Super Mario Bros. (1993)

Directors:

Annabel Jankel
Rocky Morton

Writers (WGA):

Parker Bennett (written by) &
Terry Runte (written by) ...

Release Date:

28 May 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

This Ain't No Game, It's a Live-Action Thrill Ride!

Plot:

The Marios rush to save a princess from Koopa.

Plot Keywords:

Mario | Dinosaur | Plumber | King | Princess

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Bob Hoskins	...	Mario Mario
John Leguizamo	...	Luigi Mario
Dennis Hopper	...	King Koopa
Samantha Mathis	...	Princess Daisy
Fisher Stevens	...	Iggy
Richard Edson	...	Spike
Fiona Shaw	...	Lena
Dana Kaminski	...	Daniella
Mojo Nixon	...	Toad
Gianni Russo	...	Scapelli
Francesca P. Roberts	...	Bertha
Lance Henriksen	...	The King
Sylvia Harman	...	Old Lady
Desiree Marie Velez	...	Angelica
Andrea Powell	...	Brooklyn Girl

Also Known As:

Super Mario Brothers (USA) (alternative spelling)
Super Mario Brothers: The Movie (USA) (original script title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for sci-fi action, mild language and sensuality.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:L (original rating) | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:All | Philippines:G | Finland:K-12 | Finland:K-3 (DVD rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Québec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Germany:12 | Mexico:A | Norway:10 | Peru:PT | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Screen Gems Studios - 1223 North 23rd Street, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Allied Filmmakers

Trivia:

First film ever based on a video game.

Goofs:

Continuity: After the brothers steal a police car the text on the side is momentarily reversed, showing the shot was mirrored.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: A long long time ago, the Earth was ruled by dinosaurs. They were big, so not a lot of people went around hassing 'em. Actually, no people went around hassling 'em cuz there weren't any people yet. Just the first tiny mammals. Basically, life was good...

Movie Connections:

References Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988) (VG)

Soundtrack:

I WANT YOU

A "Super" Movie

I love this movie. I don't understand why critics and video game fans seem to loathe it. The biggest complaint seems to be that it isn't like the video game. But what was the story of the 1985 Super Mario Bros. game? Koopa has kidnapped Princess Toadstool, and Mario and Luigi must rescue her. To me, that story seems pretty shallow and lacking in creative content. But the game itself is a brilliantly fun, colorful, and challenging classic, with wonderful, catchy music, which is quoted at the movie's opening.

Perhaps this movie's biggest challenge was that the video game's story was so simple that the possibilities for a movie adaptation were virtually endless. Filmmakers could've taken this project in several different directions. And the direction that we have seen is a world in which the meteorite that supposedly killed all the dinosaurs 65 million years ago created a parallel dimension in which dinosaurs evolved into human-like beings—reptiles with hair. While the plausibility and scientific accuracy of some of the story's details may be questionable, it's only a sci-fi action-comedy, and yet, one of its greatest attributes is that it reminds us humans that we are animals who evolved from monkeys. The movie actually draws inspiration from several Mario Bros. video games, including Super Mario World, which introduces Yoshi, and Super Mario Land, which introduces Princess Daisy. After all, the name Toadstool wouldn't have worked as easily in a movie.

The cast works well in this movie, and I can't imagine anyone playing a better Mario than Bob Hoskins. I am truly thankful that his voice doesn't sound anything like the stereotypical Italian voice used in the later games: "It's-a me, Mario! Let's-a go!" John Leguizamo's performance as Luigi is so charismatic that he doesn't even need the moustache. And he delivers some of the movie's funniest lines, such as when he asks Princess Daisy, "Do you eat?" This film gives Samantha Mathis a much needed lead role as the story's heroine. Dennis Hopper plays a funny, quirky, obsessive-compulsive villain, without being unnecessarily over-the-top. This film would have suffered greatly if he had been replaced by an animated, animatronic, or computer-generated dinosaur resembling the Bowser Koopa from the games.

One of the greatest aspects of this movie is its atmosphere. The dinosaurs' parallel dimension is a beautifully dark and surreal world, full of eye-dazzling sets and characters with bizarre costumes and makeup, as well as dozens of references to the video games. And because of all the scenes from our dimension, every time I see this movie, I want to visit Brooklyn. My understanding is that many video game fans would prefer to see an animated or computer-generated Mario Bros. movie, and at best, it could've been a good film, but then again, it could've been an 80-minute-long commercial. Making a live-action adaptation of a side-scrolling platform video game was obviously a challenge, but the result is a creative, original, and fun movie that could never be replaced by an animation. A movie that strictly adhered to every detail of the games could have easily lacked the human depth and imagination shown in this film.

Just like any movie Super Mario Bros. is not without its faults. Some of the dialogue is about as convincing as the dialogue from Star Wars: Episode II and Episode III, but the funny and memorable lines shine through: "You know what I love about mud? It's clean, and it's dirty at the same time." The special effects aren't always seamless, but this wasn't Hollywood's biggest-budget project in 1993. And, of course, some of the jokes are just plain corny. But the characters' simple, awkward, human foolishness brings some of the movie's funniest moments. Part of my fondness for this movie may be simply due to nostalgia; I've been a video game fan since years before this movie came out. My favorites have always been Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog. I'm not concerned with whether this film deserves an Oscar, but I still say it's a "Super" movie.