Second Sight DVD/Blu-Ray Release of Super Mario Bros.

[Redstar]

Hey, everyone. As you all know we have teamed with Second Sight Films to bring Super Mario Bros. to both DVD and Blu-Ray for the first time. This release will feature a new transfer with the best and most proper technical specifications. This alone makes it the most we could have ever hoped for as fans simply wanting to see the film in the best possible format.

However, we are also lucky enough to have been involved with new bonus content. For the most part, this is simply interviews with choice cast/crew. Most of those interviewed have already been spoken to by us on the site, but we have a few new surprises. We are ready to announce one of those surprises: co-director Rocky Morton. Check out the photo for proof!

We're extremely excited for this release. It may be the best we will ever receive, but it will also be the best we deserve. We've earned this. We've worked hard for this as a community. All it took was keeping the film in the spotlight long enough for someone to notice.

Also, the current release date is August 11th. Until then, Trust the Fungus.

[Serum]

Oh my God, this is gonna be awesome.

[KoopaBro64]

I accidentally misplaced my 2003 DVD release upon sorting out old knick-knacks and whatnot, so I cannot wait to get my hands on this release. I'm not familiar with the publisher, so I hope this disc will work with all region Blu-ray players. No matter what I will be picking this up, after all we all worked hard for it

My favorite aspect of the web-site has always been the interviews, they've exhibited the hardships and effort that has been often overlooked in the development of this film. To finally hear Rocky's reminisce on the experience will surely be engaging, because it still seems a bit hazy on how the film morphed into something so dark and inventive.

[Redstar]

We've already filmed a couple more interviews over the weekend with more to come during the next week. We should have a complete catalog of footage by the end of the week, at which time we might be able to provide a list of everyone we've brought together for the project. Check back for updates!

[YoshiWrangler]

Besides being HD, what differences will there be between DVD & Blue ray? I've just got a DVD player and no plans ro upgrade anytime soon.

[Sonicroc]

Besides being HD, what differences will there be between DVD & Blue ray? I've just got a DVD player and no plans to upgrade anytime soon.

Yay, I'm not the only one!

@Phlibbit: Your predictions of DVD's extinction have yet to come true! Aside from a few Pixar bonus-features discs I can't play on my TV, there haven't been any problems with my sticking with DVD.

But hey, all is well, since your new release is going to be for DVD too! But then, I guess YoshiWrangler raises a good point: Do you know if the the DVD and Blu-ray versions are the same?

[Serum]

Looks like the box art is up on Second Sight's website!

[Sonicroc]

======IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT======

Hello all! This hasn't been mentioned on the site, so I want to make this perfectly clear to everyone: Second Sight's Blu-Ray and DVD release of the Mario movie will be Region 2 only. (This has been confirmed by Phlibbit.)

What this means is that the DVD / BD will only work on a Region 2 player. (According to Wikipedia, Region 2 is for Europe, the Middle East, Japan, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Greenland, and French Overseas departments and territories.)

If you don't live in one of those places but you still want to buy and watch the new release, you'd have to (a) use a player from a different region, (b) [illegally] unlock your player and change the region, or (c) get a region-free player. (I've heard a PS2 with Action Replay can also function as a region-free DVD player, but I've never tried it, lol.)

I personally wasn't planning on buying the release, just because it is very rare that I buy a second copy of a movie I already own. Still, I'm assuming I'm not the only American on this forum, so I just wanted to make this clear, in order that people don't buy it, wait for it excitedly, and then realize that they can't play it, which would stink.

[Redstar]

There are several programs that allow you to play DVD/Blu-Ray discs on your computer regardless of region. That's probably the best we can suggest for this in Region 1 who are unwilling to purchase a region-free player.

[Roareye]

Just to add on Region information.

The Blu-Ray region of the UK is Region B. If this is like the DVD, it will likely be region locked too, which means the SMB Movie Blu-Ray will be Region B.
Region B includes: United Kingdom, Western Europe, Africa, South-West Asia (not including Japan), Middle East, New Zealand, and Australia.
If the Blu-Ray is region locked, you will either need a Blu-Ray player from one of those countries, unlock your player, get a region-free player OR you can get a Blu-Ray drive for your computer and set the region to Region B. It will still play region free Blu-Rays (Which is practically all American releases outside of Criterion and smaller firms).

