Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Super Mario Bros. Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown March 9, 2024

Umbrella Entertainment has released two editions of Super Mario Bros. (1993), both of which come as a 2-disc set and feature a Koopa's bounty of gold coins... erm, special features. The 4K edition is certainly the best in terms of video, but only with a slight edge, as it offers more of a first-generation 4K upgrade (sans HDR). This 1080p standard Blu-ray edition is strikingly similar, in terms of highs and the occasional low. But with a more affordable price tag, those without the largest displays and latest, greatest gear won't have to sacrifice much when settling for the regular ol' BD release.

Next stop... Dinohattan, a parallel dimension that exists beneath our own; where dinosaurs migrated to escape extinction 65 million years ago, evolving into a humanoid race with reptilian powers. When an interdimensional portal opens between the two worlds in Brooklyn, henchman of the evil President Koopa (Dennis Hopper) kidnap several women in an attempt to find an orphan princess Koopa can use to re-merge the two realms. Enter Mario and Luigi (Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo), two plunger-slinging brothers who take an impromptu break from the plumbing business to save Mario's girlfriend, Daniella (Dana Kaminski), and an archeology student named Daisy (Samantha Mathis) who recently caught Luigi's eye. What follows is a mish-mash of Mario characters and iconic bits from the games, stretched and warped to almost unrecognizable shapes and sizes for... reasons only the early 1990s can explain, all to constantly apologize for any kiddy-ness or cartoonish flights of fancy a proper Mario film might entail, favoring darker, more twisted, grittier versions of everyone from King Koopa to Princess Daisy, Toad, Yoshi, the Bob-ombs and the Goombas.

Directed by Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel and written by Parker Bennett, Terry Runté and Ed Solomon, Super Mario Bros. also stars Fisher Stevens, Richard Edson, Fiona Shaw, Lance Henriksen, Gianni Russo, Mojo Nixon, John Fifer, Francesca P. Roberts, and the voices of Frank Welker and Dan Castellaneta. For a full review of the movie, click here.

Super Mario Bros. Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The 1080p/AVC-encoded Blu-ray release of Super Mario Bros. is minted from the same 4K remaster as its 4K counterpart. Colors are strong and lively, with plenty of punch, primary pop and powered up presence. Skin tones are warm, healthy and lifelike as well, while contrast and black levels are vibrant and deep respectively. There are a number of inconsistencies (the same that sneak into the 4K presentation) -- infrequent shots hindered by a hit to brightness, delineation and color-tone consistency, a reduction in clarity and contrast during FX sequences, and a handful of other anomalies -- but all of it appears to trace back to the source, not the encode. Moreover, things like banding and artifacts are completely MIA. Detail is quite crisp and revealing too, even if the 4K presentation takes the prize. Edges are clean and typically razor-sharp, textures are beautifully resolved on the whole, and only a handful of sequences suffer from softness (the culprit being the original photography). All told, there's little to complain about. A better remaster could have presumably been crafted from better source element materials (see my 4K review for a bit more info on that), but not by much.

Super Mario Bros. Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Super Mario's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track sounds great, with little in the way of sloppiness or underwhelming sonics. Dialogue is clear and intelligible throughout. Lines aren't lost in the Dinohattan chaos (even when a 'splosive third act rips open a box marked "action"), nor is fidelity sacrificed for volume. The rear speakers offer a welcome array of directionally precise effects, hurling across the soundfield from one channel to the next with the slick, smooth ease you've come to expect from proper 5.1 remasters of early '90s films. It would almost be easy to call it remarkably immersive, if it weren't for a bit of spatial separation that the sharpest audiophiles among will notice in conversation-laden, front-heavy sequences. (I suspect another product of the source rather than the mixing of the track on hand.) LFE output is all kinds of fun too, with Bob-omb booms, Super Scope thooms and Koopa-quake roars aplenty. Some flatness does creep into the soundscape, but every instance seemed to me to be a product of remaining true to the original sound design. Dynamics deliver and the mix is both playful and engaging.

Super Mario Bros. Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The standard Blu-ray edition of Super Mario Bros. delivers a treasure trove of commentaries on Disc One and an entire second disc chock full of extras, including a rough workprint cut of the film. Bonus content breaks down as follows:

• Audio Commentaries (Disc 1) - The theatrical version of Super Mario Bros. offers four optional audio commentaries, which is quite the surprise considering how viciously the movie has been trashed over the years. The tracks included screenwriter Parker Bennett; co- producer Fred Caruso and production designer David L. Snyder; makeup artist Jeff Goodwin, SFX crew Mark McCoy and production assistant Craig Edwards; and finally SMB archivists Steven Applebaum and Ryan Hoss. One small note: the commentaries are listed in the Setup menu rather than the Special Features menu.

• Deleted Scenes (Disc 1, HD, 20 minutes) - A lengthy collection of deleted, extended and alternate scenes, all presented in 1080p high definition, which proves to be a nice plus even if the scenes are more miss than hit.

• Ain't No Game Trailer (Disc 1, HD, 1 minute)

• I've Got the Power Trailer (Disc 1, HD, 2 minutes)

• Workprint Version of the Film (Disc 2, HD/SD, 111 minutes) - The second disc kicks off with a rough (very rough) workprint version of the film: an early pre-FX edit that boasts bits that were trimmed away and other goodies. You'd have to be a super fan to sit through the whole thing, though, as the upscaled 480p video doesn't look good at all.

• Featurettes (Disc 2, HD & SD, 227 minutes) - A host of behind-the-scenes featurettes and interviews, new and old, offer more than your heart could ever hope for. Among them "This Aint' No Video Game" (HD, 56 minutes), "The Making of Super Mario Bros" (SD, 18 minutes), "Katabasis of the Lost Girl" (HD, 23 minutes), "Anarcho-Dino-Sado Chic: The Fashion of Dinohattan" (HD, 20 minutes), "The Hero Moment: Super Mario, Superhero" (HD, 14 minutes), "[D]Evolution, Dystopia and Trusting the Fungus" (HD, 21 minutes), "Raleigh Reunion Panel" (HD, 39 minutes), "LPGE: Movie Props" (HD, 5 minutes) and "Behind the Scenes Interviews" (SD, 31 minutes).

• From Storyboard to Screen (Disc 2, HD, 7 minutes) - Five sequences are examined: "Ice Tunnel Chase," "Inter-Dimensional Merging," "Koopa's Demise," "Lena's Demise" and "Brooklyn Bridge Climax."

• Trailers & TV Commercials (Disc 2, HD/SD) - Three Japanese trailers and ten commercials.

• Spike & Iggy Revolutionary Rap Music Video (Disc 2, HD, 2 minutes)

• Anti-Koopa Protest Music Video (Disc 2, HD, 3 minutes)

• Photo Gallery (Disc 2, HD)

Super Mario Bros. Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The 4K release is the way to go if you want to squeeze every last bit of value and detail out of the oft-maligned Super Mario Bros, but the standard 1080p Blu-ray edition release ain't too shabby. With a striking video presentation created from the same remaster as the 4K edition, the same excellent DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, the same heap of special features, and a lower price point, the 2-disc regular edition is more tempting than you might expect.