By Brian Tucker

It’s been nearly twenty years since the Wilmington-made Super Mario Bros. went into production in May of 1992. How timely that the film was voted by Star News readers as the worst film made in the area? It wouldn’t sting so badly if Super Mario Bros. weren’t regarded as such an incoherent disaster that had a notoriously rough shoot. Conversely, the film has a large fan-following and remains a top seller on DVD.

Super Mario Bros. starred Bob Hoskins (calling it the worst he’s made), Dennis Hopper, Samantha Mathis and then newcomer John Leguizamo. It also featured Fisher Stevens and Richard Edson (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off).  According to Edson on the dedicated Super Mario Bros. website the two actors made up their dialogue stating the film’s directors, Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, gave them carte blanche.

The dual directors were eventually fired/removed from the movie and Oscar winning cinematographer Dean Semler (The Road Warrior) took over directing. While Super Mario Bros. was the first video-game-movie-adaptation it didn’t help there were clashing ideas about what film to make. Producers wanted a family-oriented franchise. The directors wanted a darker tone emulating Blade Runner.

The film shot its Dinohattan underworld sequences at the Ideal cement plant in Leland, N.C. where temperatures would hover past 100 degrees. The movie was early in incorporating computer generated graphics and Jeff Goodwin (Blue Velvet) created make-up effects for it. But perhaps those who benefited most from Super Mario Bros. were the actors, spending summer at the beach and crew members who gained experience on a big production.

One was Mark McCoy, a graduate in Industrial Technology with an emphasis on Model Building & Engineering, a degree that focused on fabrication techniques for plastics and some focus on machining, art, design theory, and molding/casting.  He landed a job while touring the set with his cousin who introduced him to the film’s Effects Coordinator. His primary job was to create massive amounts of fungus, along with five other people, seen in the film’s underground.

“We did it all, from small gooey stuff to large, two-story pieces that hung from ceilings,” McCoy said. “The majority was made from large sheets of clear landscape plastic tied into a particular shape, melted with a portable flame thrower and stained an ugly brownish yellow color.”

A repeated comment by those involved with the film was that the script kept changing so much no one knew what was being made. Its also regarded as one of the most dialogue looped films ever (which might help explain the film’s frantic editing). Like many on the crew, McCoy could sense there was trouble.

“I do not know if it was having two directors that they were married to each other, miscommunication between department heads, or studio involvement not truly understanding what was being shot – probably a combination of everything,” McCoy said. “At times, tensions were high and people snapped. An hour later, it was all back to normal like nothing had happened. It was a fun time, a hectic time.”

Ryan Hoss, who runs the Super Mario Bros. website with Steven Applebaum in California, sees the movie as underrated.

“As a game, Super Mario Bros. never asked more of you than just a fun adventure into another world,” Hoss said. “As a movie it doesn’t ask any more either. In that way it’s a success.”

Regardless, two weeks after the May 28, 1993 release of Super Mario Bros. the blockbuster Jurassic Park would open and eclipse any memory of the dinosaurs in Super Mario Bros.

Steven Applebaum adds, “It’s taken nearly 20 years and numerous follow-up attempts at adapting video games to film, but people are finally starting to realize that Super Mario Bros. really isn’t that bad. While it certainly has its flaws, it holds together better as a film than other attempts have.”

More with Steven Applebaum and Ryan Hoss

Your website is an amazing archive of memorabilia and history.

Ryan Hoss: I started the Super Mario Bros. Movie Archive website back in 2007. I had seen the film as a kid, right around the time I started getting into video games in general. I instantly saw how inventive and different the film was, and was disappointed to see how underrated and overlooked it was. I knew how much the film had to offer and I had the feeling that there must have been a lot of interesting things going on behind the scenes, so I created the website to raise awareness and appreciation for the film. Steven came onto the site late in 2010 and since then has been instrumental in tracking down material and putting together all these interviews.

How hard has it been to collect for the site (and maintain it)?

Steven Applebaum: It’s been pretty easy to collect info if you know where to look. People have been remarkably forthcoming about their contribution to the film, both as far as stories and materials. The real difficulty is just finding the time to share everything we’ve uncovered.

What’s the biggest treasure you’ve gotten to post on the site?

Ryan Hoss: It’s just so hard to pick any one “treasure.” The interviews, scripts, and behind the scenes photos just provide this incredible glimpse into how the film was made. But, if we had to decide it would probably be the scripts.

What would say in defense of SMB in regards to it being a “worst-of” film?

Ryan Hoss: It may skew away from the games visually and thematically, but when you get right down to it all the basics are there: the concept, the characters and especially the heart.