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This is one of those films where it's more fun to hear about how it was created than actually watching it.

It's not as bad as people like to think, so let's just hope in the future they give the same sort of love to a Mario movie as they did for Mortal Kombat, or even Sonc.

The Super Mario Brothers games are still great fun. Admittedly they are light on plot, almost simplistic, but they are imaginative, lots of fun and thrilling with memorable characters and interaction.

'Super Mario Bros' did have a good deal of potential, with talented actors like Bob Hoskins, Fiona Shaw, Samantha Mathis and Dennis Hopper on board, and it was always going to be interesting to see whether the film would be able to make an interesting story that didn't have a huge amount of narrative material to work from. Unfortunately, it is a real let down, and was doomed from the start from trying to do too much and from its notoriously troubled behind-the-scenes.

Video game/interactive film adaptations have a very dubious record, always giving a sense that video/interactive games don't translate well to film, and 'Super Mario Bros' is not an exception. This said, in general there are far worse films out there, while it misses more than it hits 'Super Mario Bros' has a few good spots. Some of the photography is good. Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo do their best in the lead roles and both do a more than respectable job especially Hoskins. Their chemistry and rapport is enjoyable if at times rather too father and son than brothers. Alan Silvestri's score while in want of more recognisable themes for fans is well-suited for the film and has a nice rousing energy, atmosphere and whimsy. Good song choices too.

However, 'Super Mario Bros' has several problems that stop it from being the thrill ride it could have been. The rest of the cast don't really impress that much. Dennis Hopper is always a great pleasure in over-the-top roles, particularly villain ones and when he loses it, and on paper he did seem an ideal choice. The thing is though with a role like Frank Booth in 'Blue Velvet', Hopper was not only over-the-top but also terrifying and the character was interesting, here in 'Super Mario Bros' as King Koopa Hopper is a large piece of unsubtle ham and that's it and there are some points where he's almost subdued, sometimes you expect Hopper to lose his rag and it doesn't really happen. His dialogue also further dumbs down the character, making King Koopa very much a missed opportunity as a villain. Samantha Mathis has some moments of heart and charm but is pretty bland on the whole, while Fiona Shaw at times comes close to out-hamming Hopper. The Goombas are sometimes sort of fun, but sometimes pointless and too goofy.

It is a shame really that the film's production troubles come through loud and clear in the film itself. The direction has a very inexperienced and erratic feel, and like the directors had no idea what to do with the film. The same is with the story, granted credit is due for trying to do something with source material that doesn't give them an awful lot to work with and it's very energetic in pace and never dull. Unfortunately, there is the sense that the writers didn't know which direction to go or how to start, with target demographic/audience and what it wanted to be never really clear (despite also being a bad film with many huge problems, 'Street Fighter' at least got that right). 'Super Mario Bros' constantly feels rushed, bloated, over-complicated and like there was too much going on, and further sadly not all of it was necessary or made sense as a result of not being explored enough. Exposition is also garbled, so that it has nothing to do with the games other than a few clumsily inserted references which reeked of trying to squeeze them in when this fact was realised in production.

As well as lacking in thrills, as a result of the over-crowded and over-complicated story, there is a lack of fun and imagination. The jokes are too juvenile and too embarrassingly awkward to be any fun, and only succeeds in dumbing down so many of the characters (a huge part as to why King Koopa is lacking as a villain). In fact, the script generally was poor, with childish and sometimes misplaced humour and dialogue that clunks badly. Action is very jagged and stop-start. Apart from in the photography and in a couple of neat effects, the expensive for back then budget is not hugely obvious in the production values, where interference and production troubles are second most obvious after the story. The sets are cluttered, too small in scale and quite drab and lacking in colour or dazzle, the world is never fully immersed and others have said it looks like a cheaper and dumbed down 'Blade Runner' which this reviewer agrees with. A lot of the effects are slapdash even for the early pre-'Jurassic Park' 90s.

