Super Mario Bros. December 1st, 1992 Rough Cut

https://archive.org/details/super-mario-bros.-1993-rough-cut-12-1-version

Super Mario Bros. (1993) Rough Cut 12-1 Version.mp4

Original Description:

"History and Background:

On May 15th, 2019, I (Echoes) acquired a VHS tape of the 1993 film Super Mario Bros. off eBay. I often collected related media and merchandise from the film online and simply came across it. The tape was listed as "blank", but was labeled as a rough cut of the film. The seller, enjovu, had many items for sale from the estate of Roland Joffé, which seemed to authenticate the tape.

The rough cut tape itself is labeled in black marker "Super Mario Bros. 12-1 Version." Although it hasn't been confirmed, we speculate this dates this specific cut of the film from December 1st, 1992. As the VFX are non-existent (besides one shot of Koopa's eye), and several reshoots had yet to be filmed. The film's editor Mark Goldblatt once referred to the first cut of the film being around 2 hours and 10 minutes; a good amount of footage is still missing, so this cut can be viewed as a transitional piece to the theatrical cut.

This early version of the film features a temp score from other films such as: Darkman, Beetlejuice, Peewee's Big Adventure, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Judging by the video quality, it seems this tape was created from a cam recording of a projector displaying the original film. I've included some photos of the tape to ensure the authenticity of this upload as well.

The transfer is the original rip of the footage by myself, which was digitized on May 28th, 2019 - the 26th anniversary of the movie. A low quality version of this specific transfer leaked on Reddit on May 27th, 2021, ahead of the release of the restoration project. The leak was the result of some internal trading which led to the footage being passed around, and impatience from collectors who desired it.

With the help of the fine folks (Ryan Hoss and Steven Applebaum) at the Super Mario Bros. the Movie Archive, we were able to connect with several interested parties to restore the footage best as possible.

Christian Deitering provided a second and third transfer with a much better quality sound source. Unfortunately this went unused due to file size (140 GB!)
Skip Elsheimer provided the final transfer of the footage, which was the main source used for Garrett Gilchrist's restoration cut.
The raw workprint was previously released on the region-free Australian blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment. The version included with it is Skip Elsheimer's rip. It has a much sharper image than Christian's rip or my own - however the audio fidelity and color palate is the most lacking between all the various transfers.

There were several others who helped along the way with the journey of restoring this workprint. Check the credits below for more information.

About Garrett Gilchrist's Restoration:

In 2020, filmmaker and editor Garrett Gilchrist was commissioned to clean up and restore the workprint. There were several ideas and concepts on how to approach editing the deleted footage back into the film, in order to create the "ideal cut" closest to Morton and Jankel's vision. For preservation's sake and the interest of the fans, it was decided that the project would shoot for a full extended cut, including all the footage from the theatrical cut and workprint.

Garrett Gilchrist restored the image using both Skip Elsheimer and Echoes' rips. The former had a much sharper image, but the latter had a richer colour palate. The images were merged to create an ideal source to work with, and the restored footage was henceforth made using tools such as EB Synth, Photoshop, and Remini.

On June 1st, 2021 the "Morton Jankel Cut" was released here on the Internet Archive. As Gilchrist's edit wasn’t able to include the involvement of both Morton and Jankel, the name was a bit misleading. Nevertheless, the two of them did voice their support and interest in the restoration.

Much like the original film itself, the edit was subject to many creative differences. Due to the insertion of Mario game music and additional sound effects (as well as retroactively changing some graphics in the film), Gilchrist’s cut is no longer endorsed as the definitive version of the film by the Super Mario Bros. the Movie Archive. As many of said changes are contradictory to the creative choices of Morton and Jankel, evident from their production notes,

Gilchrist's cut was eventually taken down, but if you're interested in seeing his restoration, version 1.0 has been re-uploaded here (https://archive.org/details/super-mario-bros-1993-the-morton-jankel-cut-extended-vhs_202207). It's recommended you take a look to see the vast improvement between the original transfer by Echoes and the final product by Gilchrist. Unfortunately, the restoration cut was never fully completed and rushed for release due to the reddit leak; so the editing is evidently in a "work-in-progress" state in some parts. You can check out a commentary from Gilchrist on the production of the restoration here.

The raw workprint is still recommended for those seeking the version most true to what the director's vision could have been.

Technical Information:

Super Mario Bros. 12-1 Version

Framerate: NTSC 60 FPS

Running time: 111 mins

Capture Software: AmarecTV Version 2.31

Capture Hardware: Happauge USB-Live2, JVC HM-DH40000u D-VHS

Video Codec: HuffyUV

File Size: 39.7 GB

An mp4 conversion is also included for browser streaming.

Credits and Special Thanks:

Ryan Hoss (https://twitter.com/smb_ryan) - For founding the Super Mario Bros. the Movie Archive.
Steven Applebaum (https://twitter.com/smbmovie) - For giving all his spirit in keeping the fandom thriving after all these years.

None of this would be possible without the two of them, Ryan for his excellent knowledge and Steven for his profound coordination skills and ability to outreach. The entire restoration effort is all thanks to them, for never giving up on their dreams!

Garrett Gilchrist (https://twitter.com/GarrGilchrist) - For his incredible efforts and time in restoring the footage. Truly something groundbreaking and inventive for a fan passion project.
Rocky Morton, Annabel Jankel, and Roland Joffé (https://twitter.com/mortorock2) (https://twitter.com/ajjankel) (https://twitter.com/RolandJoffe) - For their invaluable support and interest in the rough cut discovery and restoration.
Skip Elsheimer (https://twitter.com/AVGeeks) - For his excellent digitization of the tape that made the restoration possible.
Christian Deitering (https://twitter.com/FerrisonNA) - For his assistance in providing multiple transfers of the tape. Hopefully, we can use that audio source in the future!
Cyberpunk Studios (https://www.cyberpunkstudios.co.uk/) - For their support and editing assistance in the original YouTube uploads documenting the deleted footage.
Umbrella Entertainment - For releasing a region-free release of the film, which included Skip's transfer of this tape. Please go and support the official release.

Special thanks to Dennis, Derek, MushroomZeroArt, and the rest of the Super Mario Bros. fandom for their support and suggestions during the lengthy process of restoring the footage.

For further reading, please visit smbmovie.com (http://smbmovie.com/) for more information! And thank you, for trusting the fungus."