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-   -   I didn't think Super Mario Bros (1993) was that bad. (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?t=72135)

LostInSauce 01-29-25 02:56 PM

I didn't think Super Mario Bros (1993) was that bad.
 
According to the omniscient Wikipedia, it is regarded as one of the worst movies of the 90s. I, admittedly, totally don't get why. I understand that the movie is totally not canon, and I understand that aside from some characters, it very much doesn't resemble Mario at all. That being said, it's a totally okay flick. Granted, I saw it two years ago. I was entertained, and I thought the set design was nice. What am I missing here?

FilmBuff 01-29-25 03:01 PM

I think it's a clear example of studio interference getting in the way of what the filmmakers originally wanted to do (and it shows).

According to Wikipedia,

Several weeks before shooting was to begin, Disney purchased the distribution rights to the film and demanded significant rewrites. Morton said the final result was a script that was not at all like the script that he, Jankel, and the cast had signed on to film, and that the tone of the new script was not at all compatible with the sets, which had already been built. Solomon recalled that he "felt like [his draft of the screenplay] was at least coherent," but upon visiting the set, [Morton] had cut it up with a bunch of other stuff he liked from other drafts and a bunch of new stuff. […] There was no through line." Leguizamo said, "It's eight-year-olds who play the game and that's where the movie needed to be aimed. [...] But [the directors] kept trying to insert new material. They shot scenes with strippers and with other sexually-explicit content, which all got edited out anyway." Richard Edson claimed that he and co-star Fisher Stevens were permitted to contribute their own dialogue at the writers’ approval: "If we could improve the script, they were more than happy. So we did our own [dialogue] and they loved it […] that made it a lot more fun for us."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Bros._(film)

Yoda 01-29-25 03:02 PM

Re: I didn't think Super Mario Bros (1993) was that bad.
 
I think you've probably explained it already: it's kinda just a bad movie (IMO), but it seems a lot worse because, as an adaptation, it's kind of inexplicable. If you're gonna make something that doesn't feel at all like the thing it's adapting, it better be really good. If you depart from the tone of the source to make something pretty bad anyway, it's kind of a bigger flub.

LostInSauce 01-29-25 03:10 PM

Re: I didn't think Super Mario Bros (1993) was that bad.
 
Yeah, I guess if I was a big Mario fan, I'd probably hate it too.

Holden Pike 01-29-25 05:20 PM

Originally Posted by THREAD TITLE
I didn't think Super Mario Bros (1993) was that bad.
It absolutely is that bad. Empirically.

https://youtu.be/-guHThW-xEk?si=McSl79EPXRaTKF9w
https://youtu.be/3u3anNJJjNs?si=WOAIrrlJfP55McOP


You are allowed to like and even love the damn thing, if you wish. But objectively it is a poorly made piece of entertainment.

markdc 01-30-25 10:49 AM

I’ve never seen SMB, but my experience with video game adaptations is that they’re generally awful. Years ago, I saw Streetfighter and thought it was hideous. (And keep in mind that I was just a kid, so my cinematic tastes weren’t exactly refined.) As an adult, I saw Prince of Persia, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, and Warcraft and thought all of them were crappy. And I’ve heard nothing but bad things about other VG adaptations like Super Mario Bros. and Mortal Kombat. So I think I’ll pass on SMB and use my dollars to watch something else.

Mark

stillmellow 01-30-25 12:21 PM

I once saw a fan-made extended cut, using rough footage of deleted scenes, and it was a lot better. Certainly a lot easier to understand. They had cut out a lot of important connecting scenes.


Also, there were a lot of great additional Dennis Hopper scenes, who was the best part of the movie in any case

LostInSauce 02-01-25 06:35 AM

Originally Posted by Holden Pike (Post 2530987)
It absolutely is that bad. Empirically.

https://youtu.be/-guHThW-xEk?si=McSl79EPXRaTKF9w
https://youtu.be/3u3anNJJjNs?si=WOAIrrlJfP55McOP


You are allowed to like and even love the damn thing, if you wish. But objectively it is a poorly made piece of entertainment.
I was entertained. It can't possibly be that bad because it succeeded in its primary purpose.

LostInSauce 02-01-25 06:36 AM

Originally Posted by stillmellow (Post 2531158)
I once saw a fan-made extended cut, using rough footage of deleted scenes, and it was a lot better. Certainly a lot easier to understand. They had cut out a lot of important connecting scenes.


Also, there were a lot of great additional Dennis Hopper scenes, who was the best part of the movie in any case
Do you have a link to this fan cut anywhere?

stillmellow 02-01-25 07:56 AM

Originally Posted by LostInSauce (Post 2531657)
Do you have a link to this fan cut anywhere?

https://archive.org/details/super-ma...ed+DVD+1-1.mp4

Corax 02-01-25 03:36 PM

Originally Posted by LostInSauce (Post 2531656)
I was entertained. It can't possibly be that bad because it succeeded in its primary purpose.
It's purpose was to entertain you, personally? By Jove, the solipsists were right, after all.
In that case, we might have an airtight case to establish that any film wasn't all that bad. "Well, it can't be that bad, because LostInSause liked the sauce."

Allaby 02-01-25 03:47 PM

Re: I didn't think Super Mario Bros (1993) was that bad.
 
I saw it when I was a kid and liked it. I don't know what I would think if I watched it now.

LostInSauce 02-02-25 11:40 AM

Originally Posted by Corax (Post 2531827)
It's purpose was to entertain you, personally? By Jove, the solipsists were right, after all.
In that case, we might have an airtight case to establish that any film wasn't all that bad. "Well, it can't be that bad, because LostInSause liked the sauce."
It's to entertain, generally. If a movie fails to do that...I mean...it's setting sail to fail.

Ryguy 03-09-25 10:34 PM

I dare not watch it.

Hotel Security 03-10-25 09:52 AM

Re: I didn't think Super Mario Bros (1993) was that bad.
 
I saw it in the theater and my child-self remembered liking most of it and I was especially drawn to Dennis Hopper as the charismatic villain...he's in enjoyable in all his scenes. I remember my Mom being a little taken aback at the monkey/man evolution concepts in the movie, especially for something directed at kids in the 80s.

I've never seen it since so I have managed to retain these position child-memories of what is probably an awful movie. I do the same where I refuse to rewatch old child cartoons like He-Man. Why let reality ruin these nice memories?

Concerning production, I've read a few articles and it seems clear the Husband/Wife duo that directed it had no idea what they were doing. Bob Hoskins has some funny interviews about it.


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