[Serum]

Just to add on Region information.

The Blu-Ray region of the UK is Region B. If this is like the DVD, it will likely be region locked too, which means the SMB Movie Blu-Ray will be Region B.
Region B includes: United Kingdom, Western Europe, Africa, South-West Asia (not including Japan), Middle East, New Zealand, and Australia.
If the Blu-Ray is region locked, you will either need a Blu-Ray player from one of those countries, unlock your player, get a region-free player OR you can get a Blu-Ray drive for your computer and set the region to Region B. It will still play region free Blu-Rays (Which is practically all American releases outside of Criterion and smaller firms).

Sounds like I'm all set, then. A Blu-Ray drive for Macintosh isn't that hard to come by these days!

[Roareye]

So... we're a month from release now and we've still seen little to nothing of the title past the excellent work being done by you guys on the Behind The Scenes documentary.
As it is the final month I'm hoping there's some marketing going to be happening. Second Sight have their own website and Facebook accounts, as do we. It costs nothing for them to take a few screenshots from the new HD master to use as promotional material (Just post them up as a sneak peek at what the movie will look like on the release), and for nearer the time an HD trailer would be awesome. Costs little, screenshots cost nothing not even any appreciable time, but it would help get the audience excited.

I'm really keen to see this film, eager to see anything of the master. When can we expect a screenshot or two?

[Serum]

Seconded, who here's been working with Second Sight, I know at least two of us have, myself not included, but maybe someone involved (I think Redstar and Phlibbit are the main two communicating with Second Sight?) could pitch the HD trailer idea to them? That would be good for business.

[Phlibbit]

Releasing an HD trailer (or even just really good HD stills) would be a fantastic idea. I'll get with Redstar and see what we can do.

[Redstar]

Second Sight actually contacted us this morning to offer us a test disc for review. We should have it within a week. They also released a trailer via Aim Publicity, although it just seems to be one of the original trailers in better quality.

We'll be sure to ask if they have any plans to market the film in another way; regardless, we can pick up the slack by offering our own review/visual comparisons.

[Serum]

Nice, I haven't ever seen the trailer look that nice. Question about the DVD: What kind of remastering did the film get? Is it 2K/4K? What's the encoding quality and whatnot?

[Redstar]

We've received our copy of the Blu-Ray and so far have determined it to be an amazing edition. The picture and sound quality of the film itself alone makes this worth a purchase. It makes the quality of the prior Disney release seem like a MANOS recording in comparison. It's almost as if us fans willed it into existence.

We'll release a full review with a video comparing screenshots soon. Trust the Fungus!

[Serum]

It's almost as if us fans willed it into existence.

I like to think we did.

[ultimateemail5000]

It sounds like the team who made this bluray happen took a lot of care and time into it, unlike anything that would happen with Disney and the film. I bet if it does come here they still jip us with just the movie and maybe MAYBE a trailer. I will try to get this release in the near future, not right away since anymore I don't really collect movies. ( I still need to get Toxic on blu-ray) But I am so glad that it finally happened even if it wasn't in USA.

[Phlibbit]

I've just made a site update with a new video--a Blu-Ray vs. DVD comparison.

I took a bunch of screenshots from the Blu-Ray, and Redstar and I narrowed it down to the best ones. Then I took the crappy DVD and got the equivalent screens and combined them into one awesome video. Check it out:

[Serum]

Oh my gosh, this is beautiful! I'm already noticing stuff I've never seen! I never saw the sign in Koopa Square that said "The Fungus is Judgement!" This is fantastic! I can't wait for my Blu-Ray to arrive, now!

[moviemaker29]

Man, that is such an amazing transfer!

[KoopaBro64]

Well, time to rejoice now that the Blu-Ray is here! Pat 'yerselves all on the back as we worked hard as a community to bring this release into existence!

