Sinbad: Shazam Genie Movie – Film Review — The Movie That Never Existed but I Can’t Forget

By Melissa Antoinette Garza

After talking with a few of my movie-buff friends who are tearing their hair out and feeling insane while remembering the controversial film SHAZAM, I decided I’d put myself 100% out there.  Somehow this film disappeared off the face of the earth so knowing I’ll be called a nut, I’ve decided to write what I remember because I saw this movie several times. It aired on TV, it was in video stores I worked at, and it was a fun little film. A couple of years ago, thinking about purchasing research papers for college, I was going to order a paper about it.

he film starts with Sinbad (genie) in his lamp/man cave.  There were purple curtains or blankets on the wall.  A large round bed and a TV across from it.  Sinbad saunters over, sits on the bed with two waiting female genies hanging out with him.  Sinbad says, “let’s see what’s on TV” and turns it on via remote.

It zooms in as the opening credits roll on the TV. The song that played reminded me of the theme of THE ADDAMS FAMILY movie, but it wasn’t the same tune. I don’t recall hearing it on MTV or the radio, but if I heard it today, I’d know it.

Once the credits are over, the main family is moving in to a new house because the dad got a better job.  The son (12ish) automatically doesn’t like his neighbor because the boy over there (7ish) sprayed him with a squirt gun and made a face.  The next-door kid also played Teddy, Michelle’s friend on FULL HOUSE.  The new kid (I’m going to just call him John from now on, because I don’t remember his name), is about to walk over when his little sister (7ish) says, “leave him alone. He’s just a baby.”  I loved that line because she was roughly the same age and I thought it was cute.

teddy1

John brings a box to the attic and there he finds THEE lamp.  He takes it downstairs and puts it in his room without telling anyone.

John is a sassy and annoying kid who fights with his younger sister and complains his dad doesn’t care about him.  I don’t know if I’m blocking the mother out or if this was just another child film where the mom is dead.  When I think back, the father is difficult for me to pinpoint but it was an actor that’s been in other things. My gut tells me Sam Waterston, but he was in SERIAL MOM around the same time so I’m not 100% on that.

John rushes off mid-way thru dinner complaining about missing his school and his friends.  Most of the stuff is still in boxes, so he picks up the lamp and dusts it off.

Sinbad emerges.  He’s irritated and wants to go back in the lamp, but once he’s out he has no choice but to grant 3 wishes or he can’t get back in.  At this point, the younger sis comes in and is about to scream when Sinbad covers her mouth.  He says that he doesn’t want anyone else to see him because the more that do the more people he has to grant wishes to.  (Never heard that genie rule before this film or after). I also don’t watch too many films about genies.

John’s first wish is to go back to his old-school with his old-friends.  Sinbad makes John hold on to the lamp so they won’t lose it.   They begin their journey when Barbara Eden (cameo) starts coming out of the lamp and calling out to Sinbad– horrible CGI effect.  She’s pushed back in the lamp. (She shows up periodically, but just a few seconds here and there and then at the ending credits)

shazam

As Sinbad is walking his necklace and bracelets gets tangled.  He throws his jewelry away and kid sister picks it up, puts it on and looks ridiculous. (another of my favorite scenes)

So the wishes are done SCROOGE style.  At the school, John, his sister and Sinbad are unseen, but John sees his friends have gotten along fine without him and the girl he liked was with someone else.  Sinbad asks if he wants the wish to be permanent.  John says “no forget it.”  Sinbad means to snap his fingers but says SHAZAM (I think that was the magic word and not Sinbad’s name in the film. Here, I may be wrong. I know it’s also a superhero’s magic word, but I think that’s what he said too.). After saying the magic word and screwing up it allows everyone to see them.

Sinbad yells “RUN.”

John yells at Sinbad calling him a horrible genie.  Sinbad tells him it’s been awhile since he granted any wishes and to give him a break.

The next wish is for John’s dad to spend less time at work.    They show up during of his dad’s conferences and (again invisible) mess with the pie charts.  They floated and moved in a circular motion.  The sister protests, scared that her dad will get in trouble, but it backfires and the boss thinks it’s a magic trick that made the meeting boring into entertaining.

The little sister’s first wish was that she was a fast runner because she couldn’t keep up when Sinbad and John were running.  In a funny product placement scene, Sinbad walks in without being invisible and just buys her a pair of Nike Air running shoes.  Not sure if it took place in an actual footlocker or it was a parody of a footlocker but the salesman had a referee-like TV shirt.  Sinbad complained about the price.  After that, she ran real fast.

troll

The little sister’s second wish is for John to be happy.  This really touches John and he hugs his sister and apologizes about being a jerk.  He feels happy and thanks Sinbad who says that ‘he hadn’t done anything yet, but the wish still counts.” Another cute scene I liked.

