Super Mario Bros. (film)

This article is about the 1993 live-action film. For the 2023 animated film, see The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Super Mario Bros.
General information
Directors	Rocky Morton Annabel Jankel
Writers	Parker Bennett Terry Runté Ed Solomon
Starring	Bob Hoskins John Leguizamo Dennis Hopper Samantha Mathis Fisher Stevens Fiona Shaw Richard Edson
Country of origin	United States of America
Original language	English
Translations	Japanese Catalan Czech French (Europe) Galician German Hungarian Italian Portuguese (Brazil) Spanish (Latin America) Spanish (Europe) Turkish
Ratings	MPA: - Parental guidance CMP: - Parental guidance MCC: - General Eirin: - Guidance BBFC: - Parental guidance MR: - Fifteen years and older FSK: - Twelve years and older Kijkwijzer: - Twelve years and older NMA: - Nine years and older ICAA: - Twelve years and older INCAA: - Everyone ClassInd: - General audience RTC: - All ages KMRB: - Twelve years and older ACB: - Parental guidance OFLC: - Parental guidance SM: 11 - Eleven years and older
Production
Editor	Mark Goldblatt
Production companies	Hollywood Pictures Lightmotive Allied Filmmakers Cinergi Pictures
Cinematography	Dean Semler
Runtime	104 minutes
Budget	$42–48 million
Distribution
Distributors	Buena Vista Pictures Distribution (United States) Entertainment Film Distributors (United Kingdom)
Release date	May 28, 1993 June 10, 1993 June 23, 1993 June 26, 1993 July 2, 1993 July 3, 1993 July 8, 1993 July 9, 1993 July 9, 1993 July 22, 1993 August 13, 1993 October 8, 1993 October 8, 1993 November 1993 December 10, 1993 1993 January 21, 1994 February 24, 1994
Box office	$38.9 million

“This Ain't No Game.”

—Film tagline

Super Mario Bros. is a live-action science fiction adventure film loosely based on the Super Mario series of video games, produced by Lightmotive and released in theaters on May 28, 1993 by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution under the now-defunct Hollywood Pictures label of Walt Disney Studios. While the film draws inspiration from the games, it spins these elements into a more realistic and darker fashion. The movie was originally written as a fantasy-style film, but was gradually changed over numerous rewrites to the point where it became a sci-fi/action film. It was written by Parker Bennett, Terry Runte, and Ed Solomon, and directed by Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton. Produced on an estimated budget of $48 million for its high-profile cast and special effects, Super Mario Bros. was the first live-action film based on a video game property.

In stark contrast to the video games, the Super Mario Bros. film embodies a dystopian science-fiction and cyberpunk feeling and setting. This is in part due to the film's art designer, David Snyder, having previously been designer for the science-fiction cyberpunk film Blade Runner and both directors of the film having previously created the satirical dystopian science fiction series Max Headroom. With Super Mario World having been released in North America less than two years prior to the film, the film carries a strong dinosaur theme and plot inspired by Dinosaur Land. The film was a financial failure, grossing $38.9 million worldwide against a budget of $42–48 million, and was widely lambasted by critics, who criticized the plot, inconsistent tone, and lack of faithfulness to the source material, but praised the special effects, artistic direction, and cast performances. Many actors involved with the production of the movie reported highly negative experiences with the filming; notably, Mario's actor, Bob Hoskins, regarded it as his worst and most regrettable work. Despite appearing on several lists of the worst films ever made, the film has gained a cult following and has been described as a cult classic.

In a 1989 issue of Los Angeles Times, it was reported that "DIC Enterprises will produce a full-length animated feature film based on the characters from Nintendo's 'Super Mario Bros.' game" to be released in 1990. Similarly, in a 1990 issue of TV Guide magazine listing some upcoming animated movies, this movie was among those listed (suggesting it was originally meant to be animated) and scheduled for release in summer of 1991. Super Mario Bros. was released on VHS later in 1993, and was later re-released on DVD in 2003. On August 15, 2010, the DVD version was re-released in memory of Dennis Hopper, who had died two months earlier. United Kingdom film distributor Second Sight Films later re-released the movie on both DVD and Blu-ray formats, originally stated to be released on August 11, 2014 before being delayed to November 3 due to needing to work on new extras. A SteelBook special edition of the Blu-ray release with even more special features was released on February 13, 2017, exclusively through UK retailer Zavvi. Over twenty minutes of deleted scenes were discovered in 2019.

