O2D
I've seen a lot of bad movies and this is right up there with the worst of them. Considering that it had a big budget and well known actors, there's no excuse for it to be this bad. First of all, it doesn't really have anything to do with the video game except that they are trying to rescue the princess. Even though they don't even know that she is a princess. Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo as the Mario Bros. was a ridiculous idea. They are literally the least Italian people in the entire movie. At one point Leguizamo even starts using the French pronunciation of Mario. There's no gold coins. Our princess isn't in another castle. There aren't even any castles. Even if you don't care that it has nothing to do with the video game, it's just a terrible movie. Bad plot, bad acting, bad everything. This movie should never be seen by anyone.
faroutsonoflung
This tale of a parallel dimension inhabited by creatures evolved from dinosaurs and ruled by an evil lizard king stirs the imagination and returns viewers to the type of wide-eyed wonder they had as kids. As a child I instantly looked up to Luigi (John Leguizamo) as the most genuine and innocent character ever, someone who I wanted to be like, and laughing at the antics he experienced with the legendary Bob Hoskins as Mario. What a perfect fit these two were for their roles. "Three BUCKS?!? Everybody's got tap water...!" Spike & Iggy are a blast, as are my favourite villainous couple, King Koopa and Lena. There are so many great lines that it is difficult to choose just one, but even as an adult and watching SMB:TM for the first time again in literally 20 years, I still burst out laughing when Koopa grabs Luigi's neck with his hands and screams "You knowwww what I'm talking abouuuut!" after Luigi refers to the meteorite piece as "the what?". The look of pure lizard-based confusion on Hopper's face for those few moments after Leguizamo's vague reaction to the question is absolute gold.Not only is the casting great, the costumes are very intricate. Each viewing of the film reveals another detail not previously seen. One thing that particularly tends to date films is poor CGI, thankfully this film went for practical effects primarily along with the best visual effects available at the time. There is a disgusting, real and visceral quality to the goop and the slime and the fungus that is sadly lacking from today's overly modern and clean productions.The other thing that is rarely mentioned is LIGHTING! Are people aware of just how much work goes into the lighting of sets? The initial view of Dinohattan is simply incredible, and awe-inspiring. The same can be said for the scenes in Koopa's tower. I have never been transitioned into another world/dimension via film that seemed this real, and I think it is due to the meticulous attention to the smallest of details by Rocky and Annabel.From the actors reflections since, it sounds like this made the film difficult to work on from a production point of view. Even so, I wish I could sit down with Rocky and Annabel and tell them how much they inspired me with this technical marvel even though no one else appreciated it, and also ask them whether anything similar would be possible to create in today's industry. My guess is, probably not. It is also staggering to think about how it was filmed inside an abandoned concrete plant, with existing structures already in place, such as the space with the mud bath.Others have also mentioned the fantastic soundtrack. The score is absolutely marvellous, and seems to be composed of two main themes - one lighthearted/zany theme for the brothers' wacky adventures, and the other one more dark, ethereal, used for almost everything with Koopa or his associates.I am seriously surprised at just how well the film has held up, overall. The little quirky touches that indicate just how different their world is from ours is great, I love the forceful shove through the police station and the chicken coop jail cells, I love Toad's song and his anti-establishment nature which seems even more relevant now considering the USA's current political climate. I love the fungus, I love the stomper boots, the crazy old woman, the pumping Boom-Boom Bar where "Love Is A Drug" plays and comes complete with fire displays and psychedelic projections in the background. I love Big Bertha, I love the spiky edges on everything including the city's steampunk-like inhabitants, clothing, cushions, doors, walls and even on mundane items such as a box of tissue paper! I love the Goombas despite their awkwardness and the old Fungus King is amazingly slimy and grotesque. Can you imagine if he had been done with CGI? Yoshi goes without saying. He is such an efficient not only effect but CHARACTER, that I struggle with my "i wish to be a filmmaker and analyse everything when viewing" hat and instead put on my "wow what an incredible creature" hat, ie. I just become a normal audience member and forget it is essentially a mechanised puppet. Even knowing and seeing how it was done in the extras on the blu ray doesn't deplete my enjoyment of him. The gold filters or lighting used in this scene also add to the royal extravagance of the setting.The film is so rapid-fire in its setups that I can't even include everything I want to mention, but special mentions go to the Devo Chamber, the huge amount of pyrotechnics, stunts and explosions on display during their escape from the Police Station in the fantastic police cruiser, and the hurtling through the unfinished Koopa Desert Tunnel ("Let's DIE there!"). The escape scene in particular would surely be one of the most fun sequences ever committed to celluloid.I am so glad that now, so many years later, the film is finally getting the recognition it deserves. Sadly this recognition is too late for Mr Hoskins and Mr Hopper to witness, but I'm sure they still know...somewhere, somehow, from whichever dimension they are in now. RIP.This film is a treasure trove of nostalgia and fun, and should be in the collections, hearts and minds of anyone who ever wants to just feel like being a kid again.Thank you Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel for making this film, and for accruing such fine talents in both crew and cast to join you in this totally unique and off the wall project. I've lost track of how many times I have watched this film (as a kid) and now that I have rediscovered it as an adult, it will never again leave my side.This is how all fantasy/parallel dimension films SHOULD be made.Trust the Fungus.
mwcrunner
This is one of the worst films ever made. This should've been scrapped a long time ago and should've been made into a full length CGI animated hit. Now I like Bob Hoskins cause of him being Eddie Valiant in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but Mario isn't cut out for him. Also Mario and Luigi are Italian, not American. Also whats up with Princess Peach not being in the movie and this Daisy person being a princess in it who is a freaking dinosaur? Also Yoshi didn't look like himself. He looked like he came out of the movie Jurassic Park. Also Toad should've been in this movie too but he wasn't cause its like the directors of this treated him like a push over. Also whats with the dance club scene in this movie and Mario and Luigi dressing up like pimps? I mean what kind of world are they in where people are Koopas and the king of them who is King Koopa a guy that looks like Donald Trump and Dr. Evil rolled into one? Lol. Sorry but it's true. Dennis Hoppers character looks like Donald Trump and Dr. Evil rolled into one. Also what was with all this fungus crap in this movie? I mean we did see mushrooms in it, but none of them made Mario and Luigi grow or gave them powers like flying or Koopa tails or fire. Also we only got to see one Ba-Bomb in this movie and that's also bullcrap. I mean if someone ever comes up with a new idea for a Super Mario Bros. movie, it should be a CGI animated one about where Mario and Luigi were born or where they came from and where King Koopa aka Bowser came from too and have all the good stuff that's in the video game, not a bunch of lizard looking like people and a Donald Trump and Dr. Evil combination abomination that later turns into a dinosaur like Muppet that gets turned into green slime and a woman who gets electrocuted and dies like Walter Donavon in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and 2 worlds one that is normal and one that is like Gary, Indiana and 2 guys who are just plumbers and don't have anything special to do like jumping and using powers and collecting coins. Of course there is going to be a sequel to the Disney animated video game film Wreck-It Ralph in 2018, so there's a good chance that we can see Mario and Luigi in that film since they weren't in the first one. This film deserves to be locked up in the studio vault never to be released again and forgotten for all time. Awful. Just plain awful.