On the way home, Sinbad keeps asking what their last wishes are.  John sees Teddy (Michelle’s friend from Full House/neighbor) being picked on by bullies.

John looks at Sinbad, “I wish he had someone to protect him”

Sinbad looks at Teddy and then at John, “I think he does.”

John asks “who?”

And the little sister says, “you silly.”

John nodded and began walking over to the bullies. He stopped for a second and Sinbad smiled and said, “It still counts.”

John stands up for Teddy and gets rid of the bullies.  Teddy apologizes for earlier and John tells him he should come over at some point to hang out.

Sinbad turns to the little sister and asks what her last wish is and she says “all the money.”

Sinbad laughs and says, “it’s about time one of you asked for that.”

“So where is it?”

“You can’t wish for money, kiddo.  What else?”

She then wishes for Sinbad to come back and visit and he says he will.  John returns and he gives them both a hug and goes back to the lamp.

The little sister goes upstairs and finds $50.00 under her pillow and yells “YES.”

John asks to talk to his dad and tells him that he misses him and wants to spend more time with him.  His dad hugs him and promises to make time.

Back in the lamp, Sinbad is back on the bed with Barbara Eden and another genie watching himself to stand-up.  He says “this guy’s pretty good” or ‘this guy’s good.”

Now for the controversy.  I have no idea why people are denying the existence of this film.  I certainly hope it isn’t this CERN/MANDELA EFFECT conspiracy, I’ve heard.  That said, this movie definitely exists (existed) and somehow/someway no one has a copy of it.  Sinbad states he never portrayed a genie other than hosting some marathon.

I believe in false memories. I believe people can repeat something enough where someone believes it, even if it isn’t real.  That, isn’t this.  This is a movie I’ve seen, I remember and was around until at least 2004. I broke my ankle then and was staying at my brother’s house and I remember watching it yet again there.

This disturbs me quite a bit. It would be like if all the footage and copies of THE BRADY BUNCH movie disappeared and Shelley Long swore she had never been in the film.

I’m hoping there’s a reasonable explanation. Maybe, Victor Salva or another known pedo was involved and they decided to destroy all copies. Maybe, there was some sort of lawsuit and the product needed to be wrecked.  Maybe, Sinbad is a product of MK-Ultra, I don’t know!?!

I’d like a valid explanation and Sinbad doing a movie now called SHAZAM isn’t going to explain where this 90s film went.

Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to write what I recalled and share it with those interested.

barbara-genie

Scared Stiff Rating: 6/10

Many people have inquired about the high videocassette prices for films that did not have a wide release.  The smaller the order, the more it cost.  To assist with anyone, who is not old enough to recall the tragedy of losing a VHS tape at a video store or simply forgotten, here’s some items I found.  I was desperately looking for an old VHS pricing catalog online that showed videocassettes.  I found some that sold VHS recorders, but no video store guides.  If anyone has one, please send me the picture or the link and I will gladly post it! Best Regards:

The below links discusses the price of VHS tapes.  The major studio releases like TOP GUN and eventually ET as mentioned in the article received a wide release eventually and therefore the cost was much lower for the consumer.

When the sale price for VHS movies was $50

(a very good blog – just click in the box.  It discusses nearly spending $99.95 on DELIRIOUS[1991] )

https://www.quora.com/How-much-did-VHS-tapes-cost-in-the-80s

https://www.quora.com/How-much-did-a-VHS-tape-of-Blade-Runner-cost-in-1983

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=430258 (message board)

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/archive/t-407404.html  (forum discussion)

As for lesser known or revered films – The classic horror film, SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT special price $71.95! What a deal!

vhs2

How about previously viewed tapes?

used vhs copies
 I’m currently looking for more. When I find them I will post them. If you come across any, please feel free to provide the links.  Thanks for the remarkable amount of attention paid to this article!

84 thoughts on “Sinbad: Shazam Genie Movie – Film Review — The Movie That Never Existed but I Can’t Forget

  1. You are absolutely correct and I think the movie was voted WORST MOVIE EVER MADE by VH1. Which leads me to believe Sinbad sued for defamation and the settlement has to do with neither party acknowledging the movie and removal of all copies from circulation. Just a hunch but I’m pretty good with hunches.

    1. That makes sense. If it was voted the worst movie of VH1 and only released on VHS, which makes since, a lot of VHS movies back in the day were $100 or more so few people would buy it. I remember the catalogs. For a long time, only the really popular films were $19.99. When Blockbuster got rid of VHS they destroyed whatever they didn’t sell. It was a big issue because our assistant manager, Reggie was WRONGLY accused of taking some of the films by another manager and I was still fairly knew to that video store. I was at work when Reggie got rid of the movies in the AM. My thoughts are it wasn’t released on DVD and some time after 04 it was pulled from all the channels. You think someone wouldn’t have returned it after renting it, but because of the cost of VHS and late fees at the time, it happened much less. If the film isn’t completely wiped out of existence if we could get our hands on the VHS catalogs from 93 & 94 – the ones where video stores ordered them from, we should be able to find it listed. Thanks for reading.

