When they made their jump from video game consoles to the big screen, the Super Mario Brothers left viewers confused: the colourful worlds filled soft clouds and green pipes were nowhere to be seen. Even Mario himself (Bob Hoskins) comments in the novelization that his brother Luigi (John Leguizamo) ‘doesn’t even have a moustache!’
Instead, the film tries to rationalise the premise of the games into something more acceptable to a live action project: the meteorite impact that was presumed to have driven the dinosaurs to extinction actually sent them to a parallel universe, where they spent 65 million years evolving into humanoid creatures. Now, with their resources being overtaken by the spread of strangely sentient mushrooms, the corrupt ruler, President Koopa (Dennis Hopper) takes advantage of the opening of a rift beneath Manhattan to attempt to merge the two parallel worlds. After a chance encounter with archaeology student Daisy (Samantha Mathis,) the Mario brothers are drawn into a battle to prevent the merging of the two worlds.
Although this wasn’t the first time the Super Mario Brothers had appears in a live action format, it was the first time they made it to the big screen. Following the film’s box office and critical failure, it found favour with science fiction fans, who appreciated the unexpected cyberpunk world helmed by Max Headroom creators Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, sincere performances by the cast (none more so than Mojo Nixon as Toad,) and creative use of costumes and visual and practical effects.
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