Overall, has some good assets but, while it is not as horrendous as the universal critical and commercial failure on release and as its reputation suggests, too much of it is lacking for it to be the thrill-ride it had the potential of being with the right execution. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Super Mario Bros. (1993), was another case of the source material, for a film idea, being too advanced for the cinematic technology of the day. CGI was just starting with Jurassic Park (1993), so the choice to do this film with practical, physical effects and live action characters was its major downfall. This prompted the story to be adjusted to fit the capabilities of the filmmakers of the day. It all culminates into a silly plot, that actually manages to make video game characters, caricatures of themselves. This however, isn't a knock on the special effects used in this film at all. The effects fit the pre-CGI era fairly well. They did a very good job with the special effects, art direction, set design and most of the costumes and make-up. There actually is a dinosaur in the film and the computer effects used for him are pretty good. For 1993, it is visually pleasant.

Dennis Hopper, as President Koopa (Bowser), looks ridiculous though. There also is this weird use of the fungus in the film. It looks bad technically and isn't menacing at all. Many of the characters are pail, empty and mindless, especially Samantha Mathis as Princess Daisy. It doesn't translate well, especially having to depict Mario (Bob Hoskins) and Luigi (John Leguizamo), running around Brooklyn. The attempt to make the film as real as possible backfires. I never got a chance to see this film when it was first released, but I had heard of the negative fallout that came after it was released. I remember when Siskel and Ebert gave it two thumbs down. Most film-buffs remember hearing, that Bob Hoskins hated the movie. This is probably why I never got around to seeing Super Mario Bros. (1993), until the 2023 film was announced. 30 years later I finally understood. This film is a failure, but I still recommend seeing it, at least once, as a curiosity, because you have to see it to believe it.

3.9 (F+ MyGrade) = 4 IMDB.

I actually enjoyed this movie, despite the terrible reviews and the terrible user ratings. Its plot is fair, it's effects are great, even for now, and the acting, although certainly not brilliant, is fair enough to work with the plot. I'd give it a 7/10.

I made the mistake of watching this movie the day i had knee surgery. So i was doped up on all kinds of pain killers and thought the movie was great. However a few years later i remembered how much i enjoyed the movie so i watched on tv when it was run agian. I was blown away with how horribly bad it was. I was also amazed on how much i remembered being in the movie that wasnt. so as the title says be careful how you watch. As a side note this is not an endorsement to do drugs just to make bad movies better.

Super Mario Bros. is a movie based off of the Super Mario Bros. video games. Or at least, that's what they SAY it is. In reality, Super Mario Bros. is a movie that pretends to be Mario. He's what I'm talking about: In the games, the main villain is Bowser, King of the Koopas who wishes to kidnap the Princess and rule the mushroom kingdom. In the movie, the main villain is Koopa, tyrant of a small city in the center of a world-wide desert who wishes to take over the world of man. In the games, a big bertha is a fish. In the movie, Big Bertha is the bouncer at the Boom Boom bar. In the games, Boom Boom is a person. The movie is just a crappy movie that takes Nintendo's names in an attempt to look better. And it fails at that. DO NOT see this movie.

Super Mario Bros (1993) was a flop on release and still holds up a pretty bad shape to this day! The dystopian cyberpunk world sure contained great art and set design, but the main characters failed to match the iconic video game heroes Mario & Luigi. Bob Hoskins as chief plumber Mario was a great decision for the lead role and he even performed an Italian accent. On the other hand John Leguizamo as Luigi didn't even try to change his Latino voice and didn't amuse me with clumsy walks. Dennis Hopper is super versatile in this one. Alan Silvestri's OST is way too classical and repeats his success of "Back In The Future" with obvious musical events following the scenes where surprises are going to happen.

The story relies on the theory that an alien fungus is responsible for all live on earth which definitely is an interesting plot for the franchise. But the execution was terrible.

