A place for those who "Trust the Fungus"

For the last month or so I've been considering a project concerning the SMB movie and experimenting a little on how to get it going. As we all agree on, the SMB movie was pretty good for what it was. It may have had its flaws, but there were many areas where it simply shone far more than most recent video game-to-film adaptations. Unfortunately, some of those flaws are very bad and can leave a greater impression than the subtle good aspects.

Because of that, I thought it would be interesting to cut the movie a little bit to try to get it a little more serious and dark. There are quite a few sound effects, shots, scenes, and lines of dialogue that are pretty cheesy and unnecessary, so I feel removing them would streamline the movie and leave for a more serious experience. However, being here on this forum has shone the movie to me in a new light, leaving me unsure what would truly be an improvement if removed. I initially wanted to swap out the soundtrack entirely, but now I feel it's just fine. I also wanted to remove as much references to de-evolution as I could, and change it to "mutating" or some such, but that would be far too difficult, so I resolved to handle that in a different way. Here's a list of cuts I made and why, so feel free to point out if you agree or if you think it should stay in.

1.) Remove the god-awful animated-opening prologue, replacing it with a simple black screen showing the cast-credits, which then fades into the first scene of Daisy's mother. This allows us to figure things out on our own rather than being told, and starts the movie off on a more dark mood.

2.) Cut the driver saying "Hey lady!" when he almost hits Daisy's mother. Silence makes the mood more effective.

3.) Cut the ominous 'Duhh" sound on Koopa stepping out from the shadows, which is a bit comic. Silence, again, makes the mood more effective.

4.) Remove the shine effect of the crystal shard, replacing it with a more traditional fade-in to the present. It's just cheesy.

4.) Cut directly to the shot of people walking on the street. The skyline view of New York is unnecessary.

5.) Shorten the shot at the beginning of the movie where the host of Our Miraculous World is speaking to the person claiming to have visited another world. The person's facial expression and the way he speaks make him seem to be kinda white-trashy, so I clipped right before it shows him. This makes it less of a joke, and by shortening the shot, provides for more subtle foreshadowing of parallel dimensions.

6.) Remove Mario's dialogue as he and Luigi drive to the job. This probably takes place five to ten minutes after Luigi talking about "believing" in their house, so why is he just now responding?

7.) I wanted to make Iggy and Spike seem more intelligent and dangerous, so I thought I'd remove the entire scene of Iggy following Daisy, only to hit his head on the glass panel. This is pretty slapstick and does nothing, so removing it and having Daisy look back at them in the car makes it seem like they never left it, and were biding their time. More sinister this way, I think. Unfortunately, removing most of that scene left the shots from Mario telling Luigi to check their messages and then Mario walking into the story too much of a jump, so I thought I'd move Iggy and Spike's introduction between these two shots as a replacement for the slapstick scene. It works, but I'm not entirely sure if the pacing will be thrown, and they should keep where they were. A fair compromise is leaving the scene as-is, but at least removing the part where Spike is creeping behind, stopping beside the building. It comes out of nowhere, ruins the pacing, and he's right back at the car afterward. Makes no sense... Any thoughts on how to handle this?

8.) I'd like removing the bit about Luigi sucking his own thumb to make him more serious, but it doesn't mesh well with the soundtrack. Might as well leave it.

9.) Cut the final shot of Mario and Daniella grinning at each other over having "hooked up" Luigi and Daisy. Transitions directly to Mario and Daniella leaving the restaurant. Thought it'd make the scene a little more on Luigi's side, so Mario doesn't have to baby him entirely. Transitioned perfectly, no pacing issues.

10.) Remove Iggy saying his own name when Spike wakes him up in the car. It's really quiet, and I have no idea why he's saying his own name. Shouldn't it be Spike? It's also really quick, so seems almost like it was inserted after.

11.) When Daisy is forced into the holding-cell with the missing Brooklyn girls, she and Daniella say each others names. A lot. Cut the last "Daniella", which is almost a sigh.

12.) I kinda wanted to remove the entire jail-prep scene, transitioning directly from Mario and Luigi at the check-in counter to them in lock-up. The transition works well, but it's a lot to cut. I just felt it was a bit too slapstick, what with them being hurried around, being poured water on and "shot". It's not really necessary, but what do you guys think?

13.) When Koopa orders Toad de-evolved, cut the shot of him saying "See you later, alligator." It transitions really well, and makes Koopa seem more evil. However, it does make Mario and Luigi's quip at the end of the movie upon de-evolving Koopa come out of nowhere, but it's not entirely "Huh?"

14.) Also, remove the computer speaking in that cheesy voice. Make the scene more serious with silence.

15.) When Mario and Luigi escape and steal the police car, there's the short scene where Luigi is confused about "aliens" being on the loose. It makes him seem a little dumb, and really ruins the pacing of the supposed chase-scene. It's just a needless little joke. Cut it.

16.) Remove the short scene of Koopa asking what humans evolve from. Unnecessary, and really cheesy.

17.) When Koopa orders Iggy and Spike evolved, there's a shot of the machine-operator smiling and twisting the knob, the computer saying "Advanced". If the machine-operator is so sadistic, as he smiles when Toad was de-evolved, why is he smiling now? Also, why would Spike be so surprised after hearing it say that? Remove that shot, thus making the evolution a surprise for both Spike and us.

18. When Mario and Luigi have Iggy and Spike tied up, they turn their heads in rapid-succession, which is really goofy. I managed to clip enough frames so that they don't do that at all. It turned out surprisingly well, but could use some work.

19.) In the night club, remove the "whooon" sound effect when the crystal is thrown about. Really cheesy. Also, remove the worm screaming when Lena downs her drink. Really cheesy.

20.) Shorten the scene when Mario and Luigi escape from the elevator by making the Goombas dance. It ruins the pacing of the movie, so I very easily cut right as Luigi pulls his leg in, returning us to Daisy running down the hall. Worked well.

21.) Cut the shining sound made when the police officer presents Koopa with with crystal.

22.) The chase scene in the iced-out pipe was fine, but it turned into a really bad joke when the Goomba rides the other Goomba as a sled. The scene also had a "This is slow" feeling to it, so I cut out the Goombas after Mario wrenches them, thus removing the joke and making the scene seem faster.

23.) Cut the shining sound as the crystal falls and Lena tries to catch it.

24.) Remove the shot of Lena screaming maniacally as she runs down the tunnel. She just seems insane. I know she's supposed to be mad with power, but ultimately she's a woman-scorned by her love, so the shot makes her less sympathetic.

25.) Cut the joke Luigi makes when Lena is electrified and burned to the chamber-wall. Makes him seem really insensitive, as well as meshes badly with his facial expression in the next shot when he legitimately looks horrified.

26.) After Mario winds the Bob-omb, it falls down through a crack and Koopa, unseen, says "Failed again, monkey." (or something like that). It's just really cheesy and ruins the suspense, plus it doesn't mesh well with the next shot where we actually do see Koopa, and he just then grins. The grin itself serves its purpose, so cut the dialogue.

27.) I wanted to do away with the Koopa-de-evolving-Scapelli scene altogether, but it presented a continuity problem by making Mario suddenly on the ground holding the mushroom, as well as making the scene too short. A fair compromise would be at least removing everyone in the crowd laughing at a horrible thing... Thoughts?

28.) When the Bob-omb blasts Koopa into the Clown Car-platform, there's a shot inserted in the middle of his fall that makes it seem like he won't really land in it. Remove the shot, restoring his proper trajectory.

And, finally:

29.) Remove Mario's dialogue in the meteor-chamber scene, with him telling Luigi Daisy needs to "find where she belongs". This makes Luigi seem more mature in that he makes the decision for himself, as well as makes the scene more focused on him and Daisy.

Also, since it happens at several points throughout the movie, cut all references to Koopa ordering pizza. There unnecessary shots inserted throughout the movie, and I really don't get what the point is.


So, feel free to express your thoughts or give advice. I think this would really transform the film in a way that makes for a more serious and dark viewing, as well as balances the decent-goofiness. Hopefully you all agree.

Redstar wrote:For the last month or so I've been considering a project concerning the SMB movie and experimenting a little on how to get it going. As we all agree on, the SMB movie was pretty good for what it was. It may have had its flaws, but there were many areas where it simply shone far more than most recent video game-to-film adaptations. Unfortunately, some of those flaws are very bad and can leave a greater impression than the subtle good aspects.

