The behind the scenes tales of this movie are more interesting than the movie itself - feuding directors, actor injuries, raging Dennis Hopper - but that being said, this isn’t the trainwreck many have called it. Its a bit of a mess thanks to constant script rewrites and studio interference but there is some enjoyment to be had watching talented actors trying to make sense of it all.
It's so good, it's bad
I genuinely like this film. It has some cheesy moments and some of it is downright bad, but it is overall very entertaining. It is nothing like what you are expecting, but that doesn't necessarily matter. They kept things fast paced with action, music, and laughs.
It's so shit but that's what makes it so fucking funny
I work at a plumbing company so I was actually charmed by some of the plumbing jokes and they also have the same poster in their apartment that we do at work!! Meanwhile, it's classic early 90s cheese but it's not as bad as I expected!
I don't really know why this one gets so much flak. It's pretty OK. I guess it's not very faithful to the Mario games, but how the hell are you supposed to adapt the Mario games into a movie anyway?
If the trailer and the pieces of the movie i saw on YouTube are any indication than this movie is Mario and Luigi on speed from a time just before CGI became the new standard for all science fiction movies.
They tried to give the Mario brothers a "cool bad boys look" which in my opinion did not work out good since we all know (as it should be) Mario as the lovable Italian mustached plummer that always runs around rescuing the princess who got herself kidnapped again.
This movie was the beginning of a new era and sort of a tradition: the start of video game adaption movies (if you don't count the movie The Wizard from 1989 which was is essence about video gamers and not about a video game in particular) and the tradition where movies based on video games usually (with a few exceptions here and there) are much worse than was anticipated beforehand.
From what i saw its bad. Really bad. So bad that in a way it becomes good again, but only for people who can laugh and have a good time by ironically watching something so gut-wrenching bad as this movie.
My advice? Put it on your watchlist and when you are extremely bored out of your mind and can't think of anything better to do than to go outside and watch the grass grow, watch this movie instead. Thats what i am gonna do. It may take a week, or 10 years, but i hereby vow that some day this movie will have a scrobble banner in my account here on Trakt....
:heart: x6
I just rewatched this movie - was feeling a little nostalgic. I remember this movie as being really bad, and stupid, and silly, and bad.
However, upon further review, it really wasnt all that bad after all. It was kinda fun. Silly - absolutely. Even dumb at times. But actually quite enjoyable. I even upgraded my rating of this movie.
How I rate:
1-3 :heart: = seriously! don't waste your time
4-6 :heart: = you may or may not enjoy this
7-8 :heart: = I expect you will like this too
9-10 :heart: = movies and TV shows I really love!
Super Mario Bros. movie it's a great reminder that just because a video game is popular doesn't mean it should be made into a movie
I remember watching this in The Theatres as a kid..I seen it two day after it came out I was probably like 7 or 8 and I remember there was barely anyone in The Theatre..I was glad that I seen it as a kid..Watching it now as I’m older it’s probably wack..I seen some YouTube Videos talking about the making of the movie and how there was many many issues with making it and Nintendo didn’t want the movie to come out and a whole bunch of mess…Everytime I see the movie poster it looks so hype but too bad the movie wasn’t good..I don’t mind watching it now tho it’s kind of funny to me cause it so shit..It shouldn’t of even been called Super Mario the movie lol…
The first film based on the Super Mario games is really as bad as its reputation. Maybe you can still find something to like about it on an ironic level, but even that only works to a limited extent. "Super Mario Bros." is pure trash that has almost nothing to do with the games. It's no wonder that Nintendo refrained from adapting its own works to film afterward.
Morton-Jankel Cut, was a couple of things that added some new context and were interesting. I think initially I was too hard on the movie. There were some things they clearly did wrong but there were things they did okay and few done right as well.
Level "Good Shit" • 6 :poop: • Recommended.
Directors cut with deleted scenes released in June 2021: https://archive.org/details/super-mario-bros-1993-the-morton-jankel-cut-extended-vhs
Despite it's clunky story, undeveloped characters, and not being faithful to the source material by any stretch, it still holds a special place in my heart. But even so, as a movie on it's own, it's a visual marvel. The underground dystopian city that King Koopa and his minions live is straight out of Tim Burton's Batman, and it's one of the most gorgeous cities ever, even on the same level as Blade Runner. Some of the jokes are cringy, but they're fun in a nostalgic kind of way. I might be a bit biased, and no, it's not a great movie that I'd recommend to normal people, but I still enjoy it. At least check out some of the scenes with clear views of the city. Also, the poster is fucking awesome. It's pure 90's.
The likable cast makes you want to like it. Mario Brothers just isn’t nice to look at. It is like they got a bunch of scrap metal together from a junk yard to make it.
Mario Brothers is an ambitious and entertaining bad movie. Despite Bob Hoskins and John Leguazno being different nationalities. With neither of them Italian. They have chemistry and are fun together.
The movie still feels like the director never actually played the video game though.
Review by Jitse LemmensBlockedParent2018-04-02T13:48:59Z
I saw this movie in the cinema as a kid and at the time I liked it simply cause it was Mario. It didn't really make any sense at the time and it only vaguely resembled the games I played but hey... It was Mario right?
Clearly made in the time when dinosaurs were all the rage (thanks to and right on the heels of Jurrassic Park) we follow real life Mario and Luigi go down to... a weird dimension that resembles a mish-mash between cheap blade runner, 1984 and total recall. All your beloved characters like Toad and Goomba's are played by real life actors that only resemble the character in name. The mere fact Mario's and Luigi's surnames is Mario (cuz Mario Brothers yanno!?) says enough... How Nintendo every greenlighted this is byond me but there's a lot of interesting reading on how this movie came to be. It's clear the people in charge didn't know what Super Mario was at all and just read some of the footnotes to make a movie about.
I'm showing this movie to my two -5 year olds who are big Mario fans and they don't get it it either but it is what it is... A Mario movie... kinda... a little... ok...