For the film's 30th anniversary, a 4K restoration was screened in selected locations in Japan from September 15 to October 5, 2023. Additionally, a 30th anniversary release of the movie by Australian film distributor Umbrella Entertainment was made available starting January 2024 on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD formats, with both normal and "Trust the Fungus" Collector's Editions featuring new extra content.

Super Mario Bros. is the second feature film adaptation of the Super Mario franchise, following the 1986 anime film Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyūshutsu Dai Sakusen!. It would later be followed by the 2023 animated film The Super Mario Bros. Movie, produced by Illumination.

Plot synopsis

Introduction

The animated intro.

An animated prologue to the film is given, taking place in Brooklyn, sixty-five million years before the present. The dinosaurs rule over the Earth while tiny mammals scurry about unnoticed. However, when a meteorite crashes into the Earth, the impact carries a force powerful enough to kill off all the dinosaurs; however it also created a parallel dimension. In this dimension, the evolution of dinosaurs continues parallel to our world's mammals, resulting in human beings with reptilian traits and temperaments. The narration asks, "What if they found a way back?"

The film cuts to live-action, twenty years before present day with a young woman hurriedly running down a Brooklyn street to a cathedral, carrying a bundle covered in a blanket. There, she places her bundle down, revealing a metallic oval case. She pounds on the door, but after a while, she locks a blue crystalline-shard into the case's opening and flees through the streets of Brooklyn once more.

A nun eventually discovers the metallic case at their doorstep and takes it inside. Meanwhile, the young lady continues to dash down the Brooklyn streets, narrowly dodging honking cars before climbing down an open manhole. Back at the church, the nuns observe the case as it opens, revealing a large egg.

The sewer scene featured in the introduction.

The woman continues to run down a long sewer tunnel, eventually reaching the end, frequently looking back in fear. As she backs into another tunnel, a tall, sinister man emerges from the dark and demands the location of "the rock". She jumps away from him in surprise, exclaiming, "Koopa!" He grabs her, accidentally knocking a support beam which causes the tunnel to collapse around them. Koopa blocks the exit, leaving her to be crushed as she screams.

Back at the cathedral, the nuns watch as the egg cracks and a baby is heard crying. The egg then fully hatches, revealing a baby human girl. The nuns then look at the rock shard that came with the metallic case they found.

Present day

Mario and Luigi, at their home.

In the present day, Mario Mario and Luigi Mario are at their home and business, Mario Brothers Plumbing Services. Luigi lies on the couch, watching a television program in which the host introduces the concept of other dimensions as Mario receives a call in the other room for a job. As the brothers hastily prepare to leave, Mario complains that Luigi has spent money on the New York Post despite their lack of money. Luigi protests that it has the article on the missing Brooklyn girls, which does not satisfy Mario.

The two set off in their van, still arguing over their lack of money. Luigi takes a "shortcut" through an alleyway instead of Mario's directions, much to the latter's chargin. The Mario brothers arrive at the Riverfront Café only to see that Scapelli Construction, their corporate rivals, have beaten them to it.

Iggy and Spike.

Meanwhile, a newscaster discusses the closing of one of New York's largest construction projects to allow New York University students to continue excavation in the advent of the discovery of dinosaur bones in the area. Head construction contractor Anthony Scapelli arrives to persuade excavation to cease so construction can continue. Noticing his arrival, a blonde, female student named Daisy approaches him and holds her ground, refusing to quit until work is finished. Scapelli threatens Daisy, forcing her to find a phone to call the university for increased security.

Elsewhere, Spike gets into a car, where Iggy is sitting in the passenger seat. As they notice Daisy walking into town, they begin discussing their previous failures, and that if they make another, Koopa is going to "kill them". They begin their persuit of the oblivious Daisy. At that moment, Mario and Luigi are driving down the street when their van stalls. They pull over and open the hood, which causes steam to flow in their faces. Mario tells Luigi to check their messages for work while he attempts to fix the radiator. Daisy continues to walk down the street, unaware of the following Spike. Before Spike can get closer, he slams against a glass pane carried between him and Daisy. Defeated, he returns to their car.

Luigi first meeting his love interest, Daisy.

Mario enters a nearby store for bottles of water to cool the radiator down, just as Daisy approaches the pay phone. She paces about, waiting for Luigi to finish checking their messages. Enamored, he wordlessly hands her the phone. Mario emerges and questions Luigi for jobs. Luigi comes up empty-handed, and his brother walks toward the van. Luigi eventually follows and asks Mario if he thought Daisy was attractive. Mario pressures his younger brother to talk to her, and upon finishing her call, she approaches Luigi to thank him. He awkwardly offers her a ride, leaving Mario to "translate" his message for him. She looks about and sees Iggy and Spike in their car, and, thinking them thugs of Scappelli's, accepts their offer and goes back to the dig site. Once there, Luigi asks her out for dinner later that evening, which she agrees to.

