119 reviews
what the hell?
This is one of the most god-awful movies ever. Shaq better just stick to basketball. This movie took away apart of my life I will never have back. I will make fun of this movie until I die, and then some. It is so horrible it is not even funny. MST3000 would have a blast with this one.
A perfect example of a movie that I loved as a child, hate as an adult...
Well, adolescent really(19). Like Howard the Duck, Kazaam was a movie I loved as a child but looking back on it I was shocked at how low my taste buds were as a kid. Granted, there are some funny moments specifically the ones with the flying toasts and the bicycle race. And it is not the worst movie of 1996, Ed and especially Bio Dome are worse. However, the special effects are really quite substandard, and the rest of the production values are of direct to video quality and shoddy ones at that. The story is predictable with only a few worthwhile scenes to favour, the sight gags suffer from poor comic timing and the script is childish and simplistic. The characters I really dislike here, the kid is annoying, the villain is one of the lamest I have seen in a long time while Shaquille O'Neal's Genie with his awful rapping(then again I dislike rap intensely, and that is the least problematic of his performance) grated on me fast. The acting doesn't fare much better either, while the direction is literally non-existent and the soundtrack is only tolerable if on mute. This is of course my opinion, disagree all you want, I guess I just didn't like it. 2/10 Bethany Cox
- TheLittleSongbird
- May 31, 2011
- Permalink
Kazaam
- jboothmillard
- Jul 16, 2024
- Permalink
Read my comment.
Shaquille O'Neal delivers an Oscar worthy performance in what might be the most powerful performance of the 90's. All around, it is brilliant. This is a gripping and amazing tale about a genie and his friendship with a lonely child. Acting is purely amazing and the story is beautifully played out like poetry in motion. Honestly, this film goes down as one of the all time greats. Top to bottom, this film is perfectly mastered. Every actor in this film comes through and nails the role perfectly. 11/10
Now, imagine the exact opposite of that. Got it? Okay, the truth is...the movie isn't even *that* good. Shaq, what were you thinking?
Now, imagine the exact opposite of that. Got it? Okay, the truth is...the movie isn't even *that* good. Shaq, what were you thinking?
- tokyostreetkiller
- May 20, 2006
- Permalink
Come on, folks, it wasn't THAT bad...
Okay, Shaq can't act. But he doesn't need to; he's mostly there to be big and imposing. It's hardly a good movie, but it's an entertaining kidflick...
Please make it stop.
This is the worst film I have ever seen.I was watching this film with some friends and after 40 minutes we had enough. The plot was bad and there wasn't a single likeable character.I could get more entertainment watching static. I gave this movie a 1 only because the scale didn't go into negative numbers. Avoid this movie at all costs.
Shaq should stay OUT of music and acting!!!
What a pathetic movie.
I won't waste much time commenting about it. I'm still trying to get back the couple hours I wasted on it.
Let me leave it simply with - Shaq has NO BUSINESS being an actor or singer. He is utterly without talent at both discplines. It's a crying shame that substantially more talented people waste away in community theatres and karaoke bars while Shaq uses his name as a basketball player to undeservedly get cast in movies and cut CDs.
Much of the failure of this movie was the pathetic no-talent that is Shaq.
I won't waste much time commenting about it. I'm still trying to get back the couple hours I wasted on it.
Let me leave it simply with - Shaq has NO BUSINESS being an actor or singer. He is utterly without talent at both discplines. It's a crying shame that substantially more talented people waste away in community theatres and karaoke bars while Shaq uses his name as a basketball player to undeservedly get cast in movies and cut CDs.
Much of the failure of this movie was the pathetic no-talent that is Shaq.
- Asteri-Atypical
- Jun 8, 2003
- Permalink
Once upon a time...
- akalite_libra
- Mar 20, 2008
- Permalink
At least Shaq has rapping to fall back on...
i was given the book version of Kazaam for my 8th birthday, and people always say the book versions are always better than the movie, but this time they were wrong. At least with the movie it's over soon.
The acting in this is terrible, which i expected from a film with Shaq who plays a magical rapping genie that comes out of an old ghetto blaster (which there was probably a good reason he was trapped in there). The kid in the film that plays Max is whiny and a terrible actor. He's bullied by neighborhood kids, which i don't blame them because he's a little douche bag.
