I was nine years old in 1993, putting me firmly in the “Elder Millennial” category. The big screen version of Super Mario Bros. was one of my most anticipated of that year, right behind Jurassic Park later that summer. As a result, I ended up liking the much-derided movie way more than a lot of people. Look, if I’m completely honest, I still like it. I watched it last year again for the first time in decades and had a great time. But I’m also not foolish enough to think it’s not a supremely flawed movie with wild tonal shifts. But one internet hero has fixed some of it by changing the music.
Famously, the directors—Rocky Morton and Annabel Jenkel—wanted the movie to be the “real” version of events that inspired the video game. So it would be darker and more serious. But as production commenced, Nintendo and the producers wanted it to be lighter in tone, and closer (if possible) to the game. Lots and lots of stuff changed. Eventually Morton and Jenkel left the project entirely. One of the post-productions ideas was for composer Alan Silvestri to give it a goofy, zany, cartoony score, which frankly doesn’t work.
But with industrial music, as shared by Justin Decloux, it’s kinda awesome.
I really never thought about the score other than that it was a bit oppressive. Silvestri’s music—for movies like Back to the Future and Predator—is always pretty evident. But with the industrial version, Super Mario Bros. starts to feel more like the moodier post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie the directors intended. Somewhat. You can’t fix everything with music, but it does go a long way.
The critical and commercial failure of the ’93 Super Mario Bros. made Nintendo wary of bringing any of their beloved properties to the big screen until 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Which, if you needed reminding, made not a little amount of money, but in fact a great deal of it. Seems unlikely even the purest version of Morton and Jenkel’s vision would have been that big of a hit, but it’s fun to think about, eh?
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.