The Italian Cut

[pandacommando]

You know, I saw something once that I wouldn't really consider to be a scene, but I thought I'd bring up anyway.

The first time I saw the movie was on TV while on vacation in Italy. I was only 8 or 9 at the time but I distinctly remember at the very opening of the movie (before the voice over about the dinosaurs) there was a brief animation of Mario's hat on a black background I think the "M" was blinking or something. It didn't make any sense, but I've never seen anything like it in any other version of the movie. Has anyone else seen it?

[Phlibbit]

Hey, that kind of makes sense. If I remember correctly, there's an Italian SMB movie poster out there with the Mario "M" hat on the top of the "Super Mario Bros." logo. It'd be cool if we could get proof, though.

[sicky]

You know, I saw something once that I wouldn't really consider to be a scene, but I thought I'd bring up anyway.

The first time I saw the movie was on TV while on vacation in Italy. I was only 8 or 9 at the time but I distinctly remember at the very opening of the movie (before the voice over about the dinosaurs) there was a brief animation of Mario's hat on a black background I think the "M" was blinking or something. It didn't make any sense, but I've never seen anything like it in any other version of the movie. Has anyone else seen it?

I've uploaded the intro and ending from the Italian version of the movie:

The opening is the same except it uses a different title (with Mario's hat).
The ending is much shorter, followed by the credits that reuses Joe Satriani's "Speed of Light" and clips from the movie.

mario ita.jpg (41.87 KiB) Viewed 2550 times

[Redstar]

You posting this is so funny, sicky. Phlibbit and I have actually been looking into this mystery over the last week due to the comments of several Italian fans. At first we were only able to track down the cover, but any actual evidence of the movie itself being different proved elusive. Eventually, we found a download of the movie and were finally able to confirm it.

I must say it was very surprising to discover the movie had so many changes in any of its releases. As far as we know the Italian cut is the only one like this, which makes it all the more amazing. Removing those three final scenes really changes the tone of the movie and, dare I say it, it works. I wouldn't give up that sequel hook as an American fan, but the Italian cut leaves off on a very good note. Certainly helps that Satriani's "Speed of Light" is a great tune to relive all those scenes from the movie to during the credits.

So, thank you for putting this information up for us, sicky. It's an amazing find.

[pandacommando]

Yeah that's right! It did end sooner! The last scene they showed was Luigi picking up Mario with the stompers and flying over koopa square while everyone cheered.

[Serum]

The Italian cut ends very abruptly... No closure, nothing-- but, it does cut out the idea of the possibility of a sequel that would never be made (which is still something I hope for every day).

Still, the ending is less abrupt than the original Wes Craven version of "The Hills Have Eyes..."

[Redstar]

The Italian cut ends very abruptly... No closure, nothing-- but, it does cut out the idea of the possibility of a sequel that would never be made (which is still something I hope for every day).

I think it's at least better paced than our cut of the film, which has all the wrong material and too much of it. At least the credits are much more fun to watch.

[Serum]

It goes either way for me. On the one hand, yes, it wraps things up with a better pace, but on the other hand, there's little to no closure. It's funny that Italy would have a slightly faster paced version of this movie when they're known for making long drawn out films like "Once Upon a Time in the West," which moves about as fast as mollasses going uphill in the winter.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great movie, but it's slow, as are many European films. I would expect the European cut of "Super Mario Bros." to be the longest, based on the fact that every European movie I've seen is at least two and a half hours long...

[moviebuffmel90]

It works....but I think it would have been better to see the bit with the king. The line he had (which I think was "where are those plumbers?") would have been priceless to end it on.

[Redstar]

It works....but I think it would have been better to see the bit with the king. The line he had (which I think was "where are those plumbers?") would have been priceless to end it on.

It's "[I] love those plumbers," actually. I'd honestly rather that bit be cut despite the cameo from Henkriksen as its the most blatant plot hole in the film.

[Roareye]

Just gotten this DVD through my door. It is horrendous, for lack of a more damning word.

The picture appears to be a straight copy of the filmprint/video that Buena Vista used (Unlike the different film print Njutafilms used), as many of the hairs and print damages are in the same place. However the translation to disc is worse than the Buena Vista one. It suffers from huge amounts of interlacing issues (Especially the ending), and I am stunned that the non-anamorphic quality of the US copy is not only the same, but exaggurated by borders all around the left and right as well as top and bottom.

There are some differences in this version (Though anyone who has seen more of it please add them in here) to the US release.

Chiefly it has it's own unique Mario Hat logo, which appears during the end credits. The end credits also include a montage which may or may not include material not seen in the main movie (At least 98% of it I can identify within the movie), which you can see here;

Widescreen copy:

The other key difference (from a glance) is that the back cover includes only two pictures from the movie (Scans to follow). One is of two Goombas, and the other is of Luigi sitting in front of the Frogsuit Kebab stall playing a Japanese SNES with Daisy watching - in both their final outfits. I've never seen this image before, even on Behind The Scenes shots, and there are no extras on this disc to account for it. Clearly a Behind the Scenes, and as such an even odder choice for the cover art.

[Rodkrax]

The other key difference (from a glance) is that the back cover includes only two pictures from the movie (Scans to follow). One is of two Goombas, and the other is of Luigi sitting in front of the Frogsuit Kebab stall playing a Japanese SNES with Daisy watching - in both their final outfits. I've never seen this image before, even on Behind The Scenes shots, and there are no extras on this disc to account for it. Clearly a Behind the Scenes, and as such an even odder choice for the cover art.

Really? Could you post a scan of it? It would be hilarious.

[ultimateemail5000]

Really? Could you post a scan of it? It would be hilarious.

That can be seen in the making of book. i'd scan it but the book i not with me.

[Redstar]

One is of two Goombas, and the other is of Luigi sitting in front of the Frogsuit Kebab stall playing a Japanese SNES with Daisy watching - in both their final outfits. I've never seen this image before, even on Behind The Scenes shots, and there are no extras on this disc to account for it. Clearly a Behind the Scenes, and as such an even odder choice for the cover art.

Really? Could you post a scan of it? It would be hilarious.

This was a publicity still first used in the May 1993 issue of Nintendo power:

I'm surprised you didn't point out the curious case of the cover artwork utilizing a Yoshi-headed Goomba.

[Roareye]

I missed the Yoshi-headed Goomba. How weird lol

I have a lot of catching up to do on the behind the scenes merchandise (Which I will learn about as I update the pages, I'm sure), and had never seen that before.

There are a lot of variations on the cover art for the movie from all over the world. All these images (Except maybe the Mario hat logo used in the Italian movie) must have been made/photographed at the time of the film's creation. It seems really odd that there is so much variation compared to other films. So far to my knowledge;

US: Basic Mario M Logo.
UK: Basic Mario M Logo with hand-drawn artwork behind (In a rip-style design)
ITALY: Poor quality Mario Bros photo with Mario Hat logo and two hand-drawn Goombas.
SPAIN: Mario M logo with Mario holding up a plunger and Luigi turning around with his back to us.
AUSTRALIA: Mario and Luigi crossing plungers with no metal M logo.
GERMAN: Fully hand-drawn artwork of the Mario Brothers and Goombas, Koopa and several other elements from the movie.
VENICE: Same front cover as the German DVD and has 5.1 German Surround Sound and 2.0 Stereo Italian audio (Tedesco is a German residence in Venice)

Several of these are now online on the SMB Archive website under Merchandise > Home Video Releases.

[Redstar]

I've attempted to track down contact information for Multivision and any other companies involved in this release of the film, though after nearly 20 years it's just about impossible to get in touch with anyone. It's a shame, though, as an editorial discussing the reasons behind these cuts from the Italian editor would have been interesting.