{"id":40691,"date":"2026-04-04T07:08:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T07:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=40691"},"modified":"2026-04-04T07:08:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T07:08:01","slug":"why-we-love-the-cult-movie-with-bob-hoskins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=40691","title":{"rendered":"Why We Love the Cult Movie with Bob Hoskins"},"content":{"rendered":"


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On Friday nights,\u00a0IndieWire After Dark<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0honors fringe cinema in the streaming age with\u00a0midnight movies<\/a>\u00a0from any moment in\u00a0film<\/a>\u00a0history.<\/em><\/p>\n

First, the\u00a0BAIT<\/strong>: a weird genre pick, and why we\u2019re exploring its specific niche\u00a0right now.\u00a0Then, the\u00a0BITE<\/strong>: a spoiler-filled answer to the all-important question,\u00a0\u201cIs this old cult film actually worth recommending?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The Bait:\u00a0Dennis Hopper IS<\/em> Bowser\u2026 Sorta?\u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\n

The first thing you hear while watching 1993\u2019s\u00a0\u201cSuper Mario Bros.<\/a>\u201d\u00a0is\u00a0that glitchy, 8-bit\u00a0\u201cba-da-da-da-bum!\u201d tune.<\/a>\u00a0For pretty much every gamer alive today, those first few notes induce an almost\u00a0Pavlovian response \u2014 sparking an urge\u00a0to grab a controller\u00a0on your lap\u00a0that isn\u2019t\u00a0actually\u00a0there and\u00a0bringing to mind comfortable, warm memories of stomping\u00a0Goombas\u00a0and riding\u00a0Yoshi\u00a0on a quest to save Princess Peach.\u00a0You\u2019re\u00a0in familiar, expected territory.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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But the first thing you\u00a0see<\/em>\u00a0while watching\u00a01993\u2019s \u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d is a\u00a0meteorite crashing into prehistoric Earth and wiping out the dinosaurs as a man with a thick New York accent\u00a0(Dan Castellaneta, aka Homer Simpson himself)\u00a0intones,\u00a0\u201cWhat if the impact of that meteorite created a parallel dimension where the dinosaurs continued to thrive, and evolved into intelligent, aggressive, and terrible beings?\u00a0Just like us.\u201d Then you\u00a0see\u00a0a woman in a billowing cloak abandon a large dinosaur egg at a Brooklyn orphanage, before it hatches into a normal human girl\u00a0and the baffled nuns pray to Jesus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you have\u00a0passing\u00a0familiarity with the beloved Nintendo platform games this film is\u00a0ostensibly based\u00a0on, you\u00a0probably have\u00a0a few questions.\u00a0(What does this have to do with Mario and Luigi? Is this parallel\u00a0dimension\u00a0the\u00a0Mushroom Kingdom?\u00a0Who\u2019s\u00a0that girl? Is she Princess Peach?) But to\u00a0truly enjoy\u00a0the deranged live-action adaptation\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0about to\u00a0witness, you\u00a0must\u00a0throw all expectations of source material fidelity to the wayside \u2014\u00a0saying\u00a0goodbye to the pixelated setting you grew up exploring and hello to the majesty of the one and only\u00a0Dinohatten, baby.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d (1993)\u00a9Buena Vista Pictures\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first\u00a0movie based on a\u00a0video game\u00a0to be distributed for a major theatrical release, 1993\u2019s \u00a0\u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d\u00a0established\u00a0the gaming medium\u2019s terrible reputation in cinemas. The misfire adaptation has followed the genre ever since as a wacky, weird cyberpunk fairytale that discards the (admittedly, then scant)\u00a0foundations\u00a0of the Nintendo\u00a0series\u00a0for what best can be described as a\u00a0surreal\u00a0\u201cGhostbusters\u201d\u00a0and \u201cWizard of Oz\u201d\u00a0hybrid. \u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d struggled through a\u00a0terrible production process\u00a0and faced savage reviews, before a\u00a0weak\u00a0box office\u00a0upon release.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Directors\u00a0(and creators of the cult UK music video character, Max Headroom)\u00a0Amanda Jankel and\u00a0Rocky Morton\u00a0disavowed the final product. Meanwhile, Nintendo \u2014\u00a0which had let Hollywood\u00a0Pictures take the\u00a0reigns on the project \u2014\u00a0was\u00a0so\u00a0embarrassed by the film that\u00a0the company\u00a0necessitated\u00a0a more hands-on approach for all future adaptations based on their products. Rights issues have\u00a0left\u00a0the movie out of print and unavailable via streaming for years.\u00a0And to this day,\u00a0its\u00a0main cultural footprint\u00a0is as a\u00a0punchline. Seth Rogen, who voiced Donkey Kong in the\u00a02023 animated \u201cSuper Mario Bros. Movie,\u201d\u00a0called it<\/a>\u00a0\u201cone of the worst films ever.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 2023 animated\u00a0adaptation,\u00a0along with\u00a0its sequel\u00a0which just arrived in theaters today,\u00a0is part of a new wave of video game\u00a0movies making serious money.\u00a0The genre\u00a0may, for better or worse, prove essential in keeping movies and theaters afloat\u00a0for the foreseeable future.\u00a0As video games have grown in popularity \u2014 and the average age of\u00a0those who play them has risen to the point that many working directors are active fans of games source material \u2014\u00a0franchises like \u201cFive Nights at Freddy\u2019s,\u201d \u201cSonic the Hedgehog,\u201d and \u201cMinecraft\u201d\u00a0\u00a0have experienced explosive success.<\/a><\/p>\n

