SUPER MARIO BROS. Screening at Schlafly Bottleworks July 5th – ‘Strange Brew

“I’ll kill that plumber!”

SUPER MARIO BROS. screens Wednesday, July 5th at 8pm at Schlafly Bottleworks Restaurant and Bar (7260 Southwest Ave.- at Manchester – Maplewood, MO 63143) as part of Webster University’s Award-Winning Strange Brew Film Series. Admission is $5

SUPER MARIO BROS. was one of those movies that received hideous reviews when it came out in 1993, but has developed a cult following thanks to fond memories of all the young boys who saw it when it was new and are now adults. SUPER MARIO BROS. was not based directly on the games, but rather lives in the world of it. It would not have been wise to make a movie with a silent plumber hitting his head off bricks and jumping down green tubes. Sometimes artistic license is necessary.

The Mario Bros. (Bob Hoskins and John Leguiziamo) are still at their respective trades but live in Manhattan and are taken into another dimension known as the Mushroom Kingdom by Princess Daisy (Samantha Mathis) that’s inhabited by creatures evolved from dinosaurs and ruled by an evil lizard king (Dennis Hopper)

I am surprised at just how well SUPER MARIO BROS. has held up (and improved) over the years. The little quirky touches that indicate just how different their world is from ours is great, I love the forceful shove through the police station and the chicken coop jail cells, I love Toad’s song and the fungus, the stomper boots, the crazy old woman, the pumping Boom-Boom Bar where “Love Is A Drug” plays and comes complete with fire displays and psychedelic projections in the background. I love Big Bertha and the spiky edges on everything including the city’s steampunk-like inhabitants, clothing, cushions, doors, walls and even on mundane items such as a box of tissue paper! I love the Goombas despite their awkwardness and the old Fungus King is amazingly slimy and grotesque. Can you imagine if he had been done with CGI? SUPER MARIO BROS. is ripe for rediscovery and you’ll have your chance Wednesday night at Schlafly Bottleworks.

A Facebook Invite for the event can be found HERE