Because of that, I thought it would be interesting to cut the movie a little bit to try to get it a little more serious and dark. There are quite a few sound effects, shots, scenes, and lines of dialogue that are pretty cheesy and unnecessary, so I feel removing them would streamline the movie and leave for a more serious experience. However, being here on this forum has shone the movie to me in a new light, leaving me unsure what would truly be an improvement if removed. I initially wanted to swap out the soundtrack entirely, but now I feel it's just fine. I also wanted to remove as much references to de-evolution as I could, and change it to "mutating" or some such, but that would be far too difficult, so I resolved to handle that in a different way. Here's a list of cuts I made and why, so feel free to point out if you agree or if you think it should stay in.

I like the idea of a fan cut of the movie I can't wait to see what you want to cut.

1.) Remove the god-awful animated-opening prologue, replacing it with a simple black screen showing the cast-credits, which then fades into the first scene of Daisy's mother. This allows us to figure things out on our own rather than being told, and starts the movie off on a more dark mood.

I agree with this, the opening just never felt like it belonged. Maybe if the dinosaurs were real and not uhh trying to look 16-bit I guess...if anybody can even call that 8 or 16 bits...

2.) Cut the driver saying "Hey lady!" when he almost hits Daisy's mother. Silence makes the mood more effective.

I could see that I guess. I know one time I almost hit somebody I started screaming out the window and I wasn't saying "Hey lady!" it was a bit vulgar than that. How about you dub a new line with a lot of naughty language? lol I'm kidding.

3.) Cut the ominous 'Duhh" sound on Koopa stepping out from the shadows, which is a bit comic. Silence, again, makes the mood more effective.

That duuh sound may be cheezy, but it fits well.

4.) Cut directly to the shot of people walking on the street. The skyline view of New York is unnecessary.

Did you know there is a billboard for Newport cigarettes in that shot? SMB selling smokes to kids, what were they thinking?

5.) Shorten the shot at the beginning of the movie where the host of Our Miraculous World is speaking to the person claiming to have visited another world. The person's facial expression and the way he speaks make him seem to be kinda white-trashy, so I clipped right before it shows him. This makes it less of a joke, and by shortening the shot, provides for more subtle foreshadowing of parallel dimensions.

A lot of eye witnesses look either white trash or ghetto. Just watch thenews. It's funny when you see a paranoid black guy as an eye witness, or even the guys who claim Sasquatch is real.

6.) Remove Mario's dialogue as he and Luigi drive to the job. This probably takes place five to ten minutes after Luigi talking about "believing" in their house, so why is he just now responding?

The Simpsons once made fun of those movie situations. I think Marge and some guy were talking then it cut to them in another area, I think a Jet or car something, and the guy finishes what they were talking about and Marge replies say something like, You didnt speak for nearly 45 minutes, I thought I did something wrong!

7.) I wanted to make Iggy and Spike seem more intelligent and dangerous, so I thought I'd remove the entire scene of Iggy following Daisy, only to hit his head on the glass panel. This is pretty slapstick and does nothing, so removing it and having Daisy look back at them in the car makes it seem like they never left it, and were biding their time. More sinister this way, I think. Unfortunately, removing most of that scene left the shots from Mario telling Luigi to check their messages and then Mario walking into the story too much of a jump, so I thought I'd move Iggy and Spike's introduction between these two shots as a replacement for the slapstick scene. It works, but I'm not entirely sure if the pacing will be thrown, and they should keep where they were. A fair compromise is leaving the scene as-is, but at least removing the part where Spike is creeping behind, stopping beside the building. It comes out of nowhere, ruins the pacing, and he's right back at the car afterward. Makes no sense... Any thoughts on how to handle this?

Keep these knuckle heads the way they are.

8.) I'd like removing the bit about Luigi sucking his own thumb to make him more serious, but it doesn't mesh well with the soundtrack. Might as well leave it.

Why?

10.) Remove Iggy saying his own name when Spike wakes him up in the car. It's really quiet, and I have no idea why he's saying his own name. Shouldn't it be Spike? It's also really quick, so seems almost like it was inserted after.

I never noticed that.

12.) I kinda wanted to remove the entire jail-prep scene, transitioning directly from Mario and Luigi at the check-in counter to them in lock-up. The transition works well, but it's a lot to cut. I just felt it was a bit too slapstick, what with them being hurried around, being poured water on and "shot". It's not really necessary, and is kinda a "Big-lipped Alligator Moment", but, what do you guys think?

Watching the hero(s) of a movie getting beat up in a slapstick way is genius, leave it there. But what about the part where they meet Koopa?

13.) When Koopa orders Toad de-evolved, cut the shot of him saying "See you later, alligator." It transitions really well, and makes Koopa seem more evil. However, it does make Mario and Luigi's quip at the end of the movie upon de-evolving Koopa come out of nowhere, but it's not entirely "Huh?"

Koopa is in the alligator family I think, I dont know my sinosaurs.

14.) Also, remove the computer speaking in that cheesy voice. Make the scene more serious with silence.

In my vision of the deleted scene I didd my Meatwad impression for that voice.

18. When Mario and Luigi have Iggy and Spike tied up, they turn their heads in rapid-succession, which is really goofy. I managed to clip enough frames so that they don't do that at all. It turned out surprisingly well, but could use some work.

That is part of their character.

19.) In the night club, remove the "whooon" sound effect when the crystal is thrown about. Really cheesy. Also, remove the worm screaming when Lena downs her drink. Really cheesy.

Starting to sound like Spielburg or George Lucas when they revised their movies........

21.) Cut the shining sound made when the police officer presents Koopa with with crystal.

Why?

22.) The chase scene in the iced-out pipe was fine, but it turned into a really bad joke when the Goomba rides the other Goomba as a sled. The scene also had a "This is slow" feeling to it, so I cut out the Goombas after Mario wrenches them, thus removing the joke and making the scene seem faster.

You should speed this scene up a tad and change the pitch of sound to make it still sound the same.

23.) Cut the shining sound as the crystal falls and Lena tries to catch it.

You sure don't like shining sounds.

24.) Remove the shot of Lena screaming maniacally as she runs down the tunnel. She just seems insane. I know she's supposed to be mad with power, but ultimately she's a woman-scorned by her love, so the shot makes her less sympathetic.

Ehhhh

25.) Cut the joke Luigi makes when Lena is electrified and burned to the chamber-wall. Makes him seem really insensitive, as well as meshes badly with his facial expression in the next shot when he legitimately looks horrified.

The joke lame yes, but needs to stay.

26.) After Mario winds the Bob-omb, it falls down through a crack and Koopa, unseen, says "Failed again, monkey." (or something like that). It's just really cheesy and ruins the suspense, plus it doesn't mesh well with the next shot where we actually do see Koopa, and he just then grins. The grin itself serves its purpose, so cut the dialogue.

MESSED UP AGAIN MAMAL! Deserves to stay. If you cut that out might as well just cut out Mario saying common come and get it.

27.) I wanted to do away with the Koopa-de-evolving-Scapelli scene altogether, but it presented a continuity problem by making Mario suddenly on the ground holding the mushroom, as well as making the scene too short. A fair compromise would be at least removing everyone in the crowd laughing at a horrible thing... Thoughts?

Keeeeeeeeeep iiiiiiit

28.) When the Bob-omb blasts Koopa into the Clown Car-platform, there's a shot inserted in the middle of his fall that makes it seem like he won't really land in it. Remove the shot, restoring his proper trajectory.

I never understood that. Looks like the launched a doll in the air, litterly straight up. Then he just winds up in his Koopa Copter thing.

And, finally:

29.) Remove Mario's dialogue in the meteor-chamber scene, with him telling Luigi Daisy needs to "find where she belongs". This makes Luigi seem more mature in that he makes the decision for himself, as well as makes the scene more focused on him and Daisy.

Once again, that is not a necessary cut. Luigi's lost without Mario, and Mario is his back bone. He is giving him advice, strong advice at that. If Mario wasnt there, Luigi would have just begged her to come back until she walked away.

