Movies - Super Mario Bros.

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	Movies - Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Bros. is a 1993 movie very loosely based on the popular video game of the same name. The film follows the exploits of Mario Mario (Bob Hoskins) and his brother Luigi Mario (John Leguizamo) in a comical dystopia ruled by King Koopa (Dennis Hopper).

It was the first major motion picture to be based on a video game.

Plot

The movie begins by establishing that a meteor struck Earth 65 million years ago in what is now Brooklyn, splitting the world into two parallel dimensions. The first dimension is the human world, inhabited by humans who evolved from apes, who in turn evolved from small mammals. The other dimension is inhabited by humanoid creatures who evolved from dinosaurs.

Thirty years ago, the dinosaur world's benevolent monarch was deposed by a military strongman named Koopa. Koopa proceeded to establish a brutal dictatorship with himself at the center of a vast personality cult. Using a special de-evolutionary machine, Koopa transformed anyone who opposed his rule into mindless lizard drones known as Goombas. With his power over the dinosaur world firmly consolidated, Koopa began to plan for the eventual takeover of the human world as well.

In present-day Brooklyn, New York, a young archaeologist named Daisy uncovers a massive find of mysterious new dinosaur bones. She is befriended by two plumbers named Mario Mario and Luigi Mario after their car breaks down. Cousins of Koopa, Spike and Iggy, are sent to the human dimension on a mission to kidnap Daisy who is actually the daughter of the deposed king. Daisy's mother smuggled her out of the reptile dimension in order to protect her from Koopa and leaving with her an amulet made from part of the meteorite that struck Earth.

Eventually Iggy and Spike succeed and drag Daisy through an underground portal into the dinosaur world with Mario and Luigi following in after them. The rest of the movie focuses on the follies that befall Mario and Luigi in their pursuit of Daisy as they traverse through the Dinosaur equivalent of Manhattan and its extensive desert.

Reaction

The movie is widely considered an enormous flop. Although it boasted several big stars, the film was denounced by critics as "cheesy" and lacking any sort of coherent plot. The film was reasonably popular with pre-teens, though many fans of the Super Mario Bros. series were upset at the movie's more "serious" tone, and found its live action cast to be too drastic a departure from the colorful, cartoony world of the games. Fans denounced the movie for having very little to do with the video game series and distorting many known facts about the fictional game world; for instance, in the movie King Koopa is a humanoid descendant of a dinosaur, whereas he is no such thing in the games. The movie's PG rating probably hurt the film's potential, as the movie's dark atmosphere, realistic-looking monsters, and numerous action sequences scared off many parents from bringing their young Mario fans to the theater, effectively eliminating a key demographic.

While the movie is generally considered to be a disaster by fans of the games and nonfans alike, some consider it to be a priceless cult classic. The movie's ugly and ruthless characters make the movie "too real" to a child fantasy game, making it more of a hero's adventure in a gothic world. Although the movie is not included in the Mario canon, many fans of the series have adopted "Mario" as the true surnames of Mario and Luigi, a fact established in this movie.

Game References

While commonly not considered to be too closely connected to the games the movie does include references to the games (and even to Nintendo).

The stomper boots were potentially inspired by the Kuribo's Shoe from Super Mario Bros. 3, especially because the Goombas in the movie wear them. And of course, they were named after Mario and Luigi's trademark stomp attack. The boots are manufactured by Thwomp Inc, an enemy from the games.
The charges used for the boots are Bullet Bills. Additionally a neon sign seen during the car-chase says "Bullet Bill's." Another sign says "Thwomp."
Big Bertha is a big woman at the Boom Boom Bar, which, itself is named for an enemy. Big Bertha was the name used for the giant red fish in Super Mario Bros. 3, and likewise, this woman dresses in red.
Iggy is the name of one of Bowser's seven children from Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World.
Spike is the name of a spiked ball-throwing enemy from Super Mario Bros. 3, or the foreman from Wrecking Crew.
The police uniforms of the Mushroom Kingdom are somewhat remiscant of the Hammer Bros. uniform.
The sound of a 1-up is heard in the background while Koopa is talking to a police officer about the new handheld devo-guns.
The masks of the Junkyard workers seem to loosely resemble the masks of Snifits (a type of Shy-Guy). They are also referred to as Snifits.
The devo-guns are remodelled versions of the SNES Super Scope, which also looked like a small bazooka.
In the Boom Boom Bar (named after a Super Mario Bros. 3 enemy), a big TV screen showing the Valley of Bowser entrance rising from the sea in Super Mario World and several ghost Boo sprites from the same game bouncing around the screen can be briefly glimpsed.
The character who sings the anti-Koopa song, Toad, is later changed to a goomba with a harmonica. This is in reference to the character Toad, a supporting character in many Mario games.
The weapons used by Koopa's forces, and by the Mario Brothers themselves, shoot small balls of flames, a reference that many enemies spit fireballs. Also the Mario Brothers themselves can wield fireballs, with the help of a fire flower.
Bob-ombs are used throughout the movie as powerful explosives.
The taxi cab company in the dinosaur world is 'Wiggler,' named for a large green or yellow caterpillar in the games.
Daisy and Luigi's romance is not too far-fetched, as the characters are said to be almost as close as Toadstool and Mario. Sadly, the writers of this movie basically wrote in Princess Toadstool's name as Daisy and not Peach/Toadstool. Princess Daisy appears in Super Mario Land.
Mario also has a girlfriend called Daniella in Manhattan, who is believed to be based off Pauline, the first girlfriend Mario had in the first Donkey Kong game for arcades, because both of them are regular women instead of princesses. Daniella is eventually captured by Iggy and Spike, who believed she could be the real princess.
The 'irrelevant' plot of the movie actually seems to be an amalgamation of Mario games. For example, the movie was released shortly after Super Mario World, a game in which Mario travels to Dinosaur Land. Also, in Super Mario Land the Princess was given a name in the USA, 'Daisy.' Since this was easier to sell than 'Toadstool' they used it. Little did they know the two women were very different characters. Also, in the original Super Mario Bros, it was said that only the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom could save everyone from Koopa. In the movie, Daisy is the only one who can merge the worlds and 'save' Dinohatten.
The fungus all around the city is an obvious reference to the mushrooms prevalant in most Mario games. Fungus helps Mario both in the movie and the games. The first and third games also take place in the Mushroom Kingdom.
Mario and Koopa's final encounter finds the villain in a suspended bucket. This may be a reference to the final encounter in Super Mario World, where Bowser flies his Koopa Clown Car, which resembled a clown-faced bucket with a propeller.
In the coat check scene, there is a sign with that says "These premises protected by FRY GUY flamethrowers". FryGuy was a boss from the USA release of Super Mario Bros. 2.
The pet dinosaur, Yoshi, is an obvious reference to the character who makes his debut in Super Mario World. In the movie, he even makes use of his extending tongue.
The final battle between King Koopa and Mario is set on a bridge, similar to the encounters in Super Mario Bros. where they fight on a suspended brige above lava.
The name Ostro, seen on a sign in the movie, is the name of an enemy in Super Mario Bros. 2 and was mixed up in the credits of the game to make it seem that the Mario character "Birdo" was Ostro and Ostro was "Birdo".
Many characters use cattle prod guns, a reference to the character Sparky.
Anthony Scapelli devolving into an ape may have been a reference to Donkey Kong, Mario's first nemisis as the devolution happens in a construction area.

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Movies - Super Mario Bros.

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