Seth Rogen, star of 'The Super Mario Bros Movie', calls 1993 version 'one of the worst films ever made'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Actor and comedian Seth Rogen has expressed his disappointment with the 1993 live-action film 'Super Mario Bros' in a recent interview. The film, which starred Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo, was the first-ever theatrical release of a movie based on a video game. Despite being considered a cult classic by some, it received negative reviews and was bombed at the box office.
The commercial failure of the 1993 live-action film may have deterred further adaptations of the beloved video game franchise. Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the Mario franchise, recently spoke about the challenges of adapting intellectual property (IP) into films. "We were fearful of all the failure of past IP adaptations, where there's a license and a distance between the original creators and the creators of the films," Miyamoto shared with Variety, without specifically mentioning the 1993 film. "The fans get outraged and mad because the studios didn't do justice to the original work. We really didn't want a backlash."
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Rogen shares his disappointment
Rogen, now 40 years old, reminisced about his experience as an 11-year-old watching the original film. "When I was 11, I saw the original 'Super Mario Bros' movie and I was so excited," he recalled. "But it's one of the worst films ever made. I was so disappointed. I think it made me realize that movies, like, could be bad. That never occurred to me until that moment." The actor went on to say that the realization "really bummed [him] out, but he is now happy to have worked on the upcoming animated film 'The Super Mario Bros Movie' which he hopes will vindicate his childhood disappointment. "It's nice to know that 11-year-olds out there won't be disappointed in the same way that I was," he said.
Legacy and impact of the 1993 'Super Mario Bros'
The 1993 live-action film 'Super Mario Bros' deviated from the limited storylines of the Mario games released at the time. Instead, it followed the adventure of Mario (Bob Hoskins), Luigi (John Leguizamo), and Princess Daisy (Samantha Mathis) in a dystopian, dinosaur-infested dimension as they battled against the evil King Koopa (Dennis Hopper). The film, directed by Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel and written by Parker Bennett, Terry Runté, and Ed Solomon, received negative reviews and was a commercial failure. However, it did introduce groundbreaking visual effects that have since become an industry standard.
'Super Mario Bros' was the first movie to use Autodesk Flame, a CGI software, marking a historical jump from practical effects. The film's Oscar-nominated composer, Alan Silvestri, also provided the music, a mix of zany and darker tones. Despite its initial failure, 'Super Mario Bros' has since gained a cult following. And with the upcoming animated film 'The Super Mario Bros Movie', fans are excited to see a new take on the beloved video game characters.