Product: Super Mario Bros. [VHS] (1993)
Rating: 5.0
If you've heard this movie is terrible...watch it and see for yourself
The Super Mario Bros. film is always one that I felt deserved a second look at. A TON of work went into every aspect of the film from the casting, production design, costuming, makeup effects, score, editing, and special effects. Not only that, but it was the first attempt at creating a feature-length motion picture from video game source material. The effort is extremely commendable, even though the execution was somewhat flawed--and I believe that's more to blame for the film's (often exaggerated) unpopularity and initial low exposure than to the "unfaithfulness" to the video games.Upon its initial release in 1993, moviegoers just didn't know what the film was trying to be or what it was trying to do. It's taken nearly two decades for the film to reach this new cult status wherein those who first saw the film as children are analyzing it as adults, and others are seeing it for the first time with an unbiased eye in regards to the environment surrounding the release of the film and its subsequent perception.With all this new-found popularity (and not to mention that it's the 25th Anniversary of Super Mario Bros. on the original Nintendo Entertainment System), the Super Mario Bros. film is getting a bit of extra attention. Sadly, Disney is missing out on a prime opportunity to put out a proper release of the film.As it stands, the original 2003 DVD release was a simple, bare-bones effort, with a substandard non-anamorphic transfer. Earlier this year, they put out a slight re-release--but all they did was move around some text on the DVD cover art. Oh, and that non-widescreen enhanced, non-anamorphic transfer? It's still there. It's the same, tired release with a different cover.