That night, Luigi with Daisy, and Mario with his girlfriend, Daniella, have a double-date at an Italian restaurant together. Here, the two girls discuss the dig and how it began: Scapelli's dig-team found iridium, suggesting that a meteorite had struck there at one time. Findings suggest that the meteorite could have been the same one that caused extinction of the dinosaurs. The conversation then shifts to the rock shard Daisy wears around her neck. She reveals that she never takes it off because it is the one connection with the life she never had when she was abandoned. On hearing this, Luigi excitedly tells that he also doesn't know his parents due to their death in his childhood. Because of this, his brother Mario brought him up as a parent as well as a brother. Daisy and Luigi look into each other's eyes before in shy connection before awkwardly looking away. At this point, Daniella suggests that she and Mario take the van back themselves to allow Luigi to walk Daisy home.

The restaurant the four of them visit.

As Mario and Daniella leave the restaurant and enter their van, Iggy wakes Spike, who was sleeping in their car. Iggy, upon seeing Daniella, believes her to be Daisy in disguise in an attempt to trick them, and gets out of the car to try and capture her, but Spike pulls him back in. Spike notices that she is not Daisy, but Iggy tells him that she is, but she is wearing a disguise. They then decide to follow Daniella to where she lives and kidnap her there.

Down the street, Luigi and Daisy start talking, eventually leading to a discussion about what Daisy is working on. They then decide to go to the excavation site so Daisy can show Luigi more about her work. Meanwhile, Mario is saying goodbye to Daniella near her apartment. Iggy and Spike then arrive at their location on foot, waiting for Mario to drive off before grabbing her. Her screams for help go unnoticed.

At the excavation site, Daisy and Luigi finally arrive, and she tells him about how Scapelli himself showed up earlier, and that she was calling her university for extra money that they would not give. Daisy then leads Luigi into an underground sewer-like area, and shows him various dinosaur fossils lined on the floor, one of which has opposable thumbs and looks to her as if "...it was a monster, trying to be a human being," unaware that it was her mother. The two move in to kiss, but are interrupted by the sound of water spraying and the sight of two of Scapelli plumbers fleeing, after having broken a set of pipes in an effort to flood the site. Luigi and Daisy run back to Mario's apartment to get help in repairing the damage. Mario and Luigi then set to work.

Iggy and Spike then show up, arguing over how they have failed in capturing Daisy five times. Hearing a noise nearby, Iggy senses the presence of Daisy. They then find the Mario brothers, having fixed the pipes and stopping the flooding, and knock both of them out and capture Daisy.

Mario and Luigi searching for Daisy.

The brothers soon regain consciousness and frantically follow the sound of Daisy's voice, utilizing Mario's knowledge of pipe echoes to guide them through the cave. They finally come to a ledge over a steep drop, a river having formed from the flooding, across from which Daisy's voice seems to come though the solid rock wall. As they stand there, Daisy's face appears through the rock and Luigi tries to jump for her but is held back by Mario. Daisy leans herself though the rock again and Luigi attempts to grab her, but only succeeds in taking her necklace. With her necklace in his hand, Luigi looks back at the rock; Mario commenting that it was impossible. With a feeling, Luigi kisses Mario's forehead in goodbye and leaps straight through the solid rock. Mario then slips and falls through himself, transporting through a psychedelic landscape before disintegrating and reassembling on the other side in a large chamber.

"...We're not in Brooklyn no more"

The city of Dinohattan.

Circling around a giant meteorite embedded into the floor, Luigi and Mario chase after Daisy and her kidnappers, who claim to be taking her back to where she belongs. The brothers burst out of the tunnel, through a metallic door, and emerge into a crowded, noisy, fungus-covered street in the city of Dinohattan. Pushing through the crowds, they stop dead in their tracks and look around, taking in their surroundings. Suddenly, they see Iggy, Spike, and Daisy on the street below. The kidnappers pull a screaming Daisy into a cab. A cop then arrives and pulls the brothers away for creating an "incident." They fall through a railing and onto the streets below. They then decide to take in their surroundings before taking the next step. As they are walking away from an area in the city, a hidden Goomba peers from the shadows.

