Super Mario Bros.
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Movie Reviews of Super Mario Bros.
Movie Review: So Zany and Senseless It's Great, IMO of course
Summary: 5 Stars
The story is absurd, despite it being inventive enough... It isn't a real movie version of the adventure, but more like a movie starring the characters, with constant bits of homage to the original series, such as a "Thwump" store, sniffits, the character's occasional and believable super-jump trademark, a dino named Yoshi, and last but by no means least, a GREAT scene with a Ba-Bomb (who was wearing Reebok shoes, which was funny!!).Being the first movie ever based on a game (unless you count Clue), and also being inspired by a series that didn't call for the slightest bit of realism, this movie didn't have much call for reality. It's not sci-fi, but pure fantasy (meaning the plot's fiction isn't just the existance of the story's elements, but every plot sequence is based on how the world the movie takes place in is much unlike our own). Luckily, the screenplay, while sometimes quirky and silly, does call for some great moments, usually revolving around Koopa's idiot cousins Iggy and Spike (my favorite example - Spike:"Wrong again...how many times have we gotten it wrong?" Iggy:"YOU've gotten it wrong five times!" Spike:"Over five...OVER five...what percent is that?" Iggy:"I don't know, let me think......I don't know, but it's not good!" -- they couldn't figure out 100%!!).
Also going with the movie on a few other nice points are the performances of the main characters: Mario, Luigi, Koopa, Daisy, Iggy & Spike, which are nice and solid, despite that they don't really resemble the image of the characters themselves (especially Koopa). Hoskins does great in a more laid back role than say in 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?', while John Legizamo starts off his more energetic personna that was used very well in his standup routine in the late 1990's, and he was enjoyable to the point in which whenever I see 'Moulin Rouge', I'm always like "YEAH!! LUIGI!!" (not to knock Moulin Rouge, a masterpeice in it's own, albeit weird). Samantha Mathis is another strong performance, as well as a beauty on screen as Daisy, the princess in distress, albeit she doesn't have many good moments to herself. And Dennis Hopper, whether you like him or not, is undeniably good in villainous roles like this...here he plays a meglomaniacal dictator of an entire civilization, but again, sadly he has fewer memorable moments than Mario and Luigi, which is a shame, as Koopa is one of the most popular villains of all time.
However, if you don't think the screenplay or casting were anygood, there are four things that this movie excells in, that are undeniable: superb special effects (from puppets to some amazing CGI for 1993), art design that's out of this world (from fungus to flashy lights to spikes on the clothes and walls of the buildings), intense action sequences, which are very high in pyrotechnics, flashing lights, and explosions, and a brilliant musical score, courtesy of Alan Silvestri (responsible for almost 80 movies so far, from the Father of the Bride movies to Roger Rabbit, to the Predetor's, to the Mummy Returns)! In my opinion, these three aspects warrent this movie a watching, as it's very high in production values!
I really can't understand why people hate this movie. It's not sophisticated, but it is intelligently enjoyable....Con Air is undeniably smart, although I certainly wouldn't call that movie sophisticated, would you? I think not! Yet still it's a great movie! Perfectly combining parody, B-movie aspects, and advanced sci-fi, this movie spells out perfect cult-classic, and I'm one of those who does like it! I won't even try to talk you into it if you hate it, but I just feel that this movie is good for its own reasons. If you're into zany, partially senseless, partial sci-fi type movies, this one just might be for you.
Movie Review: An OK Flick, epic in my eyes, though...
Summary: 5 Stars
It was summer, 1997.
I was just becoming a video gamer then, and when my Dad told me the Super Mario Bros Movie was on TV, I nearly had a lapse of sanity, I was like "THERE'S A MOVIE?!" And so I sat down and watched it. Then, I rented it endlessly. After which my parents finally bought me a VHS copy for Christmas in winter of '98. I have studied this movie to no end, I have watched it so many times I have lost count. But it was just a while ago that I realized that it's really not that good. But it's also not as bad as people make it out to be.
