Super Mario Bros. (film)
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| Super Mario Bros. | |
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| Directed by | Rocky Morton Annabel Jankel Roland Joffé (uncredited) |
| Produced by | Jake Eberts Roland Joffé |
| Written by | Parker Bennett Terry Runte Ed Solomon |
| Narrated by | Dan Castellaneta |
| Starring | Bob Hoskins John Leguizamo Dennis Hopper Samantha Mathis Fisher Stevens Richard Edson Fiona Shaw Dana Kaminski Mojo Nixon Gianni Russo Francesca P. Roberts Lance Henriksen Desiree Marie Velez Don Lake |
| Music by | Alan Silvestri |
| Cinematography | Dean Semler |
| Editing by | Mark Goldblatt |
| Studio | Cinergi Pictures Allied Filmmakers Lightmotive |
| Distributed by | Hollywood Pictures (USA) Entertainment Film Distributors (UK) Dimension Films (sales), Umbrella Entertainment (Current, Australia under license from Nintendo Australia Pty Ltd) |
| Release date(s) | United States/Canada: May 28, 1993 Australia: June 10, 1993 United Kingdom: July 9, 1993 Japan: July 10, 1993 |
| Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United States United Kingdom Canada Japan |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $42 million |
| Gross revenue | $20,915,465 (USA) |
Super Mario Bros. is a 1993 science fiction adventure film loosely based on the video game of the same name and its entire franchise. The film follows the exploits of Mario (Bob Hoskins) and his brother Luigi (John Leguizamo) in a comical dystopia ruled by King Koopa (Dennis Hopper). The film's plot, which has a darker tone than the game's franchise, features Mario and Luigi as the main protagonists, with Mario leading the team and Luigi developing a romance with Princess Daisy.
Super Mario Bros. was a critical and commercial failure upon its release in the United States. Harsh criticism was aimed at the film's darker atmosphere and its inaccuracies compared to the game's franchise. Despite its negative reception, the film was nominated for two Saturn Awards (one for Best Costume, the other for Best Make-up).
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[edit] Plot
The story concerns Mario Mario and Luigi Mario, two Italian American plumber brothers living in Brooklyn, New York who are being driven out of business by the mafia-like Scapelli Construction Company. Mario is the elder of the two, being close to the late 40s, and Luigi is about in his early-mid 20s. Luigi falls in love with an orphaned NYU student, Daisy, who is digging under the Brooklyn Bridge for dinosaur bones. After a date, she takes Luigi to the dig and witnesses Scapelli's men (who, along with Scapelli himself, had previously threatened her to end her research on that specific piece of land for their own interests) sabotage it by leaving the water-pipes open. Luigi tries to stop it but he does not have his tools on him so he can not fix it. They rush back to his apartment where they inform Mario about the incident. The three go back to the flooding and the Mario Bros. manage to fix it but are knocked out by two strange characters, Iggy and Spike. The two crooks kidnap Daisy.
Mario and Luigi awaken a minute later and head deeper into the caves following Daisy's screaming and discover an interdimensional portal through which Mario and Luigi follow Daisy. They find themselves in a strange dystopian parallel world where a human-like race evolved from dinosaurs rather than the mammalian ancestry of true humans. 65 million years ago a meteorite crashed into the Earth and in doing so ripped the universe into two parallel dimensions. All the surviving dinosaurs of the time crossed over into this new realm before being sealed there forever. Iggy and Spike turn out to be lackeys (and cousins) of the other world's germophobic and obsessive dictator, King Koopa, descended from the T-Rex. However, the two have failed to also bring Daisy's rock, a meteorite fragment which Koopa is trying to get in order to merge his world with the real world that separated from Koopa's world during the meteor strike. It turns out that Daisy is the princess of the other dimension but when Koopa overthrew Daisy's father (and turned him into fungus), Daisy's mother took her to New York using the interdimensional portal. The portal was then destroyed (killing Daisy's mother in the process), but when Scapelli was blasting at the cave, the portal was reopened. When Koopa hears about the re-opening of the portal, he sends Spike and Iggy to find Daisy and the rock in order to merge the dimensions and make Koopa dictator of both worlds. Spike and Iggy, however, who had grown more intelligent after being subjected to one of Koopa's experiments, decide to turn on Koopa and join forces with Mario and Luigi. Koopa thinks only Daisy can merge the worlds. It turns out Mario and Luigi were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Lucky for Daisy, the plumbers were persistent in finding her.