In Koopa's Tower, Koopa and his lover, Lena, discuss how pathetic and disgusting their world is. Koopa notes the situation is worsening by the day, while in the parallel world the mammal-evolved humans have plenty of resources, such as food and clean air and water. He continues to bemoan the germs and fungus that fill their world, which he claims were "exiled" too by the meteorite strike sixty-five million years ago. However, he also claims that the mammals may roam free in the other dimension now, but not for much longer. With ecstatic pleasure, Koopa claims that with the rock and Princess Daisy, he is finally able to merge their world with that of the mammals, as well as destroy them. As he sits at his desk, Iggy and Spike enter, greeting him as their cousin and reporting that the princess has been captured. Excited, Koopa asks where the rock is. The two admit that "the plumbers took it", referring to Mario and Luigi. Instantly, Koopa demands Lena to put up an alert for their capture.

Toad, a musician on the streets of Dinohattan.

Outside, Mario and Luigi are trying to figure out where they are, and are eventually confronted by an old lady who asks if they are "new in town", citing that the city is dangerous to be in without a weapon. When Luigi admits they are unarmed, the old lady pulls out a large taser and demands "Koopa coins". Noticing Daisy's necklace around Luigi's neck, she pulls it off just as a large black woman in red, Big Bertha, approaches from behind. Seeing the necklace, Bertha grabs the old lady and throws her down into the street, causing much confusion below, and taking the necklace for herself. Mario asks for the rock back, but she then activates a pair of Thwomp Stompers and escapes to the other side of the street. Having noticed their dismay, a friendly street-musician named Toad begins to play an anti-Koopa song on his guitar, detailing the far-worse things in his world. Two police officers then drive up and arrest him, then arrest the brothers after noticing they have plumber's gear.

Meanwhile, two Goombas drag Daisy to a prison room in Koopa's Tower. Daniella and four other women are also inside. The two share a joyful reunion, with Daniella explaining that Koopa is looking for a princess but took the wrong girls. Elsewhere, Mario, Luigi, and Toad arrive at the police station. The two brothers are "de-fungused", then placed in a prison resembling a chicken coop. Toad is placed above Mario and Luigi, who are sharing a cell. Playing his harmonica, Toad sings about the brothers being from another dimension. Luigi then asks what he meant by that. The musician clarifies by explaining that, according to history, the impact of a meteorite divided their universes into two parallel dimensions. He goes on to explain that he believes that the fungus infesting the city was their old king, who was de-evolved by Koopa and is now seeking revenge.

The police chief calls for the Mario Bros. to be brought before their lawyer. The lawyer is actually Koopa, claiming to be a "Larry Lazard of Lazard Lazard Conda Dactyl" in an attempt to trick them into giving him the necklace. His attempts fail, however, because Mario and Luigi don't understand what he's talking about. After his patience fails, Koopa drops the facade and attacks Luigi before ordering them to be taken to the de-evolution chamber.

The de-evolution chamber

The Devo Chamber.

Koopa casually walks into a large chamber with an elaborate throne-machine, in which Toad is strapped into. He insults Koopa while saying the King has returned and is all around them. Unfazed, Koopa orders the machine to be activated and Toad de-evolved. Toad transforms into a Goomba, and Koopa explains that evolution is an upward process, while de-evolution is the opposite. Using this process, he can create a strong, loyal, and, most importantly, stupid subject. In anger, Luigi tries to attack Koopa but is held back by Mario. Mario asks him what he evolved from, to which Koopa replies that his ancestor was the Tyrannosaurus rex. He then threatens to de-evolve them if they do not tell him where the meteorite piece is. Instead, the brothers shove Koopa into the de-evolution chair and take out his men. Luigi then sets the machine to the Jurassic period and the pair push the chair into the de-evolution device before running off. However, their speeding up of the process causes it to end prematurely. Koopa's eye briefly fluctuates to a reptilian-slit before returning to normal.

The Police Chase.

Pursued by Goombas, Mario and Luigi flee. They hide behind a support and Luigi notices that the fungus appears to be offering them a Bob-omb. Mario pulls him away before he can take it, though, and the two escape using a zipline-like contraption. Two Goombas attempt to blast them with their fireball guns, but fail to hit them. The brothers then enter the police garage, where they steal a police car. Although Mario struggles to turn it on, Luigi successfully operates the computer as a result of playing video games, and they drive off with two other police cars in pursuit. After a short chase, Mario tricks the officers into firing at each other, blowing the cars up. The two brothers celebrate their victory and enter a tunnel leading to the Koopahari Desert. The computer warns them that the tunnel is unfinished, but the car leaves the city's power grid and powers down before they can brake. The car propels out of the tunnel and nearly crashes into the rocks below but is caught by the fungus, allowing them to climb out and escape into the desert.

Mario and Luigi are saved by the fungus.