The story is just plain stupid and extremely cliché. About a boy who's father is always working and never around who finds a new friend who makes his life better and eventually helps him reconnect with his father.
Even at 8 years old i thought this was a stupid idea. It's a surprise any of the people whom worked on this film had careers after wards because it's an embarrassment and should have never been made. i could ramble on even more about how this movie sucks, but you should already know just by reading the plot.
The acting in this is terrible, which i expected from a film with Shaq who plays a magical rapping genie that comes out of an old ghetto blaster (which there was probably a good reason he was trapped in there). The kid in the film that plays Max is whiny and a terrible actor. He's bullied by neighborhood kids, which i don't blame them because he's a little douche bag.
The story is just plain stupid and extremely cliché. About a boy who's father is always working and never around who finds a new friend who makes his life better and eventually helps him reconnect with his father.
Even at 8 years old i thought this was a stupid idea. It's a surprise any of the people whom worked on this film had careers after wards because it's an embarrassment and should have never been made. i could ramble on even more about how this movie sucks, but you should already know just by reading the plot.
If i was doped up this, movie would still be the worst movie ever.
If you are a fan of really bad movies, and you think there funny, you will the great acting of Shaq. First off putting pro players in movies hardly ever works. Shaq had to of been the worst actor i have ever seen next to Dennis Rodman who also made a few bad movies. Well any way this movie is also bad due to the hideous kid. I would give this a zero but that is impossible.
- clifford546
- Jul 31, 2003
- Permalink
Eh...
Now everybody knows Shaq should stick to basketball. This movie wasn't as horrific as pointed out but I've seen better. A 5,000 year old, rapping, seven-foot genie trapped in a boom box is suddenly awakened by a 12 year old New York boy with nothing better to do. He grants the kid three wishes (all which are not that great) and through it all, a friendship develops. Shaq--or Kazaam-- is discovered at a nightclub, becomes a temporary success, while somehow Max is unhappy with his life. His father is involved in selling bootleg tapes and is involved in some kind of scheme with Malik, the Middle Eastern owner of the club. Max's final wish is for his daddy to have a second-chance. The wish is granted, Shaq is released from that stupid boom box, becomes free, and runs off with Asia-Moon (some woman in the club).
This movie changed my life.
- Hu-Flug-Dung
- Nov 2, 2006
- Permalink
it wasn't that bad
Kazaam is an alright movie and isn't that bad. It doesn't deserve to be rated so low and in the bottom 100. It was decent. The movie starts out a little shaky but it gets better. The acting in the movie is kinda bad and the plots are very predictable but it was still okay. I'll admit that Shaq's acting is bad and he should stick to rapping and the NBA, the other characters acting weren't that awful.
The movie has a nice fell to it while watching, the scenes and designs are cool. One of my favorite parts in the movie is when Max is talking to Kazaam and Kazaam tells him that he has 3 wishes, so Max wishes that it would rain burgers and fries. That part was funny and cool. I also liked the ending in the movie.
Id recommend this movie
The movie has a nice fell to it while watching, the scenes and designs are cool. One of my favorite parts in the movie is when Max is talking to Kazaam and Kazaam tells him that he has 3 wishes, so Max wishes that it would rain burgers and fries. That part was funny and cool. I also liked the ending in the movie.
Id recommend this movie
Shaq is no Sinbad!
The original cut of this movie was better when it was called Shazam and starred Sinbad! When they recut it to include Shaq, the continuity of the film evaporated. And to think they ruined a perfectly good movie all because Sinbad told a joke about Producer Scott Kroopf in his standup set!
Little did Sinbad know that Mr. Kroopf was at the Laugh Factory that night. Immediately, he pulled distribution of Shazam and reshot the movie with Shaq. To save on expenses, the scenes got longer and included a lot more filler - a far cry from quippy, fast-paced Sinbad version. It's a shame the whole conspiracy occurred just as the world wide web became more widely accessed, or else the studio would have had a harder time recalling the thousands of copies of Shazaam that were shipped to video stores.
Little did Sinbad know that Mr. Kroopf was at the Laugh Factory that night. Immediately, he pulled distribution of Shazam and reshot the movie with Shaq. To save on expenses, the scenes got longer and included a lot more filler - a far cry from quippy, fast-paced Sinbad version. It's a shame the whole conspiracy occurred just as the world wide web became more widely accessed, or else the studio would have had a harder time recalling the thousands of copies of Shazaam that were shipped to video stores.
