The Super Mario Bros. Movie - Turbine Collector Series 3D Blu-ray

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being skeptical about any video game adaptation that comes down the green Hollywood pipe. After decades of bad takes or completely botched attempts, it’s only been a recent phenomena that our favorite games have been treated with any kind of respect. Enter Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Working from a script by Matthew Fogel, the Illumination animation team delivered a fun film that actually looks and feels right at home with our favorite plumbers and their misfit friends and turtle enemies. 

As Brian Kluger previously reviewed this film on 4K UHD and Blu-ray so I’ll largely let things stand pat there. For my two cents worth, I really enjoyed this film. It’s not flawless, there’s a lot of plot beats and character developments that happen “because” they happen. “Why does Princess Peach immediately trust Mario and let him join her fight against Bowser?” Don’t ask why, it’s just happening that way. With a number of plot developments rolling that way I can see why some critics had their knives sharpened for this flick, but I'd argue they simply forgot that like the games, this movie is meant to be fun. Not everything needs to make sense or be explained for it to be a fun film. I didn’t need a reason for Jack Black’s Bowser to want to marry Anya Taylor-Joy's Peach as part of his plan to take over the world - I just thought that was hilarious! I didn't need Chris Pratt's Mario to have any other reason to rescue Charlie Day's Luigi beyond the simple fact they're brothers. By extension, I enjoyed the hell out of all the pulls and homages to the games peppered throughout the film. 

As I generally don’t see many animated kids movies in the theaters these days (I just think it seems creepy for a 40+ year old man to go to a kids film alone), I did eventually catch this one in theaters after the hoopla died down a bit. I sadly missed out on the IMAX showings and the only 3D screening was in the bad wing of my local multiplex with an obviously dimming bulb, but I still got a kick out of it. I snagged the 4K when it dropped, but watching it in 3D at home almost two years later felt like a fresh viewing. The film still holds up, it’s still a zany swift watch that keeps you entertained for 90 minutes and then lets you go about your day. There's not much more I could as from a Super Mario Bros. Movie. 

Here's Bryan's 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review

Vital Disc Stats: The 3D Blu-ray
The Super Mario Bros. Movie slips through the big green pipe as the 13th entry in the Turbine Collector Series of 3D Blu-ray releases. Pressed on a Region Free BD50 disc, the disc is housed in a standard clear case with reversible cover artwork. The disc loads to an animated main menu letting you chose your desired language and subtle option - in this case there is also French, Spanish, and Italian options now making this a truly global release from Turbine. 

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a hell of a good time while rocking a pair of 3D gasses! My theatrical 3D experience wasn’t under the best circumstances so this home viewing was a real treat. Over all, this is a very fun three dimensional outing. Most of the 3D spectacle is the “window into a world” variety, but there are a few fun moments where an object gets to protrude or hover out from the screen just a little bit. Mario or Luigi’s noses, Dry Bone’s hands popping out of the ground, some of Bowser’s spikes are good examples. The rainbow road for the big Mario Kart sequence is a nice treat there as well. I do think some of the 3D effect could feel oddly restrained at times, like there’s a cutoff wall in the distance where the depth just sort of stops, but then there are other scenes where the image can feel vast like that world could go on for miles. Part of this “restrained” feeling I think is because of the static 2.39:1 aspect ratio. As mentioned I didn’t see this in IMAX so I don’t know if there was a shifting aspect ratio there or not, but watching this again in 3D it just felt like there were moments where a more open 1.90:1 frame probably could have looked really awesome. But I digress. Without speculating about what it “could” look like on disc, how it appears here with this release is a solid, very entertaining experience. In general, Illumination animated features tend to look great in 3D and that holds true for this release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

On the audio side we get the same riproaring Atmos mix we got to enjoy on the previous disc releases. Aside from feeling like I had to pop the volume up just a tad, this is still a great, fully-active track. All of the sound effects that felt so familiar from the litany of Mario games pop up throughout the soundscape. We have big crazy action sequences between that amazing tribute battle with Donkey Kong to the Rainbow Road to the final sequence, there’s plenty of wall-to-wall activity bouncing through the front/center channels through the sides and rears and into the hight/space channels. Mario flying in his Raccoon suit is a highlight there. Then you’ve got the fantastic Brian Tyler score filling the space reworking the familiar video game themes and sounds into a full-on bombastic action score. 

Now the great news for our global 3D fans, Turbine really pulled out the stops for this release by providing French, Spanish, and Italian Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 audio options. While it might be too late to re-author their previous discs for these languages, I hope future Turbine Collector Series 3D titles have these options just so the line stays healthy and the 3D Blu-ray format keeps living.

True to the line, there aren’t any extra features on disc. Which is perfectly fine since this series of 3D Blu-rays is focused on delivering the best possible 3D Blu-ray experience maxing out that space for the A/V requirements.

Sure, The Super Mario Bros. Movie isn’t the greatest video game movie ever made, but it’s far, far away from being the worst. It’s just good fun - and family fun at that. While it’s the adults bringing their kids to the theaters today who played these games so dutifully from the NES onward, this film keeps the story and humor light so everyone in the room can have a great time. And I’m all for it. Sure I had quibbles about plot and character, but who cares? I’m not about to start overthinking an animated Mario movie when the filmmakers got so much else right. It's not like the games had overly complicated plots either and were still incredibly fun. Thanks to those wily Germans at Turbine, we can finally own The Super Mario Bros. Movie on 3D Blu-ray. The 3D may seem a tad restrained at times, but when and where it counts it delivers an exciting visual punch. The Atmos audio is a blast as well and holds tight to the visuals. Another excellent release for this line of titles and I hope more are on the way. Recommended

Order the 3D Blu-ray from Turbine: