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Travis Willock reviews
New Line Home Entertainment
- Cert: PG
- Cat.no: 29244
- Running time: 104 minutes
- Year: 1993
- Pressing: 2003
- Region(s): 1, NTSC
- Chapters: 12
- Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: English
- Widescreen: 1.85:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: No
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 5
- Price: $9.99
- Extras:None
Director:
- Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel
Screenplay:
- Parker Bennett, Terry Runte, Ed Solomon
Cast:
- Mario: Bob Hoskins
Luigi: John Leguizamo
Koopa: Dennis Hopper
Daisy: Samantha Davis
Lena: Fiona Shaw
Here it is.The film that you wanted to forget and hoped it would sinkinto obscurity. It’s back and just in time for it’s tenth anniversary.
So let’s start with the obvious. Many asked why take such a classic gameand turn it into a live-action movie that has little to nothing to dowith it besides the characters? Personally I think the big wigs atHollywood Pictures bought the rights because the game was huge in theearly 90s and noone really knew how to bring it to the big screen. Butback to the film’s main problem, it’s continuity to the games, likeBatman says, the answer lies somewhere in the details.
Super Mario Bros. tells a simple story. Two plumber brothers, Marioand Luigi are barely getting by. Each job brings minimal cash and acorporate buisness is stealing their work. That all changes when Luigimeets Daisy, who he obviously falls for. Daisy just happens to be afossil digger (in Manhattan nonetheless) and upon investigating saidfossils a leak occurs. Mario and Luigi go into fix it and instead windup chasing Daisy into an alternate dimension.
This alernate dimension plays that the meteorite that killed thedinosaurs merely seperated our worlds. These dinos have evolved into aform much like our own but still possess their reptilian traits. Enterthe evil King Koopa (played by none other than Dennis Hopper, bet no fansaw tha coming) who wants to re-merge the two worlds. In order to do sohe needs Daisy’s piece of a fossilized rock to bridge them. But Marioand Luigi have taken it upon theirselves to get thru Dinohattan, rescueDaisy, and get back to Brooklyn before supper.
I’ve figured this film out. Once you hear this explantion I believeyou’ll like the film better. This movie is all about alternatedimensions, right? This is the alternate dimension to the videogameMario world. Here’s some examples. Luigi falls for Daisy, in the gameit’s Mario. The Goombas resemble giants, we all know they’re muchsmaller in the game. You’ll spot these everywhere and I think maybe thewriters knew they couldn’t do the game so they put a spin on it. This isthe alternate dimension the videogame world of Mario and it deserves asecond chance.
I remember seeing this film ten years ago and I loved it. I didn’t lookat it as a videogame film and couldn’t escape it’s fun nature. Ten yearslater and I’ve gotta tell you I loved it even more. This has cultfavorite written all over it. Just try to not be drawn in by it’s charmand fun characters – I dare you. Get past the fact that it has little tonothing to do with the game and it’s a fun time.
Buena Vista finally brings Super Mario Bros. to DVD in anon-anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer. Non-anamorphic in 2003?! Yep, getting ananamorphic transfer from one of Buena Vista’s budget titles is almostimpossible. For this reason alone I’m almost convinced that this wasmerely transferred from the laserdisc. The transfer is just OK.sometimes it shines like in Dinohattan scenes or lit rooms. Dark scenesare riddled with color smearing (mainly on fleshtones) and somecompression artifacts. This isn’t as bad as it could have been but I’vedefinitely seen better transfers.
The audio is actually one of the better 2.0 tracks I’ve heard in awhile. This film can get pretty loud at times and it shines thru.
Aside from not getting an anamorphic transfer there are no extras. Istill remember the trailer and it would have been nice to see it here.
Packaging is amaray using the film’s theatrical poster as the cover.Menus are static with the videogame Mario music playing. There are only12 chapter stops.
This is a great film and it deserves more attention than it got, and noI’m not being sarcastic. If this disc would have been priced at 30 bucksI’d say skip it. As it is this DVD is priced at a mere 10 bucks listprice. In fact most online sites are selling it for as low as 6 bucks.So pick it up and just give it another chance.
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EmailTravis Willock
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.