Slavishly\u00a0devoted\u00a0to\u00a0recreating the look, style, and tone of\u00a0the\u00a0\u201cSuper Mario\u201d\u00a0games, the 2023 movie\u00a0is the crown jewel among them. It\u2019s highest-grossing video game film by a wide margin,\u00a0and it demonstrated a path for these movies to succeed. The common wisdom? Stay\u00a0true to\u00a0what fans remember and love from their experiences playing the games, and you can win at the box office. <\/p>\n

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\u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d (1993)\u00a9Buena Vista Pictures\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But they\u2019re also mostly\u00a0really\u2026 boring<\/em>?\u00a0The pleasures of\u00a0the first 30 years of video game cinema included not just how utterly weird many of those films were, but how unafraid the directors who made them were when it came forging their own creative paths in interactive universes. The\u00a0results were rarely \u201chigh\u201d quality in the traditional sense, but those with an open heart (and\/or\u00a0a\u00a0substance\u00a0worth being under the influence of) could mine real joy\u00a0from the\u00a0excesses of\u00a0Paul W.S. Anderson\u2019s demented\u00a0\u201cResident Evil\u201d series, or the\u00a0genuinely inventive horror of 2006\u2019s \u201cSilent Hill\u201d horror film. Even the so-bad-it\u2019s-good cheese of 1994\u2019s \u201cDouble Dragon\u201d is worth experiencing once. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Modern video game movies\u00a0may not be outright shlock, but\u00a0they\u2019re largely less\u00a0interesting than they once were. Corporate slop, carefully calibrated to\u00a0appeal to nostalgic fans\u00a0without offering anything new on their own terms, is commonplace these days. That\u2019s what makes 1993\u2019s \u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d\u00a0so worth celebrating. It\u2019s an adaptation\u00a0that takes wild swings and\u00a0misses, but\u00a0is never<\/em> safe or dull.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, \u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d is a much more\u00a0influential Hollywood misfire than you\u2019d expect.\u00a0The production\u00a0was the first\u00a0to be edited using computer software, a beta version of the Autodesk Flame. And coming out just a month before\u00a0\u201cJurassic Park,\u201d\u00a0it proved\u00a0an essential predecessor for the transition into the CGI age of blockbusters. Its mix of computer effects with practical sets still holds up today, and Dinohatten \u2014 the parallel world where the\u00a0dastardly\u00a0President\u00a0Koopa (played Dennis Hopper, rocking a bleach blonde cut and giving a wickedly sleazy performance) plots to merge the universes and conquer\u00a0Brooklyn \u2014\u00a0is\u00a0a\u00a0wild cyberpunk vision you just have to see. Filled with bizarre reptilian creatures and\u00a0neon nightclubs, you\u2019ll wish you could run around this place. <\/p>\n

