About the Super Mario Bros. Movie

Everyone knows about Super Mario Bros. At one point, kids knew Mario more than they did Mickey Mouse. So, when something’s really popular, you make a movie about it, right? Well, that’s what happened. Super Mario Bros. was released on May 28, 1993. It starred Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo as Mario and Luigi—the Mario Brothers. Certifiable bad-ass Dennis Hopper starred as the sinister King Koopa, and Samantha Mathis portrayed Princess Daisy.

The film attempted to give the Mario Brothers a back story and tell the story of their first adventure—how they became the “Super” Mario Bros. The filmmakers pulled their information from what they had available to them—the major Mario games out at the time of filming were Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, 3, and Super Mario World. They also had the Mario cartoons that had previously aired—The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario World.

For some, the end result was an interesting, unusual, entertaining, compelling, and inspired look into this fantastic world. For most, it was a complete disaster and disgrace to the video game series. My opinion, obviously, is the former. Even for those who dislike the film, the aim of this website is to help its viewers understand what the filmmakers were trying to do with this movie, and at least appreciate the immense amount of thought and respect that went into creating it. They were trying to do something different and revolutionary—and they did so in making the very first movie ever based on a video game.

Super Mario Bros. The Movie Archive

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