During the big finale, the worlds merge, during which Scapelli gets his comeuppance when Koopa devolves him into a primate by mistake while aiming for Mario, but Luigi and Daisy take back the rock and the worlds separate. Mario gains his heroic courage and fights Koopa and eventually wins when he and Luigi devolve him, transforming him into a ferocious, semi-humanoid Tyrannosaurus. Koopa then leaps out for one last attack but Mario and Luigi devolve him into primeval slime, destroying him. The brothers save the two worlds from a cruel dictator and Daisy's father (Lance Henriksen) turns back to normal and reclaims control over the kingdom stating he "loves those plumbers". The citizens destroy anything involving Koopa. As the brothers return home, Luigi and Daisy admit their love for one another but Daisy cannot return to New York until the damage done by Koopa is reversed and she spends more time with her father. Mario rephrases Daisy's words to Luigi but he doesn't care. A deeply hurt and saddened Luigi passionately kisses her goodbye and the two Mario Bros. go back to New York, while Daisy, along with Yoshi and Toad, all watch them leave. About three weeks later, Daisy returns for Mario and Luigi's help in fighting more villains. Meanwhile, Mario and Luigi's story is televised, giving them their name "Super Mario Bros."
After the end credits, two Nintendo executives talk about a video game based on their adventures but they are asking Iggy and Spike instead of the Super Mario Bros. and they decide on a title called "The Super Koopa Cousins".
[edit] Characters
- Bob Hoskins as Mario Mario - The elder of the two Mario Brothers. In the movie it's explained that Mario had apparently raised Luigi as they are both presumably orphans.
- John Leguizamo as Luigi Mario - Mario's younger, eccentric and excitable brother.
- Samantha Mathis as Princess Daisy - The princess of the parallel dimension who was raised in an orphanage.
- Dennis Hopper as King Koopa - The main antagonist and dictator of Dinohattan who wants to merge the dimensions in order to exploit Earth's resources.
- Fiona Shaw as Lena - Koopa's personal assistant.
- Fisher Stevens and Richard Edson as Iggy and Spike Koopa (respectively) - Koopa's bungling lackeys and cousins.
- Gianni Russo as Anthony Scapelli - The head contractor of the Scapelli Construction Company and sworn business rival of the Mario Bros.
- Francesca Roberts as Big Bertha - Named after a large Cheep-Cheep from Super Mario Bros. 3, she is the bouncer of the Boom-Boom bar.
- Mojo Nixon as Toad - A friendly street performer with a Texan accent, later turned into a Goomba.
- Lance Henriksen as the King - Daisy's father.
[edit] Reception
[edit] Critical response
The film was originally a drastic box office failure upon its release. It only managed to gross less than $21 million, less than half of its $42 million budget. The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics and fans alike and was denounced by critics as "cheesy" and lacking any sort of coherent plot. On the television show Siskel & Ebert, the film received two thumbs down.[1] Fans denounced the movie for having very little to do with the video game series and distorting many established facts about the fictional game world. For instance, in the movie President Koopa (Bowser) is a humanoid descendant of a Tyrannosaurus rex, whereas he is a monstrous, fire-breathing turtle king in the games. Toad is depicted as a human, and then a reptilian being in the film, instead of a mushroom as he is in the video games (although in the film he is turned into a Goomba, which, in the video game series, is a traitor of the Mushroom Kingdom). However, Toad still seemed to remember his strong dislike of King Koopa, as he opposed the other Goombas later in the movie.