This movie is amazing. It's a combination of science fiction and the Mario franchise. You wouldn't think that they go together but they do.

This is one of those movies I loved as a thirteen year old, I remember seeing it a few times. It was a film naturally aimed at my age group in 1993, I wish people would remember that when writing up such serious reviews. It's quite a fun story, the special effects are probably a little naff thirty years later, but what do you expect? Bob Hoskins is good fun.

I'm surprised by just how dark the story is, funny how you have a different look on things when you're young.

What I found interesting, was the theme music, Almost Unreal by Roxette, what an awesome track, arguably the best aspect of the film.

Fun, 7/10.

I have a soft spot for this movie. It ain't a good movie, like, at all. It's a Hollywood Trainwreck, but it's a trainwreck I'd watch over and over. I personally like Bob Hoskins as Mario, even if he thinks it was his worst part. The film is terrible, but in a very entertaining and delightful way. I recommend this film to anyone who gets a kick out of bad movies. If not, just stick to the NES classic.

Yes, this no classic, but it's not that bad. And yes it bears no resemblance to the video games that inspired it except for the jumpsuits that look like the heroes overalls, but it's not bad.

Mario & Luigi (Bob Hoskins & John Leguizamo) are the two down on their luck brother plumbers who get involved with a college student named Daisy (Samantha Mathis) who turns out to be a princess from an alternate dimension. Once transported there themselves, they must fight the evil King Koopa (Dennis Hopper) and save their world from being merged with Koopa's and the human race from being turned into monkeys.

It may be hard to believe that John Leguizamo is Bob Hoskins brother, but the two have good chemistry and John has a convincing Brooklyn accent (although Tom Selleck would have been a more convincing Luigi in some respects). Bob reprises his gruff detective persona from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" to great effect. Samantha Mathis is cute as the princess and manages to feel less shallow than most heroines in these situations. Dennis Hopper hams it up as the film's villain. Lots of gags and good natured humor, and a beautiful song from Roxette, "Almost Unreal". Worth a rental.

Why does this film have such a low rating? Sure it may not be along the storylines of the Super Mario Bros. game for the NES back in '85, but in my opinion, it has to be one of the best films I have ever seen. Some noticeable changes are in this film, such as that the princess' name is Daisy, and she's being held in a tower instead of a castle. There's plenty of fungus and mushrooms around, but I think that the storyline is actually improved from the game, because if it were exactly like the game, it would be just running round, bashing blocks, grabbing coins and eating mushrooms all the way, which would eventually just become boring. This film has variety, like in a real world, there are phone boxes, houses, restaurants, and much more than just pipes, flags and castles. It just also happens that my favourite actor, Bob Hoskins, has the main role as Mario, which makes this film more appealing and exciting. There are also things from the Mario games in the film such as Bob-Ombs (licensed by Reebok, mysteriously), and Goomba Shoes that are powered by Bullet Bills. So to top it off, this has to be one of the best films ever made, and one of my all-time favourites.

The Mario Brothers rush to save a princess (Samantha Mathis) from Koopa (Dennis Hopper).

This movie bombed at the box office, losing $20 million. Critics did not like it, fans apparently were not thrilled (not even Mario-loving kids could fill the seats enough to break even). This reviewer saw the film when it came out on video and was not thrilled.

Twenty years later (2014), I have revisited the legendary flop. Age has not improved it, not one bit. Had this script been written from scratch without being very, very loosely based on a game, it might now be considered a cult classic. In all fairness, there were some clever ideas and the effects are not bad by 1993 standards.

The problem, of course, is that the source material is a game, but the fans of the game will find little to appreciate here. The movie was not geared towards kids, did not incorporate the game's music, kept almost none of the plot. If this was not appealing to fans of the source material, who was it meant to please?