So, feel free to express your thoughts or give advice. I think this would really transform the film in a way that makes for a more serious and dark viewing, as well as balances the decent-goofiness. Hopefully you all agree.

Well I gave my advice for most of edits. Sounds like it will be shorter maybe an hour and twenty minutes. But there are a lot of unnecessary cuts yiu want to make and to me that's doing what George Lucas and Spielburg do all the time. It's really not necessary. Also I'm suprised from the none pointles stuff you wanted to cut, you left in the pointless ramble of Koopa's pizza. Also even though you didn't say it, leave in the part where the cop says HAIL KOOPA.

But I would like to see your fan cut of the film when it is complete, that's when I'll be able to state my true opinion on it.

ultimateemail5000 wrote:

2.) Cut the driver saying "Hey lady!" when he almost hits Daisy's mother. Silence makes the mood more effective.

I could see that I guess. I know one time I almost hit somebody I started screaming out the window and I wasn't saying "Hey lady!" it was a bit vulgar than that. How about you dub a new line with a lot of naughty language? lol I'm kidding.

Well, that entire scene is mysterious and moody, and we're wondering what's going on, why she's running around, and so on. The "Hey lady!" part just kind of pulls us from that. Usually, such things are only done when a person is being chased, and the chasee runs into someone and the person rudely shoves them off... Only for him to look like a prick when the person gets murdered later on, and could have used help. This happens to a degree here, but since it didn't go the whole nine-yards, it's just unnecessary.

ultimateemail5000 wrote:

3.) Cut the ominous 'Duhh" sound on Koopa stepping out from the shadows, which is a bit comic. Silence, again, makes the mood more effective.

That duuh sound may be cheezy, but it fits well.

It does. It could go either way, actually, but I feel him coming out from the shadows is ominous enough. We don't need an audio cue to tell us that.

ultimateemail5000 wrote:

5.) Shorten the shot at the beginning of the movie where the host of Our Miraculous World is speaking to the person claiming to have visited another world. The person's facial expression and the way he speaks make him seem to be kinda white-trashy, so I clipped right before it shows him. This makes it less of a joke, and by shortening the shot, provides for more subtle foreshadowing of parallel dimensions.

A lot of eye witnesses look either white trash or ghetto. Just watch thenews. It's funny when you see a paranoid black guy as an eye witness, or even the guys who claim Sasquatch is real.

True, but the movie wants us to take the concept seriously, so they shouldn't be making it into a joke.

ultimateemail5000 wrote:

8.) I'd like removing the bit about Luigi sucking his own thumb to make him more serious, but it doesn't mesh well with the soundtrack. Might as well leave it.

Why?

Well, I want to make Luigi into a stronger character, but that's exactly why I'm on-the-fence with this particular cut. Leaving it in makes his development more obvious.

ultimateemail5000 wrote:

12.) I kinda wanted to remove the entire jail-prep scene, transitioning directly from Mario and Luigi at the check-in counter to them in lock-up. The transition works well, but it's a lot to cut. I just felt it was a bit too slapstick, what with them being hurried around, being poured water on and "shot". It's not really necessary, and is kinda a "Big-lipped Alligator Moment", but, what do you guys think?

Watching the hero(s) of a movie getting beat up in a slapstick way is genius, leave it there. But what about the part where they meet Koopa?

They meet Koopa after they're put into the pens, so this entire removed scene presents no continuity-errors. The only reason I want to keep it is because of the Shy Guy-reference, and because the cameras look cool.

ultimateemail5000 wrote:

18. When Mario and Luigi have Iggy and Spike tied up, they turn their heads in rapid-succession, which is really goofy. I managed to clip enough frames so that they don't do that at all. It turned out surprisingly well, but could use some work.

That is part of their character.

It is, but they're supposedly "evolved" now. I kinda want to see that, but at the same time it's sort of a subtle joke that they're still stupid, just with a larger vocabulary

ultimateemail5000 wrote:

23.) Cut the shining sound as the crystal falls and Lena tries to catch it.

You sure don't like shining sounds.

The crystal is important, but the shining sound is cheesy and is basically hitting us on the head with "This is important, stupid". It's a rock. Why does it need to shine? It's only really an issue in the beginning of the film, when the nun holds it, because that's when the shining is a direct audio cue telling us it's important. Without it, it foreshadows just a little more subtly.

ultimateemail5000 wrote:

24.) Remove the shot of Lena screaming maniacally as she runs down the tunnel. She just seems insane.
I know she's supposed to be mad with power, but ultimately she's a woman-scorned by her love, so the shot makes her less sympathetic.

Ehhhh

I like her character, but that one shot makes her seem bat-shit crazy. Her next scene, with her in the meteor chamber, she's clearly more sane and her dialogue is easily inferring she just wants to prove her worth to Koopa. She could use the boost.

ultimateemail5000 wrote:

25.) Cut the joke Luigi makes when Lena is electrified and burned to the chamber-wall. Makes him seem really insensitive, as well as meshes badly with his facial expression in the next shot when he legitimately looks horrified.

The joke lame yes, but needs to stay.

Why does it need to stay? "She sure makes an impression" comes out of nowhere and makes no sense... Who would really say that? I mean, even if they had a dark sense of humor, it wouldn't be so lame. Cut it, make the scene more serious, and Luigi more sensitive.

ultimateemail5000 wrote:

26.) After Mario winds the Bob-omb, it falls down through a crack and Koopa, unseen, says "Failed again, monkey." (or something like that). It's just really cheesy and ruins the suspense, plus it doesn't mesh well with the next shot where we actually do see Koopa, and he just then grins. The grin itself serves its purpose, so cut the dialogue.

MESSED UP AGAIN MAMAL! Deserves to stay. If you cut that out might as well just cut out Mario saying common come and get it.

Might as well? Mario saying that wasnt cheesy or narm or anything. Koopa saying it just doesn't sound villainous, and it doesn't match up with his facial expression in the shot afterward.

ultimateemail5000 wrote:

29.) Remove Mario's dialogue in the meteor-chamber scene, with him telling Luigi Daisy needs to "find where she belongs". This makes Luigi seem more mature in that he makes the decision for himself, as well as makes the scene more focused on him and Daisy.

Once again, that is not a necessary cut. Luigi's lost without Mario, and Mario is his back bone. He is giving him advice, strong advice at that. If Mario wasnt there, Luigi would have just begged her to come back until she walked away.

I always felt the movie was Luigi's story, and his journey to become a hero in his own right. He matured. This was evident when he and Daisy were going to go stop Lena, and the Brooklyn girls said "Who are you?" Luigi said he was Luigi, "You got a problem with that?" No, because he has initiative and grew as a person. The whole movie led up to that, and Mario deciding for him just undermines the whole point.

ultimateemail5000 wrote:Well I gave my advice for most of edits. Sounds like it will be shorter maybe an hour and twenty minutes. But there are a lot of unnecessary cuts yiu want to make and to me that's doing what George Lucas and Spielburg do all the time. It's really not necessary. Also I'm suprised from the none pointles stuff you wanted to cut, you left in the pointless ramble of Koopa's pizza. Also even though you didn't say it, leave in the part where the cop says HAIL KOOPA.

Ergh. Yeah, I forgot to add that. I was going to add it in the end, since there's multiple instances and it wouldn't be worth it listing each one. Thanks for the reminder. Added.

Well, I've already made all these cuts and it's only just under four minutes shorter. Everything was minimal, and that just speaks for how unnecessary it all was and how much it actually does effect the tone of the movie. I don't want to change much, because I love the goofy feel, but at the same time it's like the directors wanted their "dark", serious film while the production company wanted a PG flick for the kids. All the stuff I noted sounds like things they added to appease production, so removing them probably makes it a bit more faithful to their vision.

I guess they use the crystal sound to emphasize the power and remind people of the crystal

Part of me can really get behind the cutting the intro dinosaur thing...I do like the way the title flies in but I wonder if having it come in with the Mario theme would be even better....that's one thing a lot of people talk about the familiarity of the Mario theme and then going right into disappointment with the "Long time ago..." stuff.

I like the jail prep scene. I do think the guys with the hoses look really corny and lame mehh I like the firing squad scene too. I don't care for the way a few of the cops look.