Let's look at the facts.
Mario is Italian, right? Mario is from Brooklyn, right?
Well, they got half that right, getting a British actor (Hoskins) to play the part of Mario with a New York Accent. I thought that was OK, but in the long run, Mario should have been played by Danny DeVito. That's really the only person who could have played him, because DeVito's both Italian AND a New Yorker (at least, he acts like it...)
Luigi is Italian, right? Luigi is from Brooklyn, right?
Again, something they got half right. John Leguizamo, a young Hispanic man, to play the part of an Italian Plumber. At least John acts like a New Yorker, a convincing New Yorker, nonetheless, but not an Italian Plumber. Also, Luigi should have had a mustache, there's no excuse for him not having a mustache in that movie, but for some reason...
Koopa. Koopa is a dinosaur.
Okay, they totally blew this one, but hey, it was 1992 when they made the movie, for Chrissake! There was no such thing as CGI back then and even if there had been, we'd all complain to this day about 'How fake Bowser looked.' So they did the next best thing, they made Koopa a really mean politician, I can see the humor in that now...
Daisy. Daisy is the Princess of Sarasaland.
OK, they blew this one too, but here's the lowdown on Mario and the Princess, I don't know if you know this, but Mario doesn't go out with Peach in the games, he goes out with Pauline, the girl from Donkey Kong, an earlier model for Peach. But now, Pauline and Peach exist in the same plain, so there is no reason to have Mario have a relationship with a young princess when it can go to Luigi, a character that kids can relate to.
Goombas. Goombas...
Again, there was no CGI back in those days and even if there was it was very primitive (T2) and it could not have made the illusion of many little characters on screen. So they did the next best thing, they had over-sized (God knows why) zombie-like creatures who had once been members of the Mushroom Kingdom act out they're part, unfortunately, probably taking a lot of the budget up...
And Finally, Toad. Toad, Toad, Toad...
Toad is supposed to be a body guard of the princess, right? Well he's Peach's body guard, not Daisy's and he must have been out of a job or something in this movie because I have no idea why he was even in this film...
I hope this helps you understand the Mario Bros Movie a little better. I like to think of it as "Mario in Wario's World," which would've made a cool sequel, but again, the movie bombed at the box office... I have now, and always will enjoy this movie, but the flaws are hard to look past. But if you can manage to watch the movie and just have fun, then I salute you, because it's Mario, and everybody loves Mario, no matter what they say.
Movie Review: Greatest Movie of All Time? You decide!
Summary: 5 Stars
Here's the reality: This film is both totally weird and incredibly awesome simultaneously.
Pros
-Great actors: Bob Hoskins, Dennis Hopper, John Leguizamo all in the starring roles
-Many references to the games (albeit loose references)
-Family friendly
-Solid one-liners, decent script (not Oscar-worthy but above average)
-Special effects way ahead of their time.
-Cheesey, but not in comparison to TMNT movies
-Awesome dinosaurs, weird goombas
Cons
-Little to do with the Mario universe of the games
-Some story inconsistencies
-Ridiculous story (but come on, who cares?)
People have cited this movie as an early example of why video games don't make good live action movies... I disagree totally, in fact I think it's an early triumph for video game movies. To compare to other movies released in that era, I challenge you to watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 and then watch this movie and you tell me which movie is better. The set in SMB is incredible... varying from night clubs, to Brooklyn, to a totalitarian dino-city (no CG, mind you, totally constructed set like in Dark City or Blade Runner), to an endless desert. Lots of thought went into this movie's design.
Costumes are interesting and clearly 90's inspired.
The holes in this movie in terms of science are numerous, as in any Sci Fi flick. The most amusing error is when Scapelli is de-evolved into a Chimpanzee. Anyone who knows anything about evolution knows that humans did not descend from chimps. Also, there is an apparently semi-sentient fungus in the movie...