- cmkj-27983
- Mar 20, 2023
- Permalink
Shaq stars as a rapping genie.
This is, by far, without a doubt, the best movie that has ever been produced on film. Shaq's awesomely realistic portrayal of a rapping genie is the best thing to be displayed on screen in decades, rivaling performances of Al Pacino, Kerry Grant, Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, and all of the other great actors of our time. Now Shaquille O'Neal shall be added to that list. This uniquely told tale of a boy who finds a whimsical boom box wherein lies a magical genie is one hundred percent genius. This film came at a time when good writing and good casting was scarce in Hollywood; but this film renews hope in a new generation of audiences, and renews hope in a culture. >From the musical score to the costume design, this film is purely golden; the 'Citizen Kane' of a new generation.
- nathan-moore
- Jul 17, 2004
- Permalink
What could we expect?
Ok, the best thing to do going into this film is to not expect anything from it. I just found it channel surfing a few months back (late May 2003). I remember hearing about it years ago when they first came up with the "movie." But I found it incredibly corny. But in a good way. Shaq plays himself pretty much, a big joker. And who would expect much acting prowess from a man who calls himself "Shaqdiesel."
Anywhoo, as long as you acknowledge that this is going to be a horrible movie, bereft of anything worthy of even seeing a movie, t'is a good way to let your brain turn to jello, like, say, after studing for finals or writing a 10 page paper in 3 hours ;-).
---P.R.
Anywhoo, as long as you acknowledge that this is going to be a horrible movie, bereft of anything worthy of even seeing a movie, t'is a good way to let your brain turn to jello, like, say, after studing for finals or writing a 10 page paper in 3 hours ;-).
---P.R.
- frequentlyrandom
- Jul 20, 2003
- Permalink
Garbage
This is quite possibly the worst movie of all time. It stars Shaquille O'Neil and is about a rapping genie. Apparently someone out there thought that this was a good idea and got suckered into dishing out cash to produce this wonderful masterpiece. The movie gets 1 out of 10.
To make "Kazaam" you need...
1. Paper-thin plot that has been done before 2. A rapping genie cum-basketball player 3. A very, and I mean very infuriating bratty kid. 4. 3 stupid wishes 5.Product placement (then again, what movie doesn't have this) 6.crummy script. 7. Shaquille O Neal rapping. Stir together and you have Kazaam....... What a poor movie!
- filmboy-16
- Jul 6, 1999
- Permalink
Shaq's egomania OOZES off of this movie; a notorious bad kids movie, and not as campy as one would wish
Yes, Kazaam is one of those horribly bad movies that almost reminds one of everything that is wrong with not just kids movies, but with humanity. Here we have Shaq as a rapping genie- yes, a RAPPING genie- where he does everything from making bad puns to dressing in ridiculous outfits, all ending in him in a Christ-like pose with lots of light surrounding him. So, yeah, expect really cheesy bits, including the first wish being a lot of junk food falling down from the sky (and, regrettably, not knocking out the two main characters, particularly the kid). What might not be expected is that a film with a kid and Shaquille O'Neill would be so incredibly schmaltzy! The main plot of the film involves this kid, played in that all-too-typical and annoying-kid fashion by the great-grandson of Frank Capra (where in which the kid is yelling out his dialog angrily), who comes upon a genie who's been trapped in a boom-box. Then "hiarity ensues" as the kid makes the Shaq-genie his quasi-slave as he waits on his last two wishes as he tries to make amends with his shady-gang-type absentee father.
This really sappy, contrived son and father story would be bad enough, as there are certain lines that have been uttered in a million other movies (i.e. the "two chances in life" speech from father to son). But it's Shaquille O'Neill who is both the reason to watch the film (ironically), and the obvious sinking crux of it all. His plot line involves him, when not getting the over-talky treatment from Capra, to rap within the dialog and also start off his blossoming recording career. On top of this, he also kicks ass and takes names with the main bad guys who want him back in the boom-box. So is there a camp factor to the movie? Up to a point, but this is even squashed by all of the mushy scenes and 'heart-felt' moments that have really no business with the rest of the material. One might ask if the people making the movie, who were obviously doing it at the behest of the popularity of a BASKETBALL player who wanted to go on the Michael Jordan acting bandwagon, if it would be anywhere near decently entertaining or convincing. I'd hope that they too knew they were just getting paid. But I'd hope even more that they felt at least a little guilty afterwords for feeding the Shaq-machine.