One of my biggest gripes with the movie is the terrible extras. The alien creatures are better in Star Wars. Like some people are made up to be reptilian and then the rest of people are just trashy looking normal humans. I always thought it was really weird how Simon was just a guy with a mustache. Looks like a normal person. Though I guess a lot of stuff can't really be fixed.

If the Scapelli devo scene had to be edited with what's available, I'd say cut out the crowd reaction as the reaction is more funny to them I guess because Scapelli is a jerk, it's still a little goofy for them to find it funny. ehh I dunno.

the Koopa being blown up does look like a crappy doll and the fact that you see his bare human legs is terrible. If they could find some middle compromise of Bowser looking like a T-Rex and like his video game counterpart.

Ehh I'm torn on a lot of "fixes" I feel like with the general direction of the movie, very little editing could probably "help it" There are a lot of things with audio being out of sync or continuity errors that could be fixed but I do honestly think the movie is too much of a mess to really bother lol I say mess lovingly because I really do love the movie for what it is.

Are you going to upload it anywhere? I still want to check it out.

Zack wrote:One of my biggest gripes with the movie is the terrible extras. The alien creatures are better in Star Wars. Like some people are made up to be reptilian and then the rest of people are just trashy looking normal humans. I always thought it was really weird how Simon was just a guy with a mustache. Looks like a normal person. Though I guess a lot of stuff can't really be fixed.

That's another thing I want to fix. I have a "version 2" cut in mind, but it's beyond my capabilities or what software I have. I've gathered different shows and movies with footage I think would really expand the fantasy feel of the movie if mapped in. I want to update the visuals of the movie, such as the de-evolution machine's console (I have the perfect footage to use), as well as inserting different aliens to broaden the "evolved from dinosaurs" feel.

I don't want to ruin the surprise of all I found and how it would be used, but I got the perfect source for Koopa heads to map over some of the Goombas. Unfortunately, none it can come alive. I'd like it if I could find someone interested that has experience mapping footage, but I might have to pay unless they're a fan.

ultimateemail5000 wrote:Are you going to upload it anywhere? I still want to check it out.

I have a few edited clips on my Youtube account for examples, but all my work was mostly experimenting. I plan to get better software and edit the best footage I can (the source I used was good, but I have the feeling much better quality is out there), then I'll gladly put it up.

Redstar wrote:I don't want to ruin the surprise of all I found and how it would be used, but I got the perfect source for Koopa heads to map over some of the Goombas. Unfortunately, none it can come alive. I'd like it if I could find someone interested that has experience mapping footage, but I might have to pay unless they're a fan.

Do you mean like this?

Though that was so hard to do I don't think I'll attempt to do anything like that again.

Am I the only guy bugged by James? The guy when Daisy says she's going to find a phone. He's pushing a wheelbarrow and says "Alright" and thats his only line haha I dunno if it's the way he says it or what.

Redstar wrote:Unfortunately, none it can come alive.

I have no idea what I was trying to say there, btw.


Yeah, that's mapping. I know a guy that's doing quality work mapping the '84 Lynch adaptation of Dune with updated graphics. I've considered asking him, though I know it would be a paying job and he's a professional, so it'd be a pretty penny.

Well, if you think you'd want to stress over the work, just let me know and maybe we could get something going. Not only do I want to add new visuals, but I thought recreating some scenes would be really cool, too. A shot of an L train going by, with a Bullet Bill face mapped over it would be nice, wouldn't it?

If anyone wants to see some of the stuff I dug up, just ask.

I'd love to see some of the stuff you dug up. And I've already come across some of the test-edits you did on YouTube; interesting stuff. And since you're asking for cut advice, I'll throw in my short two-cents.

1.) Remove the god-awful animated-opening prologue, replacing it with a simple black screen showing the cast-credits, which then fades into the first scene of Daisy's mother. This allows us to figure things out on our own rather than being told, and starts the movie off on a more dark mood.

Yes. Definitely do this.

2.) Cut the driver saying "Hey lady!" when he almost hits Daisy's mother. Silence makes the mood more effective.

Yes. This would make this scene play a lot better. Actually, there are a few deleted scenes showing Koopa tracking Daisy's mother down in the rain. I'm not sure how much or anything, but there's a shot of Koopa turning into the camera's view, in the rain, in one of the trailers. It's an awesome shot, too.

3.) Cut the ominous 'Duhh" sound on Koopa stepping out from the shadows, which is a bit comic. Silence, again, makes the mood more effective.

Take it or leave it. Not cheesy enough to cut, IMO, but I'd have to compare the two to really decide.

4.) Cut directly to the shot of people walking on the street. The skyline view of New York is unnecessary.

Take it or leave it. Cut it if you're putting back in the "Brooklyn-NOW" titles.

5.) Shorten the shot at the beginning of the movie where the host of Our Miraculous World is speaking to the person claiming to have visited another world. The person's facial expression and the way he speaks make him seem to be kinda white-trashy, so I clipped right before it shows him. This makes it less of a joke, and by shortening the shot, provides for more subtle foreshadowing of parallel dimensions.

Eh, I liked this part.

6.) Remove Mario's dialogue as he and Luigi drive to the job. This probably takes place five to ten minutes after Luigi talking about "believing" in their house, so why is he just now responding?

I never noticed the gap here. But I do think it's essential dialogue.

7.) I wanted to make Iggy and Spike seem more intelligent and dangerous, so I thought I'd remove the entire scene of Iggy following Daisy, only to hit his head on the glass panel. This is pretty slapstick and does nothing, so removing it and having Daisy look back at them in the car makes it seem like they never left it, and were biding their time. More sinister this way, I think. Unfortunately, removing most of that scene left the shots from Mario telling Luigi to check their messages and then Mario walking into the story too much of a jump, so I thought I'd move Iggy and Spike's introduction between these two shots as a replacement for the slapstick scene. It works, but I'm not entirely sure if the pacing will be thrown, and they should keep where they were. A fair compromise is leaving the scene as-is, but at least removing the part where Spike is creeping behind, stopping beside the building. It comes out of nowhere, ruins the pacing, and he's right back at the car afterward. Makes no sense... Any thoughts on how to handle this?

Most of the stuff involving Iggy/Spike should be kept as-is. Yes it's goofy, but that's how they're supposed to be.

8.) I'd like removing the bit about Luigi sucking his own thumb to make him more serious, but it doesn't mesh well with the soundtrack. Might as well leave it.

Yes, leave this. I kind of agree about you trying to make Luigi's transition into a mature individual, but a lot of the stuff is just his personality, too.

10.) Remove Iggy saying his own name when Spike wakes him up in the car. It's really quiet, and I have no idea why he's saying his own name. Shouldn't it be Spike? It's also really quick, so seems almost like it was inserted after.

I've noticed this too. Removing it would be good...I do believe it's an ADR/dubbed line, and for no good reason.

12.) I kinda wanted to remove the entire jail-prep scene, transitioning directly from Mario and Luigi at the check-in counter to them in lock-up. The transition works well, but it's a lot to cut. I just felt it was a bit too slapstick, what with them being hurried around, being poured water on and "shot". It's not really necessary, and is kinda a "Big-lipped Alligator Moment", but, what do you guys think?

Keep this scene. I mean, you have to see the part where Bob Hoskins actually got shocked by the stun-stick because the protective cap was off, right?

13.) When Koopa orders Toad de-evolved, cut the shot of him saying "See you later, alligator." It transitions really well, and makes Koopa seem more evil. However, it does make Mario and Luigi's quip at the end of the movie upon de-evolving Koopa come out of nowhere, but it's not entirely "Huh?"

I like this line. Lots of the other cuts you want to make to keep Koopa more sinister are good though.

14.) Also, remove the computer speaking in that cheesy voice. Make the scene more serious with silence.

The voice here is one of those "so bad it's good" things. Taking it out is fine though. But if you do, also take out the Devo technician smirking.

18. When Mario and Luigi have Iggy and Spike tied up, they turn their heads in rapid-succession, which is really goofy. I managed to clip enough frames so that they don't do that at all. It turned out surprisingly well, but could use some work.

No, keep this in.

19.) In the night club, remove the "whooon" sound effect when the crystal is thrown about. Really cheesy. Also, remove the worm screaming when Lena downs her drink. Really cheesy.