I'm sorry, but the movie version of Super Mario Bros. just didn't do any justice to the classic video game. The plot didn't seem to click, the references to the actual games were few, and the characters? Well, Mario and Luigi were well-done, but the Koopas just weren't. All in all, we old-school gamers deserved better when we wanted to see our wrench-toting heroes on the silver screen.

I guess this movie was doomed from the start. It must have been a more savage hang over than usual in the plant of "bad movie ideas" when the whole idea of live action Super Mario film was conceived. I mean you all know the settings and story of Mario games right? A plump plumber in his red overalls jumping in the heads of mushrooms and turtles, I mean Koopas, and trying to save the princess. There just isn't any way, you could even try to turn that something else than a cartoon. It just doesn't work out too well as live action.

But they did try, with a force of a four different directors, and yet they still failed. Or maybe that was the main reason why they did.

The story has changed so, that Mario (Bob Hoskins) and Luigi (John Leguizamo), two brothers, who look nothing a like, come through a dimensional gate to the mushroom kingdom, where they must defeat the evil Koopa (Dennis Hopper) and save the princess (Samantha Mathis) and the king (Lance Henriksen).

It's not that there would be a bad cast in the film. In fact the line up is rather good, even solid as some might say. It's just the execution of the film that pushes this towards the oblivion it deserves to be in.

You can watch it for the sake of interest, but it really takes a good bunch of Mystere Science Theatre minded friends to do so correctly. I gave it two out of ten just for the sake of the cast. You just can't beat Hopper as a mad Koopa... Or Hoskins as Mario.

Rating: 1.0

One of the worst video game adaptations ever made. Just look at mario's design, and the goombas design. It was like a crappy middle school play. Just stick to the games.

It is clear that this film has been unfairly dismissed. OK, so it doesn't fit the criteria of a 'good film', but, it's a great kids film. It's dark and strange, things generally uncommon of kids films, and, if it wasn't for watching this film as a child, I wouldn't be into people like cronenberg, lynch and, in particular, Gilliam, whose sinister darkness I enjoy so greatly.

It is self-evident that there is a lack of imagination, especially recently, in the kids film genre, and this is where Super Mario Brothers earns the 7 out of 10 that I have given it. My film collection would be much less exciting without having watched this film as a child. This is why I urge those of you who have given it a poor rating to re-evaluate, considering what I have said.

Why would I choose to watch "Super Mario Bros." when it was a critical and financial bomb? Well, IMDB recently changed their criteria for films to make their infamous Bottom 100 list and now this film is officially on it...at #96. And, since I have long been trying to see every Bottom 100 movie, I have a bunch of new pictures to watch and review.

It's interesting when you read through IMDB's trivia about this movie. Apparently everyone connected with it except for the two directors hated it and hated making this film. I could only assume that I would hate it as well.

Well, I did hate the film...for many reasons. Much of the problem is the plot. It often makes no sense (such as minions suddenly switching sides for no apparent reason), the dialog is among the dumbest I can recall in a film and the story is not at all the sort of thing I'd want young kids to watch...which is odd, since it's based on a kids' game!

The plot, if anyone really cares is about Koopa (Dennis Hopper), a reptile who has used his evolving/devolving machine to make himself and many of his subjects in a parallel world look human. His goal is to capture Princess Daisy and use a meteorite shard to merge the two worlds and become dictator of both---though exactly how doesn't seem to have been worked out by Koopa. As for the brothers, they fall into the parallel world and battle Koopa to save the worlds.

If I were describe the film in one word, it would not be terrible but TIRESOME. The film is dull, uninvolving and a bit stupid. I would NOT place it, however, on the Bottom 100...as there are many worse films which will never make the list because they were NOT made in the last 30 years--and the list is heavily weighted towards this. "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians", "Robot Monster", ALL of Al Adamson's and William Grefe's films and the terrible exploitation films of the 1930s and 40s (such as "Sex Madness" and "Reefer Madness") aren't even on the list--and these films are all, amazingly enough, worse than "Super Mario Bros." but were made during an era that has almost no representation on the list...not that this is a glowing endorsement! Would I put it on a Bottom 200 (if such a list existed)...easily!