Back at his tower, Koopa and Lena are enjoying a mud bath together when Iggy and Spike hurry into the room. Apologizing for interrupting, they report on the location of Mario and Luigi, and Koopa tells them to go capture them. He then orders Lena to have Daisy cleaned and brought to him. She does so, bursting into the prison cell where the women are being held. She identifies Daisy as, "Princess Daisy," prompting surprised looks from the other women, and leads her away.

Meanwhile, Iggy bids farewell to a nervous Spike, who is locked into the de-evolution machine. On Koopa's signal, the machine is flipped from "de-evolve" to "evolve," resulting in a more intelligent Spike. Two nearby workers pull Spike from the chair and force in Iggy, who is unaware he is also going to be evolved. The two cousins, now intelligent, are ordered by Koopa to retrieve Mario and Luigi and the meteorite piece from the desert or be personally killed.

Koopa's plan

Daisy prepares to meet Koopa, now wearing a purple dress that belonged to her mother. Lena then enters the room and tells Daisy more about her mother, telling her that she took Daisy to the other dimension before she was "born," then died. Daisy asks if her father is alive, but she does not reveal anything. Lena then states that Koopa thinks she is the only one with the ability to merge the dimensions, and that she is not ready to let her efforts go to waste.

Meanwhile, Mario and Luigi wander in the desert lost, arguing over who is to blame for their situation. At his tower, Koopa discusses the Goomba's Devolution Gun training with the police chief until Lena enters, announcing Daisy is ready. Daisy waits nervously in another room lit with candles and a fire, where she meets Yoshi, a dinosaur resembling a velociraptor walking about the room, chained by its neck. He curiously observes Daisy, who is initially frightened, then fascinated. Koopa, who had walked in seconds earlier, then surprises her by speaking and confirming that Yoshi truly is a dinosaur. He remains calm, introducing himself as ruler of this dimension. He ignores Daisy's demands about the whereabouts of her father, instead flirting while confirming that Daisy also descended from the dinosaurs. Koopa's face then begins to show lizard-like features again, which scares Daisy. She runs from Koopa and into Toad, whom Koopa instructs to take her away, before kicking Yoshi in the face for licking his leg.

Yoshi chained to the floor.

The Marios fight back

Back in the desert, Iggy and Spike locate Mario and Luigi, driving a small, six-wheeled vehicle towards them. They accidentally drive off a cliff, attracting the attention of the Mario Bros. Quickly, the brothers tie them up, demanding information. They reveal the purpose of Daisy's necklace and Koopa's plan with it. Luigi offers a trade: the meteorite shard in exchange for Daisy. Iggy and Spike agree and, based on Luigi's description of Big Bertha, head to the Boom Boom Bar.

At Koopa's Tower, Daisy is looking out the window, but turns her attention to Yoshi when she sees him trying to bite his chain in two, and offers the dinosaur sympathy. Back in the desert, the Marios, along with Iggy and Spike, notice a garbage truck (the Sludge Gulpers), which is unloading the trash in the middle of the desert. They knock out the garbage men (Snifits), hijack the truck, and drive back into the city.

At the Boom Boom Bar, Mario and Luigi don Spike's ex-wife's dance clothes to fit into the dance club. Once inside, Mario and Luigi attempt to locate Big Bertha. Iggy and Spike head to the bar, ordering drinks as a toast to Koopa's downfall. Mario finds and confronts Big Bertha, attempting to seduce her, but resulting with a punch in the face. Mario then walks over to her again, trying reverse psychology this time, and Big Bertha demands he dance with her, during which he attempts to snatch Daisy's necklace back. He finally does so, just as the song ends, but Lena and a squad of Goombas arrive after having been tipped off by the coat check. Mario and Luigi attempt escape, but lose the necklace, saved from falling into a floor vent by Lena, in the process before being aided by Big Bertha. She lends them each a pair of Thwomp Stompers, instructing them on their use. They then escape through the roof, and, while they are moving, Luigi notices that the fungus is once again trying to give them a Bob-omb. The brothers then continue running from Goombas, only to be cornered on a catwalk by cops, but escape by jumping into the back of a moving Sludge Gulper. Mario complains that it is impossible for them to enter the tower, but Luigi insists that nothing is impossible, only improbable.

Back at Koopa's tower, the president enters a chamber filled with a type of fungus, a portion of which retreats into a larger section when Koopa enters. He then engages in small talk with the fungus, eventually leading to him stating that, once the dimensions are merged, all of its rebellion is going to have been in vain.

