The Video Game Movie That Is So Awful You Can’t Stream It Anywhere At All
The 1993 Super Mario Bros movie is so bad that it isn't available to stream on any platform.
With the Chris Pratt The Super Mario Bros. Movie quickly nearing its release date, some fans of the legendary video game-turned-feature-length-production may want to take a trip down memory lane and revisit the live-action 1993 film Super Mario Bros. Unfortunately, interested audiences that don’t have access to a hard copy won’t have the chance to do so as the title isn’t streaming anywhere online. That’s right; you won’t be able to catch the first take on Mario and Luigi’s adventures for free or for a fee on any of your favorite platforms like Prime Video, Netflix, or Hulu.
While it isn’t totally clear why Super Mario Bros. hasn’t found a home on any streamer, it could have something to do with the film being mostly panned by critics and its diehard fandom who have continued to hate on the title even thirty years down the line. Sitting on Rotten Tomatoes with an abysmal 28% rating, the feature didn’t quite hit the target that its team was hoping for. And, despite being based on one of the most beloved video games of all time, the movie didn’t come close to making its production costs back, earning only $38.9 million globally up against its $42 – $48 million budget.
Directed by Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, Super Mario Bros. is centered on two Brooklyn-based plumbers, Mario (Bob Hoskins) and Luigi (John Leguizamo), who stumble upon an alternate universe where the sinister King Koopa (Dennis Hopper) rules over a world of dinosaurs. Plotting to carry his reign over into our universe, the world’s last resort lies on the shoulders of Mario and Luigi, who must stop the evil King Koopa and save Princess Daisy (Samantha Mathis) before it’s too late.
There were a lot of things that didn’t deliver when it came to the Super Mario Bros. film. It was flashy and campy for all the wrong reasons, something that fans didn’t respond well to. Penned by Parker Bennett, Ed Solomon, and Terry Runté, the one milestone the title had going for it was that it was the first of its kind to make a video game come to life on the big screen.
Now, we have plenty of these imaginings, like the popular Sonic and Mortal Kombat franchises and even small-screen adaptations like HBO’s latest smash hit, The Last of Us.
Helmed by a married couple, the legend that surrounds Super Mario Bros. has seen a lot of cast and crew members stepping forward to talk about the terrible times they had on set trying to film a movie that they knew wasn’t going to work. Famously, the casting team didn’t want to hire John Leguizamo as Luigi because he wasn’t Italian. When the final decision was made with production seeing that the Ice Age actor was the best one for the role, it was a major step forward for Latino representation in Hollywood, but unfortunately, the film wouldn’t perform to its fullest abilities.
In the end, Super Mario Bros. was a flop which has led to it not receiving a rebooted version until now. Unlike the 1993 film, the upcoming Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Keegan-Michael Key, Jack Black, and Charles Martinet-led production will be animated, which will certainly add a spin of nostalgia to the beloved storyline. With the resurgence of all things Mario, there’s always a chance that the original film, which is now considered to be a cult classic, will finally make its way onto streaming platforms for audiences to form opinions of their own.