Maybe it's my child memories loving it that makes me mad about the 4.1. Maybe it's seeing truly garbage movies hit the big screen in recent years. Maybe it's knowing that people took this movie way to seriously to give it 1s and 2s and such. Maybe I'm rambling just to let them allow me to post this review and rating. Maybe like 800 characters is an absolutely ridiculous amount of letters required to send in a review. I have wrote college essays that were around this length. Yeah maybe not all of them an A. But hey! In the end I passed and graduated. I'm almost there now. Getting very very close. Got It.

This movie is much hated practically everywhere and of course I can understand why. Basically everyone from the '70's , 80's and 90's generation grew up with playing Nintendo games and the Super Mario games in particular. However when one sees this movie, it becomes pretty obvious early on that this movie has almost nothing to do with the Super Mario video games. The atmosphere, settings and characters are totally different, which is probably the main and also only reason why this movie was and still is hated among so many all over the world.

However, when one has to look at this movie with a fair and unbiased view, one has to come to the conclusion that this movie is good decent entertainment. No, it's not a GREAT movie but it does serve its purpose and that is to provide the viewer with 104 minutes of mindless, simple entertainment.

Kids will most likely like this movie best. The story is wonderfully adventurous and it all is very childishly simple constructed. I mean, the story and setting all basically have very little to do with the games but when you just have to judge the story, it's a pretty good and well thought out one. If the main characters were, let's say, some average Manhattan plumbers named the William's brothers and the entire movie wasn't based on a series of video games, than perhaps the movie would had received a far better reception and would had entertained and reached a wider audience.

All of the characters are pretty entertaining and work out well in the movie. This is probably mainly due to the well known cast. Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo are the Mario brothers and they form a pretty good main duo. Dennis Hopper also is in his element as the ruthless, over-the-top, stereotyped villain King Koopa. He gives the movie a certain extra fun and flair. Other well known actors in the movie are Fiona Shaw, Gianni Russo (Carlo Rizzi from the first two The Godfather movies) and Lance Henriksen in a very small cameo role.

Unlike the games, the movie is a dark one. All of the sets are dark which was perhaps not the greatest atmospheric mood for the story and the entire movie in general. All of the sets are disappointing, small and unimaginative looking. Same goes for the costumes and most of the make-up effects. The movie however has some good and convincing looking early special effects. Remember folks, that it was 1993 when this movie was released.

The movie however is most of the time a bit too childishly told and the dialogs are below par and too simple.

The pace and editing is good but the movie severely lacks some action and real interesting moments. At moments it takes too long before something good or interesting happens again, which makes this movie perhaps a bit boring and uninteresting to watch at certain points.

All in all it's a not very successful- but still yet entertaining first attempt at making a movie based on a video game. Certainly better than some of those movies based on video games, released this present day!

6/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

I cannot accurately describe how much of a disappointment this movie was to me. I am a huge Mario Bros. fan, but this movie is truly a dark spot in their history. While I did like the Mario Bros. costumes when they eventually got into them, the rest of the movie had little to nothing to do with the games and was very poorly done. The few things that were taken from the games are so twisted that they don't even resemble the character or place which they were based upon. The Mushroom Kingdom isn't a fantastic wonderland of bricks and strange mushroom houses, but a run down New York City filled with "Dinosaur People" who look just plain stupid. Toad is some tall hippie guy with bad hair cut, Yoshi is a 2 foot tall T-Rex, and Koopa is Dennis Hopper with too much hair jell. This movie makes the live action segments of Captain Lou Albano on the Super Mario Bros. Super Show look like Oscar winning material.... Well, almost. If you want good Mario Bros. then play the games, and as the tagline for this movie says, "This ain't no game."