Another complaint about the film was the slightly dark atmosphere, which deviated from the family-friendly works of the hugely successful video games. Additionally, the lesser known princess from the video game series, Princess Daisy, was portrayed in the film instead of Princess Peach; in particular, Daisy has appeared in the 1989 Game Boy game Super Mario Land and later in some other minor roles, whereas Peach has been present in nearly every game in the series. The Nostalgia Critic did a negative review of the movie, complaining how the movie was nothing like the games, and lambasted Dennis Hopper as giving the worst performance and lines (which he believed lead to a supposed decline in his career).[2]
Despite the negative reviews, the film's cast was nonetheless praised for delivering solid performances. Bob Hoskins was particularly praised for his role as Mario, along with Dennis Hopper, leading the latter to land in villainous roles for more successful films such as Speed, Waterworld, and the 1998 Disney comedy Meet the Deedles as a villain similar to Koopa. John Leguizamo's and Samantha Mathis' performances were also well-received; Leguizamo would move on to comedic roles in more successful productions. Also, the film was nominated for two Saturn Awards (one for Best Costume, the other for Best Make-up).
[edit] Legacy
The film states that both Mario and Luigi's last name is Mario (hence the Mario Bros.), giving rise to the idea that they are named Mario Mario and Luigi Mario. However, Nintendo has publicly stated that Mario and Luigi do not have last names in the official canon.[3] Also, in a Nintendo Power article about New Super Mario Bros., a timeline of Mario's history could be seen at the bottom of the page. The Super Mario Bros. movie was mentioned, only with the words, "Yes, it happened. Let us speak no more of it."[4] Recently, in the Nintendo Power 20th anniversary retrospective issue, as they chronicled the games and other related releases over the magazine's life span, the "Super Mario Bros" movie's release was listed, to which the issue stated that, while neither the film nor its cast and crew won any awards, the fact that the movie was made shows how much the game series has impacted popular culture.[5] The film has become a cult classic amongst fans.
However, in spite of its cult film status, some of the cast members are still displeased about the film. Bob Hoskins, despite being well-known for his role, did not approve of his experience working on the film, or the film itself. (During the filming of a chase scene, for instance, Hoskins had suffered a minor hand injury in an accident with a vehicle, and therefore had to wear a pink-painted cast afterwards.) [6] In an August 2007 interview with The Guardian, he complained, "The worst thing I ever did? Super Mario Brothers"[7]. In a December 2008 interview, Dennis Hopper admitted he was also displeased with the project (Hopper's work weeks expanded from five weeks to seventeen), but was able to impress his son who saw the film.[8] Shigeru Miyamoto, Mario's creator stated, "[In] the end, it was a very fun project that they put a lot of effort into," but also said, "The one thing that I still have some regrets about is that the movie may have tried to get a little too close to what the Mario Bros. videogames were. And in that sense, it became a movie that was about a videogame, rather than being an entertaining movie in and of itself."[9] In 2009, Time listed the film on their respective lists of top ten worst video game movies.[10]
[edit] Game references
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Though only indirectly connected to the video games, the movie includes numerous in-jokes relating to the Mario Bros. franchise. The parallel world is referred to by President Koopa as a Mushroom Kingdom, due to the de-evolved king growing himself all over the city.
Also references are made to various items and enemy-characters from the games. The charges used for the boots resemble Bullet Bills. The sound that the boots make when they are activated is the exact sound from the games when Mario takes a hit and dies.
The Junkyard workers are referred to as, and look like the video game incarnations of Snifits. Though Goombas appear in the film, they are shown to be de-evolved citizens of the city who are unintelligent, muscular, and have small (in relation to their body-size) reptilian heads. A Bob-omb is used prominently near the end of the film after being spotted twice before.