Mario and Luigi don their famous suits

The Slude Gulper then dumps its load, Mario and Luigi included, outside Koopa's tower. Entering, they observe the badly maintained heating pipes that serve the tower. Under Mario's instruction, Luigi begins blocking off all of the valves. An alarm is set off, forcing them to leave quickly. As they head for the elevator, Mario stops at a locker, opens it, and pulls out two mechanics' uniforms (which look like the clothes worn by their counterparts from the games). As the two celebrate in the elevator, the door opens and two Goombas enter. They manage to hide behind the oblivious Goombas, and as the elevator continues upwards, more and more Goombas enter, all unaware of the Marios.

Meanwhile, Lena, secretly in possession of the meteorite shard, has returned to the tower with Iggy and Spike as her prisoners. She reports to Koopa that they were preaching his overthrow, to which Koopa orders them killed. He walks off, followed by Lena. She attempts to tell him she has the necklace, as well as tell him to not use Daisy, feeling he only cares for her, but he ignores her out of anger, and mentions that the only thing he truly cares about is the future of their species. Lena then privately decides to work on her own.

Back in the elevator, Luigi gets an idea from the elevator music. Gently rocking each of the Goombas individually, he begins making the Goombas dance, distracting them. At the top of the tower, Toad enters the chamber Daisy is held in, offering her some dinner, though she replies that she is a vegetarian, and requests some steamed vegetables. Lena then enters the chamber. Daisy asks her if she would help her escape, though Lena replies by pulling a knife in an attempt to kill her, her reason being that "everyone deserves what they've earned." Yoshi uses his long tongue to pull Lena over, allowing Daisy to escape through the open door. However, Lena then stabs Yoshi and chases after her.

Meanwhile, as the Goombas continue to dance in the elevator, Mario and Luigi escape through a vent on top of it. Eventually, the elevator door opens again, and standing in front is another Goomba. Seeing the others dancing in the elevator, the Goomba shouts at them to stop and get out, which they do.

In the hall, Daisy runs into Toad, carrying her plate of steamed vegetables, and runs away from him before encountering two Goombas escorting Iggy and Spike for execution. They beg for her help as the Goombas pull out their fireball guns and ignite Toad. Iggy, Spike, and Daisy escape, though she takes the fire extinguisher off the wall and puts out Toad. As the trio continue their escape, Iggy and Spike claim that they were her most loyal supporters, having been with her father since his de-evolution. They take her to Devo 4, the chamber in which her father, as a fungal mass, is kept and leave her alone to take it all in.

As Mario and Luigi make their way to Daisy, they encounter a seemingly bottomless pit. Luigi tries to jump across, and both brothers are surprised when he finds he is suspended in midair. Eventually, he is able to convince Mario to jump as well; however, Luigi finds out that his belt was caught by a hook attached to a rope, and tries to tell Mario, but it is too late. Mario begins the plummet to his doom, only to be saved by the fungus below, which creates a trampoline for him. Luigi then fails to grab Mario's hands, due to being caught off guard. Mario then falls back down and gets tramped up again, this time being caught by Luigi and the two escape the room.

As Daisy is taking in the sight of her father, Yoshi enters the room. Daisy runs over to him, notices the knife in his neck, and pulls it out. The dinosaur then directs her attention to a communication device, which she uses to activate a speaker. Mario and Luigi, having heard Daisy over the speakers, then find a grate. Daisy then tells the brothers her location, Devo 4, before they knock the grate in, unaware that Koopa is watching. Walking through the air ducts, Luigi notices that the fungus is trying to communicate, and picks the mushroom, but Mario is still unconvinced.

The police chief then contacts Koopa to alert him that, per instructions, the troops were in place for the invasion of Earth. Koopa, surprised, then questions who supplied the order, to which the chief explains that he did, according to Lena. Realizing Lena possesses the meteorite piece, he demands her arrest. In Devo 4, Daisy meets up with Mario and Luigi and introduces them to her father. Luigi then realizes and tells Mario that he was the fungus that has been helping them the entire time. Daisy then reminds Mario of Daniella and tells him that she is being held prisoner in the Goomba barracks. Mario quickly dashes away to save her. However, Luigi and Daisy run straight into Koopa and an entourage of Goombas and are immediately captured.

Koopa mobilizes

Immediately after capturing Luigi and Daisy, Koopa orders preparations for the invasion of Earth. Meanwhile, Lena attempts her escape, but is ambushed and caught by the police chief, who takes the meteorite shard from her. In the tower, Mario locates the Goomba barracks and defeats the Goomba guard inside, saving Daniella and the rest of the missing Brooklyn girls. He hastily barricades the door just as more Goombas attempt to enter, then sets to work on the ventilation shaft.