Keep the crystal sounds. Yes, it's deliberate, but it highlights the fact that nothing else would make this sound, that it's something special, etc. And yes, remove the screaming worm--that really was too cheesy.

21.) Cut the shining sound made when the police officer presents Koopa with with crystal.

No.

22.) The chase scene in the iced-out pipe was fine, but it turned into a really bad joke when the Goomba rides the other Goomba as a sled. The scene also had a "This is slow" feeling to it, so I cut out the Goombas after Mario wrenches them, thus removing the joke and making the scene seem faster.

As ultimateemail5000 suggested, try speeding it up, yeah.

23.) Cut the shining sound as the crystal falls and Lena tries to catch it.

No.

24.) Remove the shot of Lena screaming maniacally as she runs down the tunnel. She just seems insane. I know she's supposed to be mad with power, but ultimately she's a woman-scorned by her love, so the shot makes her less sympathetic.

I'd keep the shot, just take out the maniacal screaming.

25.) Cut the joke Luigi makes when Lena is electrified and burned to the chamber-wall. Makes him seem really insensitive, as well as meshes badly with his facial expression in the next shot when he legitimately looks horrified.

I'd keep it in.

26.) After Mario winds the Bob-omb, it falls down through a crack and Koopa, unseen, says "Failed again, monkey." (or something like that). It's just really cheesy and ruins the suspense, plus it doesn't mesh well with the next shot where we actually do see Koopa, and he just then grins. The grin itself serves its purpose, so cut the dialogue.

Just like the "alligator" line, I think it should stay too.

27.) I wanted to do away with the Koopa-de-evolving-Scapelli scene altogether, but it presented a continuity problem by making Mario suddenly on the ground holding the mushroom, as well as making the scene too short. A fair compromise would be at least removing everyone in the crowd laughing at a horrible thing... Thoughts?

Keep it. If there's a way to remove the crowd laughing at the whole event, do it. That's one of my biggest problems with the film.

28.) When the Bob-omb blasts Koopa into the Clown Car-platform, there's a shot inserted in the middle of his fall that makes it seem like he won't really land in it. Remove the shot, restoring his proper trajectory.

Sure, take out this one.

And, finally:

29.) Remove Mario's dialogue in the meteor-chamber scene, with him telling Luigi Daisy needs to "find where she belongs". This makes Luigi seem more mature in that he makes the decision for himself, as well as makes the scene more focused on him and Daisy.

I agree with UE5000. Keep it in.

So, feel free to express your thoughts or give advice. I think this would really transform the film in a way that makes for a more serious and dark viewing, as well as balances the decent-goofiness. Hopefully you all agree.

Phlibbit wrote:I'd love to see some of the stuff you dug up. And I've already come across some of the test-edits you did on YouTube; interesting stuff. And since you're asking for cut advice, I'll throw in my short two-cents.

Yeah, I'll be sure to post the images after you or someone replies (don't want to double-post). I'd have to actually go out and buy the DVDs to rip the footage for mapping, but I'm not going to go so far as to do that until I have someone definitely on board to do that.

I'm not sure if the test-edits on there are the old ones or the new ones; the clips I originally uploaded had a single frame slipped in, which I later clipped. But, they were the basic ideas of what I was attempting to present to the fan-cut guys on another board.

Phlibbit wrote:

2.) Cut the driver saying "Hey lady!" when he almost hits Daisy's mother. Silence makes the mood more effective.

Yes. This would make this scene play a lot better. Actually, there are a few deleted scenes showing Koopa tracking Daisy's mother down in the rain. I'm not sure how much or anything, but there's a shot of Koopa turning into the camera's view, in the rain, in one of the trailers. It's an awesome shot, too.

Yeah, I wish we had those. The opening scene is really one of my favorites, so it's disappointing how short it is.

Phlibbit wrote:

4.) Cut directly to the shot of people walking on the street. The skyline view of New York is unnecessary.

Take it or leave it. Cut it if you're putting back in the "Brooklyn-NOW" titles.

Yes, I intended to insert new title cards to add to the updated look, which is why I wanted to remove this shot. I just feel the title card would look much better on the shot after.

Phlibbit wrote:

5.) Shorten the shot at the beginning of the movie where the host of Our Miraculous World is speaking to the person claiming to have visited another world. The person's facial expression and the way he speaks make him seem to be kinda white-trashy, so I clipped right before it shows him. This makes it less of a joke, and by shortening the shot, provides for more subtle foreshadowing of parallel dimensions.

Eh, I liked this part.

Well, I clipped it so it only removes barely a second where they show the guy. None of the dialogue is really cut, nor the host.

Phlibbit wrote:

12.) I kinda wanted to remove the entire jail-prep scene, transitioning directly from Mario and Luigi at the check-in counter to them in lock-up. The transition works well, but it's a lot to cut. I just felt it was a bit too slapstick, what with them being hurried around, being poured water on and "shot". It's not really necessary, and is kinda a "Big-lipped Alligator Moment", but, what do you guys think?

Keep this scene. I mean, you have to see the part where Bob Hoskins actually got shocked by the stun-stick because the protective cap was off, right?

It's a good scene. I think I'm going to keep it despite it being one large slapstick act.

Phlibbit wrote:

14.) Also, remove the computer speaking in that cheesy voice. Make the scene more serious with silence.

The voice here is one of those "so bad it's good" things. Taking it out is fine though. But if you do, also take out the Devo technician smirking.

Well the whole de-vo chamber scene has a sort of cheesy, camp feel to it. I found a clip from a sci-fi original which uses far superior computer graphics displaying a humanoid dinosaur, so I thought it'd be good to take a shot of someone typing at a console and map the graphics onto the screen. It's so good, but the computer voice just ruins it, so if I were to switch it out, simple typing-sounds would work better.

Phlibbit wrote:

24.) Remove the shot of Lena screaming maniacally as she runs down the tunnel. She just seems insane. I know she's supposed to be mad with power, but ultimately she's a woman-scorned by her love, so the shot makes her less sympathetic.

I'd keep the shot, just take out the maniacal screaming.

Fair enough.

Phlibbit wrote:

27.) I wanted to do away with the Koopa-de-evolving-Scapelli scene altogether, but it presented a continuity problem by making Mario suddenly on the ground holding the mushroom, as well as making the scene too short. A fair compromise would be at least removing everyone in the crowd laughing at a horrible thing... Thoughts?

Keep it. If there's a way to remove the crowd laughing at the whole event, do it. That's one of my biggest problems with the film.

I think simply cutting that can be managed. I originally wanted to remove the whole thing because humans "de-evolving" into chimps is just... dumb. But, with the updated graphics, some seriousness is lent to the whole concept so I'm willing to keep it in. I'm going to take a look at the Burton Planet of the Apes remake, because I believe there may be graphics of the mutated chimps at the beginning that could be used in some way.

Phlibbit wrote:And, finally:

29.) Remove Mario's dialogue in the meteor-chamber scene, with him telling Luigi Daisy needs to "find where she belongs". This makes Luigi seem more mature in that he makes the decision for himself, as well as makes the scene more focused on him and Daisy.

I agree with UE5000. Keep it in.

I really think the scene works much better without it, so I'll do a before-and-after so you guys can look at it and see how you feel then.


So most of you seem to agree that the shining sounds should stay, and I don't consider them to be that bad, so they may just stay as-is. In all honesty, any editing related to sound will be difficult because the DVD is not 5.1, so the soundtrack and other audio resides on the same channel. Can't remove one without affecting the other. They can be separated by someone with the software and experience, but I'll be making so few audio edits it may be too much work. But, if anyone can do it or knows someone that can, it would make my work cleaner (and easier).