      1. huh? no VHS movies went for $100 dollars!!! how old are you? you dont look old enough to know what your talking about. VHS tapes were actually the same price of DVDS are today. I know. I bought many of them when i was young. Stop spreading false facts.

        1. James, I ran a video store in 1997 and the VHS tapes were sold to the video store for about 100. VHS films weren’t sold to the public in the masses as they were until a little later. So, you should do your research before you come off as a complete ass, which you just accomplished.

        2. First, thank you. I’m actually 37, but I use punk rock hair and shop at hot topic to prevent people from knowing my true age! VHS were not the same price of DVDS unless they were wide-release. Here’s an article regarding it: https://www.quora.com/How-much-did-VHS-tapes-cost-in-the-80s. Notice how the movies mentioned for wide-release were ET and TOP GUN. Due to the processing costs, films that were not blockbusters were not generally sold for retail, unless pre-owned and sold by the VHS company. As this is such a bone of contention with some, I’m going to edit my article and at the end, I’ll list some pictures and articles that I find. Thanks for the interest!

        3. As a fellow 37 year old who grew up in the 80s and desperately wanted a copy of “The Princess Bride” in 1987, but could not afford the $79.99 price tag, i concur that vhs tape box office movies were not originally cheap. That is why we spent SOO much time recording TV with our VCRs in the age when you needed to have an engineering degree (exaggerated statement) to learn how to program the original models.

      2. I can’t pretend that I know more about these strange effects (and there are hundreds of them) than anyone else, but I have studied long and hard about this and even talked to a couple of scientists about it and I might be able to help. It still takes a VERY open mind and makes you feel like you’re living in the Twilight Zone.
        Quantum physics deems that there are innumerable realities that exist side by side in the same space and time but until recently have not been able to interact. Fast forward to the ??advancements ?? that CERN has made in splitting the atom, even finding the Higgs boson and the invention of the D-Wave quantum computer and you now have the recipe for a perfect storm. The computer allows computations to be done “by accessing the resources of parallel universes”. This is a quote from one of the inventors of the computer, Geordi Rose. (Pretty sure of the spelling) I think what has happened (just another fool’s guess) is that when the info was accessed somehow the realities got jumbled.
        The Shazam movie is only one of several hundreds of examples of this effect. It was named the Mandela effect because it was the first really big example. Some people remember Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 1980’s and then heard his death announced on the news in 2013. If you haven’t done any research on the Mandela effect, look it up. It will blow your mind!!!

        1. It’s so odd. I thank you so much for that detailed explanation and I certainly have an open mind because this puzzles me and scares me a bit. Another recent strange occurrence, is when the mother from Gilberts Grape died recently. I mentioned to my husband that I remember her dying about 5 years ago shortly after a TV show appearance. My husband who is very skeptical said, “Yeah, she died. I remember it.” So, I told him that she JUST died and he couldn’t wrap his mind around it. Then I texted my best friend because I haven’t seen any other people mention this so I told her about the conversation and she says, “That’s so weird. I told Nick (her fiance) the SAME thing when I heard the news!” I haven’t seen anyone else bring this up and I’m just waiting to see if they do, but just a strange phenomena!! Thanks so much for explaining it though!

          1. Another theory physicists have come up with, is that when the large hadron collider went on line in 2008 at CERN, it caused a shift between dimensions. Now, I’m not a trained physicist. I am a self taught amateur at best. I do believe we live in a multiverse and our reality is one of an infinite list of alternate realities. When the Large Hadron collider went online in 2008 it is believed that the weight of an electron was modified and this caused a chain reaction that destroyed the universe. However due to the nature of reality we shifted into a formerly alternate reality and kept on living. Some people believe they have memories (myself included ) of the so called “Mandela effect’ things happening like the Shazam movie because we came from a reality that no longer exists in which those things did exist. It’s a puzzled thought to be sure. One to ponder over until you decide you just have to accept the fact that we may never know the actual truth of the matter.

          2. The CERN theory doesn’t explain flipflops. Or things that changed AFTER 2008.

            I really don’t know what to make of it, but I think reality may be a lot more fluid than we thought it was, and some of us might remember things that used to be the case, but now never have been.

  2. my sister, daughter and I all worked at the same video store for several years. I called them both to ask if they remember an 90’s genie movie with an inept genie in it…I never told them who i thought the star was, or a description of the actor, My sister immediately said it was Sinbad and he played Shazam or that was the movie title. I hung up and called my daughter and asked her the same question. She immediately came up with the same answer. Said it was on VHS and we had rented the heck out of it at the video store! This movie exists. NO clue why it can’t be found anywhere or why so many in the know, including the actor are denying it.