The police chief presents the meteorite shard to Koopa, who orders Lena's release and begins rallying the Goombas. At the barracks, several Goombas blow the door open with their fireball guns, but are greeted by an empty room. They realize that the women had escaped with Mario by riding on a mattress down the frozen pipe, and they do the same in pursuit. Mario and the girls then duck under some icicles, which one of the Goombas hits, knocking him off the mattress. The chase continues until Mario leaves a wrench in a hole, causing the Goombas's mattress to flip over and its passengers to fly off. Mario and the girls then notice the exit of the air vent, with the two Goombas still following them, one on top of the other. The remaining mattress and its passengers fly out of the shaft, while the Goombas stop short. Their crash landing distracts Koopa and allows Luigi and Daisy to join Mario's side.

Koopa approaches them wielding a fireball gun, declaring that he has won and Earth's humans are soon about to de-evolve. Several announcements then come through his communicator, distracting him. This allows Luigi to grab a Thwomp Stomper's fuel cartridge from a broken shop display and hand it to Mario. Mario inserts it into a Stomper from the shop, then activates the device. It flies into Koopa and knocks him into an empty vat located over the street. However, Koopa quickly recovers and starts to fire his fireball gun. Using some fungus, Mario swings onto the vat, climbs up it, and begins fighting Koopa, hitting him from above and causing Koopa to drop the meteorite shard, which he held in his mouth, to the ground below. Lena catches it, but falls off the ledge and onto some electrical wiring. However, Mario tricks Koopa into believing he has the shard, and he is attacked. Lena then runs off to the meteorite chamber to merge the dimensions. Luigi, Daisy, and the other girls run after her, hoping to stop her while Mario and Koopa continue to fight, Koopa being unaware that Lena has the shard.

Merging the dimensions

The Bob-omb ready to go off at any moment.

Luigi and Daisy enter the chamber, just in time to see Lena about to insert the shard into the meteor. Daisy begs her to stop, but she continues with her progress anyway. Koopa and Mario continue their fight on a catwalk. Looking into his belt, Mario pulls out the Bob-omb, prompting mass panic on the surrounding streets and walkways. Realizing the power the object possesses, Mario winds the Bob-omb's key and places it onto the ground, where it begins walking towards a panicking Koopa. However, it falls through a crack. Unaware of its continuing progress, Mario gives up on the Bob-omb and the two enemies approach each other menacingly. As the girls escape through the rock wall, Lena inserts the shard completely. The resulting energy burst kills her, leaving behind her skeleton. Daisy then realizes that Koopa was correct; only she could merge the dimensions, because only she could withstand the energies the meteorite would create. Back on the street, Mario and Koopa start to disappear as the dimensions merge and Koopa begins to laugh maniacally. Luigi and Daisy begin to work together to pull out the shard, using an assortment of Mario's tools.

In Brooklyn, Daniella and the other women warn those at the dig site about the coming invasion. Daniella then notes that the World Trade Center has merged with Koopa's tower. Scapelli is there, yet believes the whole thing is a hoax for publicity. Mario, Koopa, and his legion of Goombas appear next as Koopa attempts unsuccessfully to hit Mario with his fireball gun, which is broken again. Casting it aside, Koopa takes a devolution gun from a Goomba and fires it at Mario, who dodges, allowing the beam to instead hit Scapelli, de-evolving him into an ape. Koopa then turns to de-evolve Mario, but the latter pulls out the mushroom Luigi grabbed and uses it to absorb the beam. The mushroom becomes larger and larger, eventually to the point where Mario uses it to knock the ray gun out of Koopa's hands. Meanwhile, Luigi and Daisy manage to remove the shard from the meteor, causing the two dimensions to separate once more.

Koopa is affected by his own devolution guns.

Meanwhile, the Bob-omb Mario dropped earlier is walking around the lower section of the city. A citizen driving a car notices it and stops the car, trying and succeeding in not hitting the Bob-omb. Up on the catwalk, Toad gives Luigi and Daisy each a de-evolution gun. Koopa orders his Goombas to de-evolve Mario, but Toad distracts them with his harmonica. They begin dancing as they did in the elevator. As Luigi and Daisy pass, Big Bertha throws Luigi a pair of Thwomp Stompers. Koopa, enraged at both the failure of his plans and the Goombas' failure to comply to his orders, angrily calls them "stupid" and punches them down dominoes-style. As the Bob-omb continues its trek, Koopa turns his attention to Luigi, who flies on over by using the Thwomp Stompers. Koopa fires at him using his fireball gun, but misses, allowing Luigi to land next to his brother and hand him a devolution gun. As the Bob-omb walks below Koopa, the brothers begin de-evolving him into a fierce, dinosaur-like form. The Bob-omb then finally reaches Koopa, exploding from beneath him, causing him to shoot into the air and land in the empty vat. Mario, Luigi, and the city's inhabitants watch the container in silence. Suddenly, Koopa, having been de-evolved into a Tyrannosaurus rex, emerges with a roar. After initially panicking, the brothers aim the guns and fire once more, further de-evolving Koopa into a glob of primeval slime. Immediately, all of Dinohattan cheers at the defeat of their dictator.

