4k Blu-Ray REVIEW: SUPER MARIO BROS. (1993): ”I Refuse to Walk the Dinosaur.”
Man, it sure does continue to be quite the shocker to see what movies manage to make it to the 4k Ultra HD blu-ray format, doesn’t it? Despite the fact that physical media sales have been on the decline for many years now, some real deep cuts and cult classics are surprisingly given the restoration treatment thanks to all kinds of little boutique companies from around the world. Typically, this means the discs are printed on demand or limited to very small quantities; but more often than not they will be given the really tricked out “collector’s edition” treatment with gorgeous packaging and overflowing with extra features. And now, here it is: the infamous Super Mario Bros. from 1993 recently made the jump to 4k and you just know I couldn’t let my personal thoughts and feelings toward it let me pass this one up!
Now when I think of this movie, it really isn’t the film itself that comes to mind as much as the excitement leading up to it. I can clearly remember being in middle school when a kid brought in a copy of Nintendo Power that had some first look images and concept art and having my goddamned mind blown. We were living in a time when a string of our favorite childhood franchises were being given the big screen treatment and arriving with realistic, mature and dare I say “gritty” tone and style. This arguably kicked off with comic adaptations like Batman ‘89 and 1990’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles before moving onto video games with Mario and eventually followed by Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. All of these releases were backed up with big marketing campaigns (collectible trading cards, happy meals, action figures, t-shirts, etc.) which really made it feel like you were living in an era. And while the comic stuff proved successful enough to warrant sequels, the video game movies had a much harder time hitting the mark and satisfying their supposedly intended audiences: the children, my God, the children!
I honestly can’t say that I remember seeing Super Mario Bros. in theaters that summer though I must have, right? It’s hard to recollect because it was released just two weeks before another dinosaur infested movie hit theaters and completely dominated the box office until it was time to go back to school. That’s right, it was 1993 and no other movie on the marquee stood a chance of going up against Jurassic Park (just ask Arnold Schwarzenegger). What I do remember is the utter disappointment I felt during the entire runtime however that initial viewing took place. What on the surface looked like a very cool, dystopian and dark science fiction take on Nintendo’s flagship mascot in actuality turned out to be a bonkers and uncomprehendingly baffling misfire of an interpretation. Wildly hard swing and a miss attempts at humor, clearly checked out performances, a script that screams rough draft and an overall tone that just felt kind of ugly and cheap all added up to an experience that I couldn’t wait to never return to.
But then years later something happened. Enough time had gone by for the movie to land squarely in the cult classic category at my favorite video rental place in SF (shout out to Lost Weekend Video) and I decided to give it a another shot. And y’know what? I still hated it but no longer took it personally. What was once a stain on my favorite plumber’s legacy was now more of a curiosity, a fascinating example of murphy’s law on full display. The dialogue, the casting, the action, the editing, the special effects, everything, all of it just completely screams “production nightmare.” Which by all accounts is exactly what it was; Bob Hoskins (Mario) famously said of his experience on set:
“F*ckin’ nightmare. The whole experience was a nightmare. It had a husband-and-wife team directing, whose arrogance had been mistaken for talent. After so many weeks their own agent told them to get off the set! F*ckin’ nightmare. F*ckin’ idiots.”
I mean if that doesn’t sell you on giving it a watch, I don’t know what will. Which is exactly why adding this fully restored 4k disc to my collection was a no brainer. The DVD that’s sat in my collection all these years was not only in pan and scan but also completely devoid of any special features. And along with the obviously updated (and surprisingly quite nice) visual quality, the extras on display here offer a refreshingly candid peek behind the curtain of just how it all went down. There’s even a very cool full length first cut workprint which along with multiple commentaries is exactly the kind of tlc a nerd like me likes to see in these sets. Well that and the fact that it’s limited to 3000 copies.
Nerds like that kind of thing too.
Let’s have a look at what’s in the box!
Extras:
DISC 1 4K
NEW! Feature film from brand new 4K master
NEW! Audio Commentary with Parker Bennett (screenwriter)
NEW! Audio Commentary with Fred Caruso (co-producer) and David L. Snyder (production designer)
NEW! Audio Commentary with Jeff Goodwin (key makeup artist), Mark McCoy (special effects crew) and Craig Edwards (production assistant)
NEW! Audio Commentary with Steven Applebaum & Ryan Hoss (Super Mario Bros. The Movie archivists)
NEW! Newly restored 4K deleted scenes
NEW! Newly restored 4K Ain't No Game trailer
NEW! Newly restored 4K I've Got The Power trailer
DISC 2 Blu-ray
NEW! Newly restored workprint in HD
NEW! Storyboard to Screen animatics
NEW! Academic Featurettes
Katabasis of the Lost Girl
Anarcho-Dino-Sado Chic: The Fashion of Dinohattan
The Hero Moment: Super Mario, Superhero
(D)evolution, Dystopia, and Trusting the Fungus
NEW! Spike & Iggy Revolutionary Rap music video restored with new music composed by Richard Edson
NEW! Anti-Koopa protest music video
NEW! Collection of archival Japanese trailers
NEW! Collection of archival commercials
This Ain't No Video Game Featurette (55mins)
'Making Of' Featurette (25mins)
Original electronic press kit with cast interviews and behind-the-scenes footage
Galleries: Stills, storyboards and concepts
Not bad huh?
So the short of it is that, no this is not a good movie. Not even a little bit. But it’s exactly what makes picking up this lovingly curated special edition worth it, y’know? It’s just weird.
A 4k Ultra HD release couldn’t have happened to a worse movie.