The worst part of this whole thing: I have a gut feeling that if you do this, when you get completely done with it, a Blu-Ray version of the film will be announced

That would be such irony. I could easily do it all again, and would love to since I'd have more to work with, but the added and mapped footage would all be wasted on an inferior edition... Ah well. So, here's some of the stuff I found and how I want to use it:

A Sea Devil from Doctor Who:


The face really resembles a Koopa, right down to the big eyes and the turtle-like beak. For an older show, the special effects have aged remarkably well. (Practical effects of real costumes usually do) Though I love how all the different Goombas look in the film, this type of head mapped onto the raptor-Goombas would be a nice touch. If anything, these guys in background shots would be pretty cool. Unfortunately, due to the age there doesn't appear to be movable parts. This is only a problem if they're mapped onto Goombas (though luckily most of the raptor-Goombas are background, so don't necessarily have to "talk")

Phlibb may have seen these already, but the inserted footage from Sci-Fi channel Anonymous Rex in the de-vo chamber scene:


It works remarkably well. As I said earlier, I'd like ripping the graphics and mapping them onto a shot of someone typing at a console. This negates the screen-format change, as well as fixes the continuity error of Simon having black gloves, then not having any when typing in the inserted shot. (Now if I can only find someone wearing black gloves typing at a console!)

I'd also like to map the graphic of the revolving brain onto the console Koopa points out when Toad de-evolves.

Jem Haddar from Star Trek:


This race looks a lot like humanoid Thwomps, don't they? They also resemble dinosaurs, so it'd fit with the theme of the movie. I can't do much with them, but a shot of a corridor with them standing guard inserted into one of the Koopa Tower scenes would really set the mood. They could also be mapped into the crowd, though I like them better found only in the Tower scenes.

Jawas from Star Wars:


I know we already have a Shy Guy reference in the Fungus Squad, but Shy Guys really are one of my favorite creatures from the games. A more direct presence would be fun, though they'd probably only fit into background shots. (Who knows; in Star Wars, Jawas are found in the desert, so I could probably extend the "Mario and Luigi lost in the desert" scenes by adding them peering down at them. I always thought those scenes were too short)

Changing the robes from brown to red would have to be done, which would eliminate at least some of the "That's from Star Wars"-feeling of recognition people would get.

And, finally, Chaka from StarGate:


I always thought it would have been cool if Koopa had slowly transitioned throughout the film towards his reptilian-origin, becoming more brutal as he did so. Chaka sorta has a more defined Koopa-appearance, so I think he would be perfect for an updated Koopa-de-evolution. The snout and the chin really bring to mind Bowser, so it's a "realistic" transition. I'd also like to have a fiery-red mane added, but it might end up looking cheesy, so this might good enough.

It would be hard slowly "developing" Koopa's appearance (at least until the final scenes, where he'd be completely "de-evolved", so slight graphical touch-ups wouldn't be necessary and a full map would suffice). There's a scene in Waterworld where Dennis Hopper is in a chair being tended by a doctor. I haven't seen it in awhile, but it might work for an inserted scene that makes his transition apparent.

I'd also like to have a better "T-rex" special effects at the end, but no such luck in finding anything yet.


So that's all I've found that I think would be pretty cool added and mapped in. It would all really lend to the fantasy feel of the games, as well as "update" some of the cheesier special effects. It'd take some hard work, but I feel it'd really be worth it for a completely different spin on our favorite classic. There's other things I'd like to add, such as extended shots of Dinohattan (will look at Blade Runner for something), but overall this is the brunt of my ultimate goal. Hopefully you all like the idea, too.

These are all great finds. I'm glad someone other than me knows about Anonymous Rex! When it first came out, I was totally like "Super Mario Bros. ripoff!" The "thwomp" guys look really cool too--they look kind of like the title characters, PLUS they fit in with some other of the "Devo Row" candidates as well.

At first I was like whats the difference in these clips? After watching it a second time I got it. That's really cool I see what you are trying to do now and I like it.

You should use some clips from Judge Dredd, Total Recall and Total Recall as well. For some reason SMB reminded me of that movie in a way, probably all the strange extras in costume. Just trying to throw some ideas here. But for some reason I havea feeling what Phlibbit said is true, they'll release the BDR right when you finish it. But keep working on this it looks cool, it w ill be like watching a new movie.

Phlibbit wrote:These are all great finds. I'm glad someone other than me knows about Anonymous Rex! When it first came out, I was totally like "Super Mario Bros. ripoff!" The "thwomp" guys look really cool too--they look kind of like the title characters, PLUS they fit in with some other of the "Devo Row" candidates as well.

I saw the promos for Anoynymous Rex when it was coming out, and I watched a bit of it. I honestly didn't remember much of it, but I knew the premise was oddly-familiar to the SMB movie, so I Youtubed it to see if anything could work. The dino graphics made it well worth it.

Yeah, the Thwomp guys are perfect for the role. I really can't do much with them, but a simple shot of them standing along a corridor would be an interesting sight. It would raise the question why they're not used later on, but you work with what you have.

ultimateemail5000 wrote:You should use some clips from Judge Dredd, Total Recall and Total Recall as well. For some reason SMB reminded me of that movie in a way, probably all the strange extras in costume. Just trying to throw some ideas here. But for some reason I havea feeling what Phlibbit said is true, they'll release the BDR right when you finish it. But keep working on this it looks cool, it w ill be like watching a new movie.

You know, I actually thought about Total Recall, due to the "Recall"-implant machine having some similarity (at least from what I remember) to the de-vo machine. I believe there's a few shots of the scientists tending to the machine, so I could probably splice those in in some way.

I'm not entirely sure about Judge Dredd. I haven't watched it in its entirety, but I do know there's a slight dystopian, Blade Runner-esque feel to it as well as some scenes involving labs and machinery. Could probably lift those as well. Any shots of a city would do, but I'm especially hoping to find something with a raised train that could be turned into the Bullet Bill train. There's so many train fights, too, that with some (make that a lot) of work, I could extend the Koopa vs Mario scene by mapping their faces and other details onto the fighters. So many possibilities, huh?

You said Total Recall twice... Did you mean a different movie? Wouldn't want to miss out on another suggestion.


So yeah. This is a lot of work, but you can understand why I'm so interested in seeing it happen. Any advice would really help, especially suggestions of movies and shows that might work. But if something is suggested, example clips would be appreciated because I actually have to go out and buy these movies to rip them all for only a few scenes or shots. Knowing what's worth buying the whole package for beforehand is a good thing (Unless I can find/be sent the ripped footage) Alright, well, let's see where this goes. Keep posting!

1.) Remove the god-awful animated-opening prologue, replacing it with a simple black screen showing the cast-credits, which then fades into the first scene of Daisy's mother. This allows us to figure things out on our own rather than being told, and starts the movie off on a more dark mood.

Haha, it's amazing that this is the most requested thing to be taken out, the 16-bit opening animation. They could have worked that into the movie in other ways. Like having that guy on TV (the one luigi is watching) talk about the two dimensions. Dino and Humans. Much more subtle and less "in your face" with horrible animation.

I dunno about the Daisy's mother intro scene. I thought that the best way to do that scene would be as a "flashback" of sorts when Lena is talking to Daisy in the Koopa Towers. That scene is where she "comes to realize" she is from that dimension so it would be more fitting my my opinion to move that "egg hatching scene" to later in the movie.

My beef with the SMB movie is that is starts off "sooo slow and awkward" that it puts a bad taste in your mouth. I'd start off with the "Mario Theme" (of all that was cut from the movie surely to goodness the mario theme can make the movie) with the title credits and maybe some stock shots of the SMB van speeding down the road or something. Then cut to the dig site or something. I dunno. The beginning is way too slow, way too slow.

marioblaster wrote:

1.) Remove the god-awful animated-opening prologue, replacing it with a simple black screen showing the cast-credits, which then fades into the first scene of Daisy's mother. This allows us to figure things out on our own rather than being told, and starts the movie off on a more dark mood.

Haha, it's amazing that this is the most requested thing to be taken out, the 16-bit opening animation. They could have worked that into the movie in other ways. Like having that guy on TV (the one luigi is watching) talk about the two dimensions. Dino and Humans. Much more subtle and less "in your face" with horrible animation.

While it's just cheesy and bad, the main reason I don't like it is because it tells you right off the bat what the premise of the movie is. As a writer, that's just bad writing.

I thought about saving the shot of the live-action meteor striking the jungle, but I don't know where to fit it otherwise. Maybe when Toad explains the history of their two worlds, which is also a woefully short scene. It's also just too short, so without some expansion it wouldn't add much.

marioblaster wrote:I dunno about the Daisy's mother intro scene. I thought that the best way to do that scene would be as a "flashback" of sorts when Lena is talking to Daisy in the Koopa Towers. That scene is where she "comes to realize" she is from that dimension so it would be more fitting my my opinion to move that "egg hatching scene" to later in the movie.