Victory

Stepping onto Luigi's stompers, the brothers wave and flash a victory sign to the crowd as they jump over to Daisy, who embraces them. Meanwhile, in Devo 4, Daisy's father is restored to his former self.

The three of them enter the meteorite chamber, prepared to leave for home. Unfortunately, the wall is now sealed, prompting Daisy to re-open it by reusing the power of the shard. Luigi then beckons her to join them, but she sadly tells him she must stay to help restore Dinohattan and get to know her father. With an intimate kiss, they part ways.

Three weeks later, Daniella has now moved into the brothers' apartment and is preparing dinner for them. Just as Luigi stands up to join them, Our Miraculous World comes on with the host discussing the Mario brothers, whom he calls the "Super Mario Brothers.", having saved both Earth and Dinohattan. Someone knocks on the door, Mario stating that it is open, and it bursts open to reveal Daisy, wearing torn military clothes and wielding a fireball gun, asking Mario and Luigi for help. The two strap on their tool belts, prepared to leave.

In a post-credits scene, two Japanese businessmen comment to someone that they have a proposal to make a video game based on their many adventures, then ask for the game's name. The camera pans to reveal they are talking to Iggy and Spike, who suggest "Iggy's World" and "The Indomitable Spike," respectively, but then agree upon "The Super Koopa Cousins."

Cast

Main article: List of Super Mario Bros. (film) voice actors

• Bob Hoskins as Mario Mario
• John Leguizamo as Luigi Mario
• Dennis Hopper as President Koopa
• Samantha Mathis as Daisy and Daisy's mother
• Fisher Stevens as Iggy
• Richard Edson as Spike
• Fiona Shaw as Lena
• Dana Kaminski as Daniella
• Mojo Nixon as Toad
• Gianni Russo as Anthony Scapelli
• Francesca Roberts as Big Bertha
• Lance Henriksen as The King
• Sylvia Harman as Old lady
• Desiree Marie Velez as Angelica
• Andrea Powell, Heather Pendergast and Melanie Salvatore as Brooklyn Girls
• John Fifer as Toad (in Goomba form)
• Don Lake as Sergeant Simon
• Terry Finn as Hat Check Girl
• Thomas Merdis, Michael Harding, Michael Lynch, Scott Mactavish and Wallace Merck as Goombas
• Mona B. Fierro, Karen Brigman, Christi Work, Joy Rees and Lucy Alpaugh as Nuns
• Robert D. Raiford as Our Miraculous World T.V. Announcer
• Harry Murphy as Reporter #1
• Patt Noday as Reporter #2
• Robert Lee Edwards and Ronald Lou Edwards as Scapelli Bodyguards
• Matthew Zachary Hopkins as Pizza Delivery Boy
• Robert Faulkner Priester as Egon
• Preston Lane as James
• Jim Asaki as Japanese Businessman #1
• Matt Nikko as Japanese Businessman #2
• Kevin West as DEVO Controller
• Jeff Pillars as DEVO Technician
• Frank Welker as the voices of Yoshi and Goombas
• Dan Castellaneta as Narrator

Production

Main article: List of Super Mario Bros. (film) staff

“Overall, what’s your abiding memory from working on this movie?”
“Humiliation.”

—Director Rocky Morton, in a 2014 interview with Nintendo Life.

Bob Hoskins, who played Mario in the film, expressed a distaste for his role.

Film producer Roland Joffé visited Nintendo of America’s headquarters in 1991, and pitched his concept for a Super Mario Bros. film to then-president Minoru Arakawa, after the idea was originally decided upon during a script meeting at Lightmotive Studios. Nintendo had already received several offers for a Super Mario movie, but Arakawa was interested by Joffé’s pitch, and the producer later flew to Nintendo's headquarters in Kyoto to present his pitch directly to Hiroshi Yamauchi. Joffé pitched the film as a prequel to the game, described by him in his pitch as "'a food chain game — it tells us we’re all just somebody else’s dinner.'" Nintendo later