Many characters also reference elements of the games. Big Bertha is a big woman at the Boom Boom Bar. Big Bertha was the name used for the giant red fish in Super Mario Bros. 3, and likewise, this woman dresses in red. Furthermore, Boom-Boom was the name of the enemy boss at the end of every fortress in Super Mario Bros. 3. The character Iggy is named after one of Bowser's eight children while Spike is the name of a spiked ball-throwing enemy from Super Mario Bros. 3.
Several neon signs displayed in a wide shot of the city read names of Mario characters/enemies. These include Thwomp, Bullet Bills, Hammer Bros. tattoos, and Ostro (ostrich character from Super Mario Bros. 2). Also, when Daisy is first captured, she is forced into a taxi. The sign on top of the taxi says "Wiggler" (an enemy from Super Mario World).
The King's transformation back into human form at the end of the film is a reference to the end of each world in Super Mario Bros. 3 where the king of that world changes back into his normal form after the defeat of a Koopaling.
Yoshi appears in the film as an actual dinosaur, with the appearance of a diminutive Tyrannosaurus; there is one scene that shows his 6 foot long tongue. Mojo Nixon also has a role in the film, playing a human folk singer named Toad in the dinosaur world. When President Koopa is talking to one of the policemen about the Devo Guns, the sound effect of getting an extra life at the end of a level in the game can be heard in the background.
After the end credits in the movie, two Japanese businessmen are seen proposing a deal to make videogames based on someone's adventures. Iggy and Spike are shown to be the people they're proposing the deal to. Iggy suggests the game should be called Iggy's World, while Spike suggests that the game should be called The Indomitable Spike. Both of them then agree that the game should be called The Super Koopa Cousins.
[edit] Soundtrack
| Super Mario Brothers | |
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| Soundtrack by Various | |
| Released | 1993 |
| Label | Capitol |
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The soundtrack, released on Capitol Records, featured two songs from Roxette: "Almost Unreal" which was released as a single, and "2 Cinnamon Street", a new edit of Roxette's "Cinnamon Street". The music video for "Almost Unreal" was inspired by the movie, featuring scenes from the movie and a de-evolution theme. "Almost Unreal" was originally written for the film Hocus Pocus but was never used and ended up attached to the Mario movie instead. The change angered Roxette co-founder Per Gessle[11]. The film's score was composed by Alan Silvestri. It has not been officially released, though bootleg copies do exist.
George Clinton (who covered the Was (Not Was) song - "Walk The Dinosaur") released a single in 1993 that contained various other versions of the same song, including a Club Remix, a "Funky Goomba" Remix, "Goomba Dub Mix" including an Instrumental version.)
[edit] Track listing
- "Almost Unreal" - Roxette
- "Love Is the Drug" - Divinyls (cover of a song by Roxy Music)
- "Walk the Dinosaur" - The Goombas (cover of a song by Was (Not Was))
- "I Would Stop the World" - Charles and Eddie
- "I Want You" - Marky Mark
- "Where Are You Going?" - Extreme
- "Speed of Light" - Joe Satriani
- "Breakpoint" - Megadeth
- "Tie Your Mother Down" - Queen
- "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" - Us3
- "Don't Slip Away" - Tracie Spencer
- "2 Cinnamon Street" - Roxette
- "Somewhere My Love" - Frankie Yankovic
[edit] References
- ^ Siskel & Ebert
- ^ http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/187-super-mario-brothers-the-movie
- ^ "Nintendo 1988 Inside Edition TV news report with Super Mario". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGFRi_ueq-M. Retrieved 2006-11-10.
- ^ Nintendo Power Vol. 203, May 2006
- ^ "20 Years of Nintendo Power"
- ^ "Super Mario Bros. (1993) - Trivia". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108255/trivia. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ MIYAMOTO: THE INTERVIEW - Edge Online
- ^ "Top 10 Worst Video Game Movies". Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1851626_1851846_1851642,00.html. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
- ^ liner notes to Roxette album, Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus!
[edit] External links
- Super Mario Bros. at the Internet Movie Database
- Super Mario Bros. at Allmovie
- Super Mario Bros. at Rotten Tomatoes
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