A place for those who "Trust the Fungus"

Thought this was relevant to what we're trying to do with Super Mario Bros.: the 1990, low-budget "Captain America" film by Albert Pyun will be re-released this May. Obviously, this is to cash in on the upcoming new Captain America film, but the interesting part is what they're doing with it.

According to io9, Pyun is using "my own 35 mm CA work picture and temp mix [that] I did before I left [the] picture." The film will be extended from 97 minutes to 124, in the process receiving a change in tone that Pyun describes as "more character-oriented and less 'super hero action.'" Additionally, the film will have a completely new soundtrack and now be in 5.1 stereo. The real kicker? It's coming out on Blu-Ray.

As mentioned before, this is really only happening to cash in on the upcoming Captain America film, but the amount of work they're putting into it (when a new cover is all that's necessary) is astonishing. Could Disney do something similar with Super Mario Bros. if a similar situation arose? Well, probably not. They just ignored Mario's 25th.

Oh. My. God.

Even the 1990s Captain America film gets an extended director's cut/re-release!?

You're totally right that this being done at an opportune time related to the new Captain America movie. Such a shame for SMB to be ignored--when all the signs are there for a better version.

...Really? Please tell us this is a joke...ugh.

This is just bigger slap in the face than that 1up article! I mean REALLY?! Captain America?!

Is the universe trying to tell us, that this low budget direct to video mediocre fesis in fact more worthy of being restored than SMB?

This just blows my mind on so many levels, the fact that they're saying this movie of Captain America exists is surprising. I mean the film istelf isn't god-awful, but its pretty mediocre at best. But yet, instead of giving this movie a quick re-release, you know add some cast bios, a trailer, no they added lots of missing scenes from the movie and released it on blu-ray!

Why?!?!?! Even if the intetions to cash in on the new one, do you honestly believe that ANY of the younger generation is gonna remember this?! I mean it wasn't even released in theaters.

Okay, that movie was terrible..and yet IT gets a DECENT re-release?!...wow...that's just sad..and yet Super Mario Bros. just gets the title switch..c'mon, they GOT to give Super Mario Bros. AT LEAST a Blu-Ray release sometime, if Captain America got it..Super Mario Bros. has GOT to get one too..it's a MUCH better movie then Captain America..

god, first the pointless re-release, and now this. Do they HONESTLY think Captain America would do good on the video market?! I've never even see that movie in any video store! Super Mario Bros. would at least do good on sales, it's high ranked on Amazon.com!

Sooner or later they've got to give Mario Bros. a good re-release, if not, at least a crummy Blu-Ray release would still make my day.

It seems like Pyun is working towards releasing Director's Cuts of his other films as well. An earlier io9 article, Is it finally time for the director of the original Captain America to get some love?, mentions that Pyun salvaged a VHS telecine of his Jean-Claude Van Damme film Cyborg.

Pyun spoke to DreadCentral on how the copy was found and how it differs from the released version:

After 23 years my long-time composer Tony Riparetti has found a VHS telecine of my director's cut, the only copy in existence I believe. It has the original Tony Riparetti and Jim Saad music score, which was thrown out when Cannon Films and Jean-Claude took over the editing. The telecine is of the last cut I ever did and from the original 35mm work print, and it has a stereo temp mix with it. It also hasn't been cut by the MPAA to get an R rating so it has the X-rated violence. It shows clearly my vision for the film which neither Cannon, JCVD or the public accepted back in 1988.

The above io9 article also elaborates on why Pyun's take on Captain America was so poorly constructed:

"By all accounts, the film was only a short way into filming when the investors suddenly yanked away its $40 million budget. Marvel Comics fronted $3 million to finish the movie, but most of the scripted sequences were never shot and a number of new, cheaper sequences were filmed in a hurry."