20 Things You Somehow Missed In Super Mario Bros: The Movie

3. Bullet Bills Are Used To Power The Thwomp Stompers

Super Mario Bros
Buena Vista Pictures & Nintendo

Here's something that seems obvious to grown-up eyes, yet you may well have missed as a young'un. One of the coolest aspects of the movie is the heroes' use of Thwomp Stompers - boots which allow Mario and Luigi to fly through the air at will.

The boots are powered by small grenade-like cartridges which, upon closer inspection, are clearly modelled off Bullet Bills - the anthropomorphic, bullet-like projectiles which are unquestionably one of the Mario franchise's most iconic and recognisable foes.

And that's not even the only Bullet Bill reference in the movie - in one of the establishing shots of Dinohattan early on, there's a place called "Bullet Bill's," which going by the gaudy neon signs and large crowd of men outside is either another bar or a strip club.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.