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THIS AIN’T NO GAME.
 It’s A Live-Action Thrill Ride!

I don’t know about you, but I have seen Super Mario Bros. far too many times than I care to admit. During all of those fanatic viewings I noticed the following things that may have flew past the average movie-goer’s field of vision. Here are my findings.

• Aside from the multitude of Koopa posters, an advertisement for THWOMP boots (based on the THWOMP boulders in the “Mario” games that stomp unsuspecting players) can be seen in a few of the city shots.
   
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• Surprisingly enough for a movie geared towards younger players of the games, there is more than a bit of suggestive material in Super Mario Bros. This sign hangs in the downtown Mushroom Kingdom city.
   
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• In the scene when Mario and Luigi go into the night club to retrieve the crystal from out of Big Bertha’s … big boobs … an orange sign can be seen to the left of the WANTED poster. It reads: “These Premises Protected By Fry Guy Flamethrowers.” You might recognize the name “Fry Guy” from Super Mario Bros. 2 on the NES.
   
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• You probably know already that Super Mario Bros. is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association. What you might not know is among the reasons for the rating is “sensuality.” The night club alone is reason for this, as displayed below. Various female dancers are shown in skimpy lingerie. Though a few frames interest me the most of when Spike and Iggy are by the bar. A woman with a thong on reveals her butt cheeks. The director knew he was stretching the limit of good taste by placing a man directly in front of said woman as well as directing other party people to walk on by the camera at the precise moment to further block the “PG action.”
   
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• In another shot of the downtown fungus city, a building is called “Bullet Bills,” named after the pesky bullets that fire out of cannons in the “Mario” games.
   
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• Talk about weird… When King Koopa and Mario get transported back to Brooklyn, there’s a shot of the Twin Towers being disintegrated. Unfortunately this is a sight we have seen in the past, but what makes matters worse is that in the second frame of this scene you can figure out a plane in the middle of the two towers. In the words of Bill and Ted: “Woah.”
   
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• In one of the most outrageous uses of product placement in films I have ever seen, when the Bomb-omb is walking upside down you can make out a Reebok logo and United Kingdom flag on its feet. Who the hell’s brilliant idea was this? Is Reebok that hard up for sales? Do they have a Foot Locker in this the other dimension of the universe?
   
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• During the final showdown against King Koopa, Mario and Luigi are shown plummeting Koopa with blue blasts from a strange rocket launcher-type gun. This is actually a gun accessory for the Super Nintendo system caused “Super Scope” that apparently wasn’t selling too hot for Nintendo (and ate batteries like nobody’s business). Sales weren’t any better after the movie either.
   
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• This is not exactly an observation but more like an interesting post movie fact. The final scene of the movie takes place at Mario and Luigi’s apartment. Daisy rushes in and asks for the plumbers’ help again. This was to, of course, hint at a sequel. We know that never happened and the reason was the actors barely got through the first one! John Leguizamo (Luigi) has said in interviews that the cast used to play drinking games to pass the time while making this “boring” picture.
   
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