The acting is great, the story is crazy but fun and entertaining, there's some good humor that is family friendly but not stupid or cheesy, and there's some great visuals. There is nothing gapingly wrong with this movie except how ridiculous much of its premise is, or the fact that it is basically loosely about the Mario brothers.
It makes me wonder how the script-writers approached this project. OK, so here we have two plumbers who jump a lot and travel through pipes... And a dinosaur king... Beyond that the story is mystery. I'd say they did what they could with what they had and, you know what, if they weren't bound by the Mario name, this movie probably would've been even better.
I give it 5/5 stars partly to balance the unfairly negative reviews, but mostly because I really love this movie. I actually was the first person in the country to order it... I preordered it months before its release date on DVD (my birthday). I still watch it probably monthly, sometimes weekly... occasionally daily.
I recommend it. For sure. Give it a look if you haven't seen it yet.
Movie Review: Best Movie Ever (...probably)
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a 2 person written review.
Part 1: Nick.
I was born in 1986, making me a child who grew up around such greatnesslessness as Super Mario and ... Super... Luigi? anywho, point is, I grew up with mario.
I got my first Nintendo (a NES of course) at about the age of 4.. and my first game was Super Mario Brothers.
When I first found out there was a Super Mario Brothers Movie, on the inside, I grew closer to God.
I watched it, and as a naive little child thought to myself "I want chocolate cake..." BUT I also thought "This doesn't match with Super Mario Brothers AT ALL!"
And the truth is - It doesn't (really) at all!
As I grew older, I watched it every year or so... and more recently my opinion has changed on it.
I realize now that it was not meant as a literal take on the Super Mario Brothers games and that the writers decided to take a different angle when writing a movie that basically encompassed the entire 1980's generation (X and Y).
They wrote something both interesting and different. Something with such insight and brilliance that many people misunderstood and misrepresented it... typical of the human race.
This movie is one of the defining movies of my youth, along with the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, Mary Poppins and Bingo.
I suggest that everyone born in the time frames of gen X and Y see this movie... especially those who were encapsulated by the brilliant, and original N.E.S.
(By the way - Generation X is typically known as those who GREW up during the 80's, whilst Gen Y is those BORN in the 80's)...(Also, I may have been drinking tonight... and may have just obtained a Visa card to which I just ordered Mario Bros on DVD - No more BAD VHS for me!)
Part 2: DAP!
I pretty much agree
Movie Review: Why don't people like this movie?
Summary: 5 Stars
I really like this movie! A lot of people don't like it, but I am not sure why. Many of the reasons are:
Where's Bowser?
Uh, did you NOT watch the movie? His name was changed to Koopa, which was used in the anime.
The special effects are bad!
This was made in 1993. They didn't have all the CG we do now.
But the big one was: Why don't they have Princess Peach?
I was a little suprised too, but, as in the movie, Mario (Bob Hopskin) already had a girlfriend, so they had to use Daisy. I think a lot of people wouldn't have complained if they called her "Peach" instead of "Danllia" or however you spell it. Or, maybe they could've used both of the princesses.
I really like the movie, and spent a lot of time yelling, "Oh no!" then "Oh, never mind." It's funny, and I thought I was going to die of laughter. There's a lot of action too, so if you're an action fan, this is for you. My friend and I laugh about this movie at school A LOT. We usally do this:
"Hey remeber the part where Mario and Luigi were at the police station, and the guy is like 'Your name?' 'Mario.' 'Last name?' 'Mario.'"
"Oh, yeah, and then he asks Luigi 'Your name?' 'Luigi' 'Luigi Luigi?' 'No, Luigi Mario.'"
"And then, 'Ok, how many Marios are we talking about here?'"
"'Three Mario Mario, and Luigi Mario.'"
But our favorite line is: "Goombas are strong, lethal... and STUPID!"
Yeah, I really enjoyed this movie. My thought after th movie was over? "Funny, and satisfing." I hope that you will enjoy this movie a lot. I really like this movie, and I liked the movie debut of the Mario Brothers!