What is it like to watch the surreal 1993 “Super Mario Bros”. Movie

If you’ve never seen it or, like me, just forgot about it, the “Super Mario Bros.” The film is the story of two plumber brothers named “Mario Mario” and “Luigi Mario”. But it’s hardly anything like the Mario brothers you know from games.

At no point in the film does Bob Hoskins say, “It’s me, Mario!”

Together they operate the “Mario Bros. Plumbing Service”. Although the concept of Mario and Luigi as plumbers quickly faded in 1993, the “Super Mario Bros.” The film took the concept of Mario and Luigi as plumbers and ran with it.

The brothers’ sense of plumbing is a central point of the film’s plot and repeatedly allows them to overcome conflicts.

Unlike our reality, where the human connection to our ape ancestors is tenuous at best, the Koopa world’s connection to the dinosaurs is much more intimate – to the point where Dennis Hopper even stands like a dinosaur with his arms perched throughout. of the movie.

There are also dinosaurs throughout the film, naturally.

“We knew the game [‘Super Mario World’] and we knew one of its areas was Dino World, ”one of the film’s directors, Rocky Morton, reportedly told Dinosaur magazine. “So we thought it would be a great place to go. The alternative dimension of the film is well known. by fans as “Dinohattan”.

Small references to the game series are strewn throughout the film world, including “Thwomp Stompers,” seen here.

Beyond the fundamental issues of the film’s relationship with games, the film is everywhere. The logic of dialogue and intrigue is a mess from scene to scene, and much of it feels like disconnected moments.

Why are Mario and Luigi wearing these overalls, other than to refer to the outfits of the characters in the game?

The fact that “Super Mario Bros.” is such a mess, however, that’s what makes it so pleasing to the eye. It’s a movie full of so many incomprehensible and confusing moments that you’ll start to wonder if this is in fact an elaborate social test.

You can distinguish this Goomba from others because of its harmonica. Before he was transformed into Goomba his name was “Toad” and he was a street musician and sang about how bad President Koopa was. And yes, it’s a reference to the character Toad from the game series.

Are there elaborate dance numbers? Yes. Does an adult woman stab Yoshi with a knife intended for stabbing? Yes. Is the villain’s primary weapon a modified version of the Light Gun Super Scope device for the Super Nintendo? You bet! Frankly, I cannot suggest this enough.

There’s even a lengthy chase scene where Mario and a group of Brooklyn women ride a mattress down a pipe as a Goombas mattress chases after. Notice the woman still holding her cigarette.

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to stream the film, and the only copies available are on DVD and Blu-ray. There is a fan-made “Director’s Cut” of the film available for free on the Internet Archive, and it contains more scenes than the theatrical release.

You can find the “director’s cut” of the film on the Internet Archive. This is not the official director’s cut, but rather a fan-made cut from the film with found footage.

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