Super Mario Bros. (1993)

Two Brooklyn plumbers, Mario and Luigi, must travel to another dimension to rescue a princess from the evil dictator King Koopa and stop him from taking over the world.

Directors:

Annabel Jankel, Rocky Morton

Writers:

Parker Bennett, Terry Runte

Stars:

Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper

Bottom Rated Movies #98 | 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bob Hoskins	...	Mario Mario
John Leguizamo	...	Luigi Mario
Dennis Hopper	...	King Koopa
Samantha Mathis	...	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

Storyline

Can you make a movie out of a video game? That's the question that is answered by this film. Mario Mario and Luigi Mario, two hard working plumbers find themselves in an alternate universe where evolved dinosaurs live in medium hi-tech squalor. They find themselves the only hope to save the Earth from invasion.

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Plot Keywords:

based on video game | plumber | dinosaur | super mario | parallel dimension | 

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Taglines:

Anything is possible, You just gotta believe in it....

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 May 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Super Mario Brothers

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$42,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$20,915,465

Company Credits

Production Co:

Allied Filmmakers,Cinergi Pictures Entertainment,Hollywood Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min 90 min (Japan) 87 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

An article in "Spy" magazine claimed that the script was being rewritten so many times during production that the actors stopped paying attention to these daily rewrites.

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Goofs

When the Mario Bros. are in the elevator with the dancing Goombas, they are wearing their specialized jump boots. When they get out of the elevator, they are wearing their normal shoes.

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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 hassling 'em. Actually, no people went around hassling 'em cuz there weren't any people yet. Just the first tiny mammals. Basically, life was good. Then something happened: a giant meteorite struck the Earth. Goodbye dinosaurs! But what if the dinosaurs weren't all destroyed? What if the impact of that meteor created a parallel dimension where the dinosaurs continued to thrive ...

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Crazy Credits

After the closing credits, some Japanese business men ask Iggy and Spike about appearing in a video game based on the incidents in the movie.

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Alternate Versions

The UK cut has different amount of both songs that appear in the end credits. The first song starts when the actual credits begin. Also "Distributed by Buena Vista Distribution, Inc." is missing in the very end and "Hollywood Pictures Presents" in the beginning (Distributed by Entertainment Films Distributors in UK)

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Connections

Featured in AniMat's Reviews: The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012)

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Soundtracks

WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
Performed by Extreme
Written by Nuno Bettencourt
Courtesy of A&M Records, Inc.

User Reviews

it's hard to deny that the film is so bizarre, it was primed for cult status from the get-go.

it's hard to deny that the film is so bizarre, it was primed for cult status from the get-go. The new Blu-ray is one of the best releases from 2014 by Second sight, featuring a stunning new transfer (better than a depressing number of all- time classics), and a hugely enjoyable new making-of documentary. Fans in the US may be disappointed the disc is locked to Region B, but anyone with a compatible player who enjoys the movie should not hesitate to pick up a copy. Highly recommended.

Rocky Morton and Annabelle Jankel's Dinohattan doesn't stray too far from dystopias like Blade Runner (in fact, production designer David L. Snyder worked on both films), but there's something infectious about seeing filmmakers allowed to reinvent source material with such wild abandon. The Goombas are no longer mushrooms but gigantic lizard men decked out in burgundy war regalia. Snyder embraces the industrial look of the film's real-life shooting locale with metal walkways, dangling power cords, and neon lighting curling around gray concrete pillars. Even the Koopahari desert is filled with strange, anonymous men in hazmat-style suits driving "sludge tankers" filled with garbage bags. All of these settings are also draped in the fungus, a string-cheese-like substance that occasionally offers power-ups to the heroes, including the iconic Bob-omb. A fun score by Alan Silvestri adds another layer of cohesion. The Super Mario Bros. movie is a good adaptation of the video game, it has a darker grittier slant than the game which.works better, good movie, it's certainly a memorable one, an ambitious failure that's far more inventive and interesting than 10 more faithful failed video game adaptation.