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\u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d (1993)Everett Collection (40755)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aside from Hopper\u2019s villain, \u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d boasts a strong cast that adds both dignity and gravitas to this very silly adventure.\u00a0Before people\u00a0were making memes about Donald Glover playing Yoshi, you had Fisher Stevens\u00a0rocking\u00a0a punk look to play a loose version of one of the\u00a0Kooplings \u2014\u00a0while Fiona Shaw gets a small role\u00a0as\u00a0Koopa\u2019s\u00a0scheming girlfriend. Samantha Mathis does solid work playing Princess Daisy (Peach\u2019s\u00a0second-fiddle\u00a0in the games, here elevated to\u00a0leading lady), but the real highlight is stars Bob Hoskins<\/a>\u00a0and John\u00a0Leguizamo as Mario and Luigi.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Coming out in the pre-3D era, when the two iconic characters\u2019 personalities were barely\u00a0established, the 1993 film presents\u00a0a very different\u00a0dynamic for the brothers than would be seen in future versions: Mario is an older, gruffer father figure, while Luigi a young hothead. But the\u00a0duo\u2019s\u00a0bickering\u00a0dynamic here is endlessly charming, and both actors sell the contrast between these salt-of-the-Earth Brooklyn blue-collar workers and the colorful world\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0in with a sly sense of humor. If the \u201cBros.\u201d part of the title is the most important,\u00a0than\u00a0\u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d nails that aspect, at least. <\/p>\n

One of the best Mario games of recent years is \u201cSuper Mario Bros. Wonder,\u201d a 3D platformer\u00a0where the central mechanic\u00a0is the ability to change levels through \u201cWonder Effects.\u201d They can\u00a0turn Mario into a spiky ball, start a dance sequence, or change\u00a0the level\u2019s perspective completely.\u00a0It feels like a direct diagnosis of the\u00a0imaginative streak\u00a0that made the\u00a0Mario games\u00a0a cornerstone of console culture. Their sense of experimentation, and their ability to place the audience in a world where anything feels possible, is as classic and beloved an entertain experience as that starting-up jingle. And judged in that light, 1993\u2019s \u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d suddenly\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0so unfaithful, does it?\u00a0\u2014WC\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d (1993)Everett Collection (40750)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s not every day that I have to go [sinister sting]<\/em> outside(!!) for work, but tracking down 1993\u2019s \u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d became something of a low-stakes side quest for me this week. First stop was a used media store in the Valley with a \u201crare titles\u201d section that left me empty-handed. Then I ventured across town to rent a copy that, much to my chagrin, was already checked out by the time I got there.<\/p>\n

Weaving through Los Angeles traffic en route to Long Beach to borrow a friend\u2019s DVD, I narrowly avoided eye contact with an ex-girlfriend on the 101. It was a surreal near-encounter made worse by the fact that she looks weirdly like Bob Hoskins (in a more\u2026 bodacious way?), which did not help me stay on mission. Eventually, though, the disc was secured, the first part of my \u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d journey was complete, and as a woman who regularly places 9th on Rainbow Road? Honestly, I was pleased.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d (1993)\u00a9Buena Vista Pictures\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Inconvenient as it may be, that\u2019s the right way to have to see this movie. Because whatever else it is (and it\u2019s a lot of things, not all of them good!), \u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d has a physicality that modern game adaptations don\u2019t even attempt. Dinohatten isn\u2019t generic IP wallpaper; it\u2019s a damp, grimy, neon-soaked practical space you can borderline smell. The Goombas are Gremlin-like and grotesque. The fungus pulses like a living organism. The world feels built (or even\u2026 born?<\/em>) rather than rendered.<\/p>\n

Even its failures are tactile. You can almost trace the seams where ambition outran technology, and that kind of craft courage is worth preserving now more than ever. As movies become smoother, safer, and increasingly less human, oddities like this deserve the extra effort it takes to enjoy them. Hoskins (who previously anchored \u201cWho Framed Roger Rabbit?\u201d) had a real knack for landing inside projects that marked technological turning points\u2026 and, occasionally, IP calamities. While this isn\u2019t that film\u2019s equal, \u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d belongs in the same lineage of singular blockbusters you can\u2019t find in theaters today.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d (1993)\u00a9Buena Vista Pictures\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re a \u201ccompletionist\u201d when it comes to watching movies, this one is essential to collect. Not just as a video game adaptation, but as a snapshot of cinema mutating in real time. I\u2019ve seen it at least a dozen times in my life, and never failed to find myself puzzling over something new. (This watch: What did King Koopa have against the Twin Towers?) Sure, you might waste a little gas going across town like I did, but at least you don\u2019t have to blow into a cartridge to make a movie work. \u2014AF<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d (1993) is only available to watch on physical media. <\/em><\/p>\n

Read more installments of After Dark, IndieWire\u2019s midnight movie rewatch club:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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On Friday nights,\u00a0IndieWire After Dark\u00a0honors fringe cinema in the streaming age with\u00a0midnight movies\u00a0from any moment in\u00a0film\u00a0history. First, the\u00a0BAIT: a weird genre pick, and why we\u2019re exploring…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertaonment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}