

(I also thought Luigi was cute in that movie :3)

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,329]

All I've seen is the nostalgia critic's review on it. It does have stupid moments like Mario's last name being Mario. I do know one thing, the mario cartoon sucks.

[Khaoios 1,970]

I'm gonna be honest, as a fan of Super Mario Bros.  I disliked the film, myself, and even Bob Hoskins, himself, stated that he regrets ever being in that film.   He's a Super Mario Bros. fan too.  

 

 

Btw, if you think Super Mario Bros. movie was bad, anyone recall that horrible Street Fight film, with Van Damme?  (I want to leave Raul Julia out, because he did an excellent job as Bison.  RIP).

[Steve Piranha 28,778]

Can’t really put an opinion since I’ve watched it by parts a handful of times as a child . Hell, I wasn’t even 10 last time I did . Anyway, there’s an animated movie coming, supervised by Miyamoto . But Twitter is already hating on it because casting Chris Pratt as Mario is triggering them 

[ZiggWheelsManning 7,366]

Which shows it needs an actual Italian guy to play Mario.