Hollywood writer-director (and sometimes actor) Harold Ramis has enjoyed a particularly successful career; not only did he land the role of paranormal investigator Dr. Egon Spengler in the hit '80s flick Ghostbusters (which he also co-wrote), he has directed such classics as National Lampoon's Vacation, Analyze This and Groundhog Day (which officially ranks as one of our favourite films of all time here at Nintendo Life Towers).
It hasn't always been plain sailing, of course - Ramis has also been behind some notable stinkers including Bedazzled and Multiplicity, but it could have been a lot worse.
The director has recently revealed that he was offered the director's chair for the ill-fated Super Mario Bros movie:
(Producer) Roland Joffe wanted me to direct the Super Mario Bros. movie. I took the meeting because I loved the game... I'm glad I said no.
Clearly this is a film that was cursed from the outset, as Mario himself (otherwise known as Bob Hoskins) has very few positive things to say about his time on set:
The worst thing I ever did? Super Mario Brothers. It was a f****** nightmare. The whole experience was a nightmare. It had a husband-and-wife team directing, whose arrogance had been mistaken for talent. After so many weeks their own agent told them to get off the set! F****** nightmare. F****** idiots.
Who would have guessed that Mario was such a potty-mouth, eh?
[source kotaku.com]
Comments 39
I'm glad too!
Hey, I liked Multiplicity.
To be honest; wonder if Ramis would of made it a bit better if he was the director, or would he have no control of burning a script for another?
That Mario sounds like a Newsgrounds cartoon.
Either way, I actually liked the movie (even though evolution was present, and even that was a redeeming point regarding Iggy+whomever). However, the only reason why I want a sequel is due to the cliffhanger at the end. (Maybe, like B+ did with its games, a better-received sequel can emerge?)
I can see it now. "Itza meeee, Super F***** Maaaario."
Mama-mia!
"I can see it now. "Itza meeee, Super F***** Maaaario."
That's going in the next podcast.
i like the movie myself.it wasnt all that bad.
@odd69
i like the movie myself.it wasnt all that bad.
I'm glade I'm not the only one then as I also enjoy it.
Holy crap I didn't realise there were more people like me who enjoyed it. I bought the DVD for 10 bucks lol.
@Corbie: Super Mario 64 ending uncut - Thank-a you so f****** much for a playing my f****** game!
On a side note John Leguizamo's career seems to still be half decent, still doing movies and last I checked was in ER,
I never did like that movie. Luigi's garb, backwards hat, and mustacheless mug says it all! If only Dreamworks appeared back then. It should've been an animated movie.
He's also directed three very good episodes of The Office (A Benihana Christmas, Safety Training and Beach Games).
Now we all know how to pester Bob Hoskins should we ever bump into him on the street! =D
To this day i still can't believe that movie exists. Makes "The Wizard" look like high art (granted, i do love that cheesy movie!)
The movie was bad. Accept it. I did manage to watch it twice as a kid. Maybe I'll watch it again sometime for S&G.
And this is news because....?
Yeah, I like that movie. I don't remember it much though...
Hey, we're on Nintendo Life...I bet half the people here actually liked that movie. I am one of them. I also bought this movie for ten dollars, and it's really not that bad. I've seen much worse. Of course it's not "true" to the game or whatever, but come on...how can you possibly make a movie out of "Peach was kidnapped. Save her."
And Multiplicity was a good movie, too....
I never watched the movie,and I might never will.
I caught the end of the movie on the Disney channel once years ago. Yoshi looked very... realistic. I thought that was interesting. I thought the part I saw was ok. I'd like to give the whole movie a chance. And hey, from what Bob Hoskins said maybe the movie would be waaay better if Harold Ramis directed it. If your director/lead star ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!
I saw the movie a few weeks ago, it was on the TV and my sister couldn't stop mocking me when she woke up and found me watching it.
YOSHI WAS CREEPY!!!!!!!!!!