I recently acquired my copy a day ago, but sadly I've had a hassle setting it up. Recent Blu-Ray player firmware blocks out any attempts of playing foreign discs, so anyone looking to changing their region settings can pretty much count that out. Wal Mart has a history of selling cheap multi-region Blu-Ray players, but most are only available in Canadian markets, ah well.

I've decided to order the DVD copy for viewing, as I've heard VLC Media Player recognizes discs of any region. I guess that would be the easiest option for anyone looking to get this, especially those who don't own a region B player nor have the money for one. I've also heard that a digital copy will soon be available for those who purchased? That would be a blast to have, as I would love to have a copy on my tablet for easy viewing.

As a side note, I couldn't help but notice the couple of typos on the packaging! It's not negative criticism as it's only an extremely minor flaw in a spectacular release. The credits on the back-cover list the movie title as, "Super Marios Bros.", and the copyright for the film is listed as 1983. I'm sure most wouldn't notice, it's not nearly as bad as a mistake compared to the Dennis Hopper discoloration on the 2010 DVD.

[Phlibbit]

Wow, those are some pretty obvious typos. AFAIK, we were never sent the back cover for proofreading...we would've caught that right away--since we were sent the menus and caught a couple of typos there.

ALSO, I don't yet have my retail copy so I can't 100% confirm this yet, but my laptop's Blu-Ray player easily plays the disc through VLC media player. So, KoopaBro, I'm sure that the DVD will likely work as well.

[Serum]

I'm still waiting on my copy in the mail, I've taken a screwdriver to my Blu-Ray player and I got it to play Region 3 discs (those are the only out of region discs I could find, locally-- don't ask, it's a dumb story) and I should be set to review this thing posthaste... if the USPS or whoever is delivering gets here soon.

[nesboy43]

I made a thread on here explaining how to play this on US machines, whether it is playing on your PC, or making a region free bluray. Check it out.

The Bluray is amazing. For those who don't know, the DVD we've had for years from Disney is just a 4:3 letterboxed laserdisc transfer, just like what Lucas did for the original versions of Star Wars on DVD. So it looks like garbage and on top of that you had to stretch it.

This Bluray just looks insanely well done, like if Criterion did a Super Mario Bros release. Some studios will add digital noise reduction filters to take out some grain, but the picture will lose definition. For this one you will notice some grain, but the film is beautiful. One of the best looking Blurays I own. I've seen this movie probably 20 times over the years. With this Bluray it was like I had never seen the film before. You really appreciate the brilliant set design and special effects of the film, as well as the cinematography.

The documentary is over an hour long and features interviews with so many people involved in the film, it's really astounding. I had heard glimpses about the production being a mess, but to hear firsthand accounts from directors, producers, writers, and actors about how the film came to be and what went wrong is very cool.

Mad props to Second Sight films for releasing this and giving it the all star treatment Disney never would.

It honestly makes me so happy to see this once ignored film that was a big part of my childhood get the recognition and attention it deserves.

[Carlo Trevisan]

and nothing about the italian version?
you know, I was lucky cause of Pacific Rim, one of my fav movie toghether with Mario bros, I've find the UK version limited edition of the blue ray with italian language.. I think that Mario only have english..

[SethRex]

I finally got a Region Free Blu-ray player. My first region B release ordered? Super Mario Bros. The Movie. Will let you guys know what I think of it. Boy it's gonna be different watching it in its proper Animorphic ratio after having watched the non animorphic DVD for so long.

[Serum]

I finally got a Region Free Blu-ray player. My first region B release ordered? Super Mario Bros. The Movie. Will let you guys know what I think of it. Boy it's gonna be different watching it in its proper Animorphic ratio after having watched the non animorphic DVD for so long.

Which model Blu-Ray player? I've been looking around places like Best Buy and they've got little to no idea what I'm talking about. :/

[SethRex]

I got a Seiki U-Vision player. It's not one you can find in a lot of stores. Mostly Sears, where I got it and Amazon...

http://www.amazon.com/Seiki-SR4KP1-Up-C ... iki+sr4kp1