So, if you want to have a fun night of Shaq as genie-turned-rapper-turned-wisecracker, all the more fun to you. Hell, it might even be interesting to have a Shaq movie night with this and his other critically acclaimed effort Steel. But if you're hoping to keep a few brain cells, stay away from what is very likely the worst flick of 1996, and a candidate among many others for worst of the 90's.
This really sappy, contrived son and father story would be bad enough, as there are certain lines that have been uttered in a million other movies (i.e. the "two chances in life" speech from father to son). But it's Shaquille O'Neill who is both the reason to watch the film (ironically), and the obvious sinking crux of it all. His plot line involves him, when not getting the over-talky treatment from Capra, to rap within the dialog and also start off his blossoming recording career. On top of this, he also kicks ass and takes names with the main bad guys who want him back in the boom-box. So is there a camp factor to the movie? Up to a point, but this is even squashed by all of the mushy scenes and 'heart-felt' moments that have really no business with the rest of the material. One might ask if the people making the movie, who were obviously doing it at the behest of the popularity of a BASKETBALL player who wanted to go on the Michael Jordan acting bandwagon, if it would be anywhere near decently entertaining or convincing. I'd hope that they too knew they were just getting paid. But I'd hope even more that they felt at least a little guilty afterwords for feeding the Shaq-machine.
So, if you want to have a fun night of Shaq as genie-turned-rapper-turned-wisecracker, all the more fun to you. Hell, it might even be interesting to have a Shaq movie night with this and his other critically acclaimed effort Steel. But if you're hoping to keep a few brain cells, stay away from what is very likely the worst flick of 1996, and a candidate among many others for worst of the 90's.
- Quinoa1984
- Jun 2, 2006
- Permalink
A 7 foot tall man is following a kid around the city offering him treats and wishes... see? We're already at problem #1 with this movie
- Smells_Like_Cheese
- Jun 5, 2010
- Permalink
If you see this film..... You're as stupid as me
So I'm aware that this film was released a fair while ago, but I've only just seen it; and not out of free will. I can some up this film in 1 word.... Shaq, the only "actor" who is more robotic than the Terminator. And really thats all that needs to be said, it's a stupid stupid movie that barely makes any sense, it's so uninteresting that I could feel myself getting stupider as I watched. If you see a copy of this film DESTROY IT, and then maybe one day the world will be ridden of this raping of cinema known as Kazaam
1/10 (and the only reason it scored that high is that i'm not allowed to give it a zero)
1/10 (and the only reason it scored that high is that i'm not allowed to give it a zero)
- TheNewCritic
- Dec 23, 2010
- Permalink
Awful...Pathetic... Well, At Least It Wasn't Disappointing!
Shaq. Francis Capra. What's the worst that can happen when you join together a horrible basketball player and actor, and one of the worst child actors of the 90's? Before you can say "kazaam," you get "Kazaam," a film that goes to show why such crucial elements as, say, actors and dialogue are important to a story.
The screenplay is just plain bad, and the acting is even worse. The directing style is...well, I don't know, but it was really, really bad. And then, the film has the mandatory emotionally-controlling segments that have nothing whatsoever to do with the already pointless plot, like the whole divorced father piece. Priceless. Priceless as in so awful it has no price.
Cut to the chase, and my sypnosis is this: DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE!
1/5 stars -
John Ulmer
The screenplay is just plain bad, and the acting is even worse. The directing style is...well, I don't know, but it was really, really bad. And then, the film has the mandatory emotionally-controlling segments that have nothing whatsoever to do with the already pointless plot, like the whole divorced father piece. Priceless. Priceless as in so awful it has no price.
Cut to the chase, and my sypnosis is this: DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE!
1/5 stars -
John Ulmer
- MovieAddict2016
- Jan 30, 2003
- Permalink
WTF, man?
Deserves more credit.
The movie and plot is dumb, but the concept is a fun idea (who doesn't like genies?). It could have been a much more entertaining movie, however.
Shaq, please for the love of God, just stick to missing free-throws
- thedungeonboss
- Apr 14, 2006
- Permalink