A Strange and Interesting Classic

A few years ago I asked Lord Vector if he’d ever seen the Super Mario Brothers Movie, he said he hadn’t, but noted that all he had heard was it was horrible.

Now I won’t say that wasn’t true, but what I will say is I find this film to be deeply enjoyable, given that A) You consume adult beverages while watching it, and B) You make note that ANY resemblance to a series of video games is purely coincidental.

Its a great cast with a very VERY bizarre story, set design, and direction. Anything that resembles a video game is a direct detractor, and the best parts are the bits that are WAYYYY off the reservation.

Vector found that my viewing methods do indeed unlock the majesty of the film, so much that he sent me this article!

Super Mario Bros., theatrically released May 28, 1993. Directed by Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel (creators of Max Headroom); starring Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, and Dennis Hopper.

20 years? Jesus, where did the time go?

He was also deeply amused by this bit, as was I:

The cast was basically in revolt. The actors would shove each day’s new pages aside unread. Hoskins and Leguizamo swilled scotch together between takes, leading to an on-set accident in which Leguizamo drunkenly crashed a truck and Hoskins broke his hand. By the time Stayton got there, the disgruntled performers had abandoned any effort to put on a happy face. When Stayton told Hopper the directors declined to speak to him for the story, the actor responded, “That’s the only intelligent thing I’ve heard that they’ve really actually done.”

So Leguizamo and Hoskins were both drunk during filming! That also happens to be the best way to watch the film as well!

For those interested in a trip into the bizarre, the whole film can be watched here:

Enjoy!!!

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3 Responses to A Strange and Interesting Classic

  1. LWJ says:

    That movie was painful. Glad I did not see in theaters when it came out.

  2. Vector says:

    Something very interesting from the article is that this script was actually written specifically for a Mario movie (for certain values of ‘specifically’, of course). When you and I watched it, I really thought that it was a script someone had lying around which was retrofitted to have a couple of Mario references. That just makes it even worse, and of course, even more fun for a Bad Movie with Adult Beverages Night.

    • Weerd Beard says:

      Yeah, I had discovered that in my previous research as well.

      It does seem a LOT like an orphan script that couldn’t find a studio, until a hasty re-write added an iconic plumber to the mix.

      It takes REALLY bad writing to come across like that!

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