    1. It’s the oddest thing in the world. I would get this if it were Clownhouse with director Victor Salva where the scumbag molested the starring kid and settled with him later, but that movie is still available. The only thing that rings true without the Mandela Effect coming into play, is back then most VHS tapes were really ridiculously expensive (at times over $100.00) someone has to have those old VHS catalogs from 93-94.

  3. With regard to David’s comment… that explanation does not cover any copies of the movie already in people’s homes. Unless part of the settlement is that every search engine in existence is required to remove anything that references the movie.

    1. or if it wasn’t released on DVD. DVD didn’t come out until 96. This movie was released around 94. VHS movies, unless popular were always crazy expensive. I remember sitting at my desk behind the counter and looking through the videos and they were over $100. Still, I agree someone would have kept a copy and not returned it or there should be the ordering catalogs out there that showed this flick. It’s so weird.

  4. Or… It really has disappeared due to the Mandela Effect / Quantum Effect, which by the way, is not a “Conspiracy Theory” but rather a true phenomenon.
    🙂

    1. I’ve heard the multi-universe theory and also the theory and I find it interesting that Neil Degrasse Tyson says that there’s a 50% chance we’re living in a computer simulation put forth by an advanced race. This almost reminds me of The Twilight Zone episode The Monsters are Due on Maple St. where aliens just screw with people to get them in a frenzy Great ep by the way. I totally didn’t mean to offend the phenomenon by calling it a “conspiracy theory.” It’s the way I’ve mostly heard about it. I wish I was convinced it wasn’t a real thing. It scares the hell out of me. I’ve read articles where people claim their spouses and children changed with The Mandela Effect, but that honestly terrifies me. I love horror films. I don’t want them invading my reality. Thanks for reading.

      1. Of course there’s a 50% chance. You either are in a simulation, or you aren’t.

        Because we don’t have any current way of figuring out if we are, or aren’t in a simulation, the chances are a literal coin flip.

        btw, by the early/mid 90’s, videotapes only cost $100 to RENTAL stores. This is because since they were going to be making a profit off videos, the movie industry would charge them more to buy the tapes. This also was the same for rental places getting hit movies before they were released for retail.

        This is the price to rental shops, and isn’t the same as the price for retail stores.

        By the 90’s vhs tapes were the most purchased form of video media. DVD wouldn’t come out till 96 and didn’t start becoming the norm till the very late 90’s to early 2000’s.

        Unless it was a made for rental only video then the price would be high and only rental shops would purchase copies (as regular consumers would have no way of getting the tape)

        if it was simply a made for home video distribution where it was stocked in stores, it most likely be cheaper than blockbuster hits (straight to vhs movies tend to be of the budget variety and also tended to sell for cheaper than more well known theater release movies afaik)

        1. Hi, 🙂 Thanks for reading. I want to touch on each point. DeGrasse’s 50/50 shot wasn’t based on a flip of the coin, it was based on the technology that can already offer similar simulations. The simulation theory has been around forever and laughed at when conspiracy theorist David Icke promoted the idea. It’s only been recently when our technology has risen to the capacity of causing those simulations that it became a widely regarded theory in the scientific community.

          Movies: My first job was at a video store. It was owned by a nice guy who owned two different Video stores. I worked at the first Video Studio in Ludlow MA and I worked there from 93-96ish. I loved it there. The way the industry worked back then is that the industries would only sell to the rental studios for months and then if the film was popular enough they’d reduce the cost and sell it to the general public for around $19.99. That said, any movie that wasn’t popular enough for mass production, was kept that high. It wasn’t because the studio knew the video stores were making their money back, but it was to test supply and demand. If we ordered 2 of a movie and it became a surprise hit with a waiting list, we may order 2 more -If most of the video stores were doing that, it may get a wide release. Still, I could order from the catalog myself if I called the owner or I could go to a store and order there. I did at times. I’d spend ridiculous amounts of money for VHS films. Super Fuzz was one of them. I remember ordering movies from places like The Wall and (I think it was) Strawberries and spending a ton of money and waiting a week for them to come in. I still have a movie on VHS called Happy Together with Patrick Dempsey. It’s a horrible movie, but a horrible movie that at one time I adored and spent upwards of 70.00 on it.

    2. “… is not a “Conspiracy Theory” but rather a true phenomenon.”

      HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

      1. Thanks for reading! What are your thoughts about Shazam? I am open to all level of skepticism as long as you don’t tell me I’m confusing it for Kazaam. Thanks!

  5. The Mandela Effect is real. Look up the double slit experiment, and quantum eraser experiment. This is not rocket science folks. This research has been out for decades. Perhaps before everyone ignorantly calls us delusional they should do a little bit of research.

    1. Thanks for the read. I will. I’ve seen some information on the Mandela effect