You know, I quite like that idea. It would force the movie to start on a more upbeat note, but at the same time it allows you to figure things out as they happen even more, and Koopa being the villain would come more as a surprise. I'll see what I can do.

marioblaster wrote:My beef with the SMB movie is that is starts off "sooo slow and awkward" that it puts a bad taste in your mouth. I'd start off with the "Mario Theme" (of all that was cut from the movie surely to goodness the mario theme can make the movie) with the title credits and maybe some stock shots of the SMB van speeding down the road or something. Then cut to the dig site or something. I dunno. The beginning is way too slow, way too slow.

The beginning is slow. I have cut several shots and seconds which speeds it up a tad, but moving around some of the early scenes would probably balance the movie a bit more and speed up the beginning.

I thought about ending the movie by replacing the end-credits music with either classic Mario music, or a remix. The current music isn't bad, but it comes out of nowhere and just doesn't feel like a right choice.

I have no idea why I said Total Recall twice, but I was just thinking. You don't have to agree with me, but I would cut Daisys mother scene completely, that scene is too dark(I know a lot of the movie is). Just open with NY City, and the SMB theme playing, it could be like a homeage to the SMBSS. It would be like this.

Black screen, the SMB theme plays, Light Motive movie logo appears and fades, have a few credits from Daisys Mother scene on a black screen then open to NY. Use the other credits listed but now on the NY scenes, it would have to be sped up so you don't have five minutes of useless footage and credits. You would probably have to add a few scenes of NY from other movies and, then you cut to the Marios apartment and the SMB theme fades down, and that's when Mario says "Mario Bros. Plumbing." I'm sorry if that was confusing, I explained it the best I could.

Some may not agree with me, but I never really even liked the scene with Daisys mom. It was pointless, it would have been better just leaving it where Daisy is this girl, the audience doesn't know she's the Princess until she is kdinapped. That's just my oppinion though. The scene with Daisys mom doesn't explain anything, it just takes up time. All we see is "Where's the rock?", Daisys mom dies, then Daisy is in a orphanage. We don't need to see all of that, it would have been better to see Koopa devolving the King and taking over the Kingdom, city, whatever the hell it is.

What I think could be kind of cool with the opening credits if like someone said it was over a montage of the Mario Bros in different plumbing scenarios on the job or if they played the theme and with the credits they had some kind of cool 8 bit sprites from the game, maybe show the game Mario when it says Bob Hoskins. Ehhh I dunno might be a bit overkill. People would probably be even more upset that they would try and tie it to the game in the start and it's still nothing like it

(Responses to Phlibb and marioblaster above)

ultimateemail5000 wrote:I have no idea why I said Total Recall twice, but I was just thinking. You don't have to agree with me, but I would cut Daisys mother scene completely, that scene is too dark(I know a lot of the movie is). Just open with NY City, and the SMB theme playing, it could be like a homeage to the SMBSS. It would be like this.

Black screen, the SMB theme plays, Light Motive movie logo appears and fades, have a few credits from Daisys Mother scene on a black screen then open to NY. Use the other credits listed but now on the NY scenes, it would have to be sped up so you don't have five minutes of useless footage and credits. You would probably have to add a few scenes of NY from other movies and, then you cut to the Marios apartment and the SMB theme fades down, and that's when Mario says "Mario Bros. Plumbing." I'm sorry if that was confusing, I explained it the best I could.

You explained it well enough. While I personally enjoy the initial scene, I'd be more than happy to make a different cut per your suggestion. I think both have their merits in starting the film, so it wouldn't hurt to have both interpretations.

ultimateemail5000 wrote:Some may not agree with me, but I never really even liked the scene with Daisys mom. It was pointless, it would have been better just leaving it where Daisy is this girl, the audience doesn't know she's the Princess until she is kdinapped. That's just my oppinion though. The scene with Daisys mom doesn't explain anything, it just takes up time. All we see is "Where's the rock?", Daisys mom dies, then Daisy is in a orphanage. We don't need to see all of that, it would have been better to see Koopa devolving the King and taking over the Kingdom, city, whatever the hell it is.

I do agree with you on this. Like the animated prologue, this first scene really just ruins the impact of what's to come by telling you up-front. That's one of the benefits of your suggestion.

The reason I like this scene is really just because of the way Daisy's mother and Koopa are dressed. The Goomba uniform just looks really good on a pretty young woman. And Koopa just looked bad-ass in full military regalia. It's sad that he doesn't wear it anymore throughout the film (might have to fix that). Both those costumes are some of the best in the entire movie, in my opinion, while everything coming later was pretty disappointing. (Lena's dress and Big Bertha's red leather dress were high points in costuming)

Zack wrote:What I think could be kind of cool with the opening credits if like someone said it was over a montage of the Mario Bros in different plumbing scenarios on the job or if they played the theme and with the credits they had some kind of cool 8 bit sprites from the game, maybe show the game Mario when it says Bob Hoskins. Ehhh I dunno might be a bit overkill. People would probably be even more upset that they would try and tie it to the game in the start and it's still nothing like it

I thought it would be fun to replace the "entering another dimension" graphics when Mario falls through the wall with something from the games. A Star Road or Vanilla Dome theme comes to mind. I always got the impression of Star Road or the Vanilla Dome level background from the twinkling meteor chamber, so the connection is there.

marioblaster wrote:Haha, it's amazing that this is the most requested thing to be taken out, the 16-bit opening animation. They could have worked that into the movie in other ways. Like having that guy on TV (the one luigi is watching) talk about the two dimensions. Dino and Humans. Much more subtle and less "in your face" with horrible animation.

Now THAT is exactly what they should have done.

marioblaster wrote:I dunno about the Daisy's mother intro scene. I thought that the best way to do that scene would be as a "flashback" of sorts when Lena is talking to Daisy in the Koopa Towers. That scene is where she "comes to realize" she is from that dimension so it would be more fitting my my opinion to move that "egg hatching scene" to later in the movie.

Wow, that's a really, really good idea. It could be spliced in as a flashbacks in the scenes between Daisy/Lena and Daisy/Koopa talking about her father. It seems to be a more appropriate place for it, and it would let the movie's first half get to the action quicker.

And for what it's worth, splicing in the animated dinosaur intro scene into Toad's explanation may work really well. I mean, it kind of matches Toad's wacky personality anyway...it would be like that was what Toad was thinking in his head while explaining his alternate dimension theory to Mario and Luigi.

Phlibbit wrote:And for what it's worth, splicing in the animated dinosaur intro scene into Toad's explanation may work really well. I mean, it kind of matches Toad's wacky personality anyway...it would be like that was what Toad was thinking in his head while explaining his alternate dimension theory to Mario and Luigi.

With Stephen Fry narrating?[/Hitchhiker]

I'm sure you're trying to be clever by referencing some obscure Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy thing or something, but in case you aren't, Dan Castellaneta (Homer Simpson) does that intro narration. What I'm suggesting is to overlay that scene, without Dan's voice and let Toad do the talking. Off the top of my head, it should work quite nicely.

The animation runs longer than Toad's explanation, so I'll have to clip it down a little if I can. It's certainly a good point for such a flashback to occur, so I want to make it work.

Since I couldn't explain the intro in my vision I whipped this up as how I would see it.



The qualitys low because I litterly just uploaded it.

Sorry for the mispellings this was made really fast.

That's... really good! I wouldn't have been able to do it so well myself, honestly. There's some spelling issues, yeah, but you explained why and they don't really take from it at all. The only real problem is that when the Super Mario Bros. film title comes up, it just seems really quiet because of the theme music playing. Otherwise, it blends in perfectly and the fade-out as the movie starts is just great. I can already feel the movie "picking up" with both the prologue and opening scene cut. Great job.

lol I like it. Reminds me of the way the SMB Super Show would start, kinda light hearted too. And gets right into things. Like the audience already knows the Marios will go into another world especially with the Miraculous World explanation and Koopa explains the meteorite in his first appearance and Toad explains it again in the jail.

The Mario theme feels natural. In the final film intro, it seems like a forced tease saying "okay you get 15 seconds of the Mario theme and thats it, no more Mario." Especially the sharp turn into the dinosaur scene and then the Daisy's mom scene.

