History YMMV / SuperMarioBros1993

* KarmicOverkill: While Anthony Scapelli was a CrookedContractor who deserved some consequences for trying to destroy Daisy's excavation site, [[spoiler:getting turned into a chimpanzee and laughed at by everyone was a bit extreme. Not helping is one of his henchmen showing him sympathy in this state, proving what a good leader he was]].

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: God bless you Bob Hoskins, for ''trying'' to give a performance. He's playing Mario for all he's worth despite the terrible time he had on set.

* VindicatedByHistory: In TheNineties and the TurnOfTheMillennium, this movie was brought up as an example of what ''not'' to do with a movie, and a major example of VideoGameMoviesSuck. However, people in TheNewTens and TheNewTwenties have been a little nicer to the movie. Both pointing out it was somewhat impressive from a technical standpoint with some visual effects that have aged quite well. Some have gone on to appreciate this movie simply because of how StrictlyFormula Film has become over time.

** The movie pairs Daisy with Luigi rather than Mario, unusual for its time. Later on Daisy gets paired with Luigi officially.

* VindicatedByHistory: In TheNineties and the TurnOfTheMillennium, this movie was pretty much brought up as an example of what ''not'' to do with a movie - it was basically the TropeCodifier for VideoGameMoviesSuck. However, people in TheNewTens and TheNewTwenties have been a little more nicer to the movie. Both pointing out it was somewhat impressive from a technical standpoint with some visual effects that have aged quite well (See SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome). Some have gone on to appreciate this movie simply because of how StrictlyFormula Film has become over the past thirty years.

* {{Misblamed}}: Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel are regularly derided for all the liberties they took with the ''Super Mario'' franchise when making the movie, as well as blamed by the actors and other staff for the many troubles on-set, but it's important to remember that they were just doing what they were hired to do. Nintendo and Lightmotive had no interest in ensuring the film was faithful to the source material. In fact, they openly wanted to make a "gritty and adult" version of the games, and they hired Morton and Jankel in hopes that they would give the film the same mature and futuristic aesthetic as ''Series/MaxHeadroom''. Even producers of other movies seemed to blame Rocky Morton for the film's failures, since he himself said that any later projects he attempted would stop dead in their tracks as soon as they learned he directed this film.

* WTHCastingAgency: Several.
** British Creator/BobHoskins and Colombian American Creator/JohnLeguizamo as the Italian American Mario and Luigi respectively, despite the immediately noticeable difference in age and ethnicity. To the film's credit they try to address the first one by making the age gap part of their relationship (and Hoskins already proved he could do a good Brooklyn accent in ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit''), but it's still quite a confusing choice.
** Finally, Creator/DennisHopper as King Koopa.

* UncertainAudience: The film was originally written as a "hard and gritty" sci-fi take on the ''Super Mario'' universe to emulate ''Film/Batman1989'' and ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles''. However, right before production began, the producers got cold feet and attempted to make family-friendly changes to the script that did not mesh well with the more serious setting, creating a film that tries and fails to be mature while also trying to appeal to kids.

* CultClassic: For some fans of the Mario series, this is must-see. The [[http://www.smbmovie.com/ Super Mario Bros. The Movie Archive]] is a thriving fan community devoted to the movie that's even had exclusive interviews with members of the cast and crew.

* FandomRivalry: One has started with ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'' due to having a vastly different approach to adapting the source material. Unironic fans prefer this film ''because'' it played fast and loose with the franchise, and criticize the latter film for being too safe. Ironic fans consider this film to be SoBadItsGood and [[NarmCharm enjoy its ridiculousness]], finding the 2022 movie to be too generic and boring to make fun of. Meanwhile, those who prefer the latter one feel this one was SoBadItsGood at ''best'', and think that film is much better due in no small part to being a much more TruerToTheText adaptation.

* SoBadItsGood: Some people have come to see the film as strangely charming with some respect to the source material, and it has a cult following that sees it and its variations as genuinely good.

** After his intelligence boost, Spike asks Iggy a mathematical equation and answers it himself. [[WritersCanNotDoMath The answer is wrong]]. Was this a failed attempt at showcasing Spike's increased intellect or was it actually intentionally wrong to clue us in that Iggy and Spike are still not as smart as they think they are.

* GenreTurningPoint: Not so much for genre as for technological advances. At the time of this film's production, Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic had a virtual monopoly on digital film editing and visual effects. Instead of going to ILM, this film turned to new products that were still in development, including Kodak's Cineon scanner and workstation and Flame (one of the first digital compositing programs). This film ended up serving as a successful test for those tools and led to the democratization of the visual-effects industry.