5 people (including me) liked that movie...
I actually thought that Yoshi was cute in that movie.
I loved watching those beloved video game characters brought to life. I was ecstatic when I got my Nintendo Power issue that had screenshots of the movie. It was insanely cheesy but I can watch it over & over again. I had a major crush on Princess Daisy. Every time I see Samantha Mathis I think of this movie.
I'm thinking it was a good thing this movie was so bad. No matter who directed it, I don't think it could please the legions of Mario fans. This way, it's so bad, it's good, and we all can get a good laugh out of it.
The only scene I liked was the one where John Leguizamo (I refuse to call him Luigi) got that six-foot-tall reptilian thug (I refuse to call it a goomba) to dance to elevator music. The rest of it was forgettable at best. I bet playing Globox in Rayman 3 looked better on Leguizamo's résumé than this did.
I liked that movie too, that cut scene at the end, with those japanese wanting to make a game with the koopa guys, was hilarious when I was a kid; I believe I still have the VHS mmm where could it be? .
@Kidpit: Because it's gotten more attention than the Little King's Story Inspiration story
The Goomba elevator scene was excellent. Princess Daisy was also hot.
As cute as Charles Martinet Mario is, it makes me wonder what kind of direction Mario would've went if Bob Hoskins was his video game voice? Or even Lou Albano?
After Other M, I reckon the whole 'Nintendo X Team Ninja' team should move onto some h-core Mario action. Wahoo!
Without Bob btw.
@chunky_droid
Or even Mark Grave? He's the guy who played Mario and Luigi's voice in Hotel Mario. Or Walker Boone and Tony Rosato who played Mario and Luigi in a few of the Saturday morning cartoon series? Hmm, that would be interesting.
I liked the movie when I was younger. I liked to watch this and Double Dragon the movie over and over, along with BTTF 1 and 2 and TMNT 1 and 2
I've never heard of any these movies Harold has been in or directed. Ghostbusters? Analyze This? Groundhog Day? Hmmm, I'll have to IMDB these to see if they really exist.
He could have been infamous had he started in Super Bros the Movie. What a career mishap on his part.
In all seriousness, Super Mario Bros is not all that bad. I would rather watch it then m sot of the movies made today.
@XCWarrior: I completely agree. I loved it when I was younger and I still have the VHS (man I feel old ). I liked action movies as a kid (Predator being one of my favourites lol) and I highly enjoyed this movie. I believe I actually have an audio tape of it somewhere...maybe it'll be worth something someday
I really like the Super Mario Bros. movie. First saw it a few years ago when I bought a DVD at Best Buy for $6. The only reason I can think that people don't like this movie is that they're so caught up in the source material, they can't enjoy it for what it is. Same problem people have with most game movies, actually.
On a related note, I also liked Tomb Raider, Street Fighter, and The Wizard, all of which I saw years after the original release.
I also agree with SmaMan that the SMB movie could've been even better with a better director.
@Stuffgamer1: Did you like The Chun-Li Street Fighter movie. I liked the first Street Fighter movie, but that 2nd one was just horrible.
I haven't seen the recent one. I was talking about the old classic movie almost everyone seems to hate. Interestingly, I recently read on GamesRadar the opinion that the movie is awful unless you watch it as a comedy, in which case it's great. Funny thing is, I always thought it WAS a comedy!
What a horrible, floating piece of s**t the Super Mario Bros. movie was. Sometimes you'll see a movie that's so bad its actually good, but not with that one.
When i first watched it i didn't know it was dissapointment until this came up.
When i first watched it i didn't know it was dissapointment until this came up.
When i first watched it i didn't know it was dissapointment until this came up.
I wanna know if any of the people that write video game movies have actually seen the game box (let alone played the game). Mario Brothers and Doom are the best examples of this.
Mortal Kombat still holds the best videogame movie crown. Max Payne still holds the most generic videogame movie crown.
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