Wow that was really great...cutting all the fat from the slow intro really speeds the movie along.

As for the slient title screen, maybe you could add a SMB game "hit" sound effect when the title "hits" the screen? Or maybe a 1up sound? Turtle shell hit sound? Or time the theme song to concise with the title screen "hit"? No music when the title races towards screen but when it hits a note will be hit aswell?

It really brought a smile to my face...it's sooo much better then the official version.

Thanks you guys for possitive response.

marioblaster wrote:Wow that was really great...cutting all the fat from the slow intro really speeds the movie along.

As for the slient title screen, maybe you could add a SMB game "hit" sound effect when the title "hits" the screen? Or maybe a 1up sound? Turtle shell hit sound? Or time the theme song to concise with the title screen "hit"? No music when the title races towards screen but when it hits a note will be hit aswell?

It really brought a smile to my face...it's sooo much better then the official version.

I noticed the SMB title card needs some kind of sound, maybe I'll change it to zoom in, stand still and then KABOOM it explodes. Everybody likes explosions.

Zack wrote:lol I like it. Reminds me of the way the SMB Super Show would start, kinda light hearted too.

That is exactly what I was going for. For some reason I think the directors kind of were too with that scene, it always reminded me of the SMBSS.

That reminded me EXACTLY of the SMBSS opening. The whole "zoom in on a pixelated image of NYC" before entering the Mario's apartment. That part was great. And yeah, if possible, it would be neat to have a Mario sprite running into the background, jumping into an initially blank box--upon hitting it, it would change into the Lightmotive logo. Then he could run back the other direction and hit it again for the Allied Filmmakers one, a mushroom, coin, or something could pop out, etc.

The way the SMB theme is used is great, but the major problem is that title card. For some reason I keep wanting to hear Silvestri's score when it zooms up like there. I know it's not the SMB game theme, but hear this out. Perhaps you could use one of the louder versions of the movie's SMB theme. When the logo pops up, BANG! Then the quirky parts of the rest of the theme would go pretty good with zooming in on NYC, going into the Mario's apartment, etc. I think it would be a good transition from the game SMB theme to the movie SMB theme.

Also, I have another idea. If you're needing some additional spots to add in the "Daisy's mom" intro as a flashback, I think there are a couple of scenes of Koopa sitting in his chamber, looking off and contemplating something. Perhaps some of that footage could go there. I'm not exactly sure where that scene is though, I think it's around one of the pizza scenes.

Phlibbit wrote:That reminded me EXACTLY of the SMBSS opening. The whole "zoom in on a pixelated image of NYC" before entering the Mario's apartment. That part was great. And yeah, if possible, it would be neat to have a Mario sprite running into the background, jumping into an initially blank box--upon hitting it, it would change into the Lightmotive logo. Then he could run back the other direction and hit it again for the Allied Filmmakers one, a mushroom, coin, or something could pop out, etc.

That sounds really cool. The Super Mario World sprite would do the best, since the film has the most references from that game... But! It's ultimate's call on how far he wants to go with it. In the end, it's my project and he's only being nice in taking care of one of the things I probably couldn't have done as easily or as well. Due to his expertise, I wanted to collaborate, but he's busy with his own projects now.

Phlibbit wrote:Also, I have another idea. If you're needing some additional spots to add in the "Daisy's mom" intro as a flashback, I think there are a couple of scenes of Koopa sitting in his chamber, looking off and contemplating something. Perhaps some of that footage could go there. I'm not exactly sure where that scene is though, I think it's around one of the pizza scenes.

I have some idea of what you're talking about, so I'll look into it. It'd really be a shame if that scene was done away with entirely, but it just fits so much better as a flashback.


Funny enough, all this support and interest caused me to have an SMB dream last night. Koopa was wearing one of the spiked-leather police uniforms and wielding a gun ala the D00M movie, so it must have been before he took over.

The SMW sprite would be perfect, as that was the most "recent" Mario game at the time of the film's release. And really, wouldn't it have been awesome to have had a flashback with Koopa taking over Dinohattan, wielding a flamethrower or something ? Oh, and IIRC, there's a really...interesting image that I've found in one of my materials related to that--I'll have to post it sometime.

Phlibbit wrote:The SMW sprite would be perfect, as that was the most "recent" Mario game at the time of the film's release.

Now that I think of it, would the Mario sprite be normal or Super Mario? Imagine him jumping up and hitting a block, and then the Super Mario Bros. title card comes up with the "getting big" sound. Feasibly, it could be moved to the beginning to negate the issue of it not syncing with the soundtrack, and it would work well as indicating the movie has become "super".

Phlibbit wrote:And really, wouldn't it have been awesome to have had a flashback with Koopa taking over Dinohattan, wielding a flamethrower or something ? Oh, and IIRC, there's a really...interesting image that I've found in one of my materials related to that--I'll have to post it sometime.

I could probably manage a short revolution scene, considering Hopper has played a lot of bad guys before, and men running around in-uniform while wielding guns doesn't exactly have to be entirely film-specific.

Please! Post it sometime soon, if it's related enough. I'd like any material I can use at all for these "expansion" scenes.

I fixed the intro a bit and added a Mario sprite. I like SMW but I think it should be 8-bit since he is wearing red overalls, and as does Mario in the movie.



I added some sounds and edited the music a bit so the audience isnt hearing the same verse repeat itself. Also do you guys notice the color correction I added? Probably won't be able to until its fully uploaded in HD. I just thought I should have added a bob-omb walkingh next to the SMB title and someone yells BOB-OMB! then it blows up.

Much better. I personally feel the SMW sprite would work better because it was the closest game to release, and Mario World sprites are used in the film. Plus the higher art and animation quality would just look better crossing the screen and complement the Light Motive logo. But, it's your call. I'd like seeing both for comparison, though, since I feel what Mario's actually wearing in the movie is a minor point considering all the other differences made.

I wouldn't add a Bob-Omb or anything. We all love the scene/quote, but it's best to save it for when it's appropriate and I think it would just really crowd the opening. It's perfect as is. Even the explosion, which I was iffy about at first, has grown on me with a few watches. It works.

Finally, are you still going to fix the typos that came up? I noticed you did a few, but Allied Filmmakers still only has one 'm', and there's an apostrophe left hanging at the end of Roland Joffe and Terry Runte.

Redstar wrote:Much better. I personally feel the SMW sprite would work better because it was the closest game to release, and Mario World sprites are used in the film. Plus the higher art and animation quality would just look better crossing the screen and complement the Light Motive logo. But, it's your call. I'd like seeing both for comparison, though, since I feel what Mario's actually wearing in the movie is a minor point considering all the other differences made.

I wouldn't add a Bob-Omb or anything. We all love the scene/quote, but it's best to save it for when it's appropriate and I think it would just really crowd the opening. It's perfect as is. Even the explosion, which I was iffy about at first, has grown on me with a few watches. It works.

Finally, are you still going to fix the typos that came up? I noticed you did a few, but Allied Filmmakers still only has one 'm', and there's an apostrophe left hanging at the end of Roland Joffe and Terry Runte.

There's actually one of those apostrophe things above the e at the end of those names, I don't know how to do that on the keyboard. I cant believe I missed the other M in filmmakers, dammit... I'll try doing it with a SMW sprite to see how it turns up.

Was there? I usually just copy-paste the symbol from a Pokemon site or from the symbols area in Word, but you can do it manually by holding down the Alt key and typing 130.

I'm looking at SMW sprites and I really can't believe this, but the walk movements only use one frame. I would think since it's SNES there would be like 5 frames for the walk, but I guess noy. I'm working on it Ill upload it when it's done.

That does sound unbelievable. Hopefully you can get the fullest sprites there are, for walking and jumping, but if they're really that limited and it turns out not that good, then the original sprite works well enough. If they're equal, we can always put up a vote.

I checked out Judge Dredd as you suggested, but overall I don't think there's much of anything I can use. However, the final scene of Dredd and Rico fighting inside the Statue of Liberty (starting 3:10) came as a surprise. There's a few panned-out shots of it surrounded by Blade Runner-esque skyscrapers, with lots of rain. It could be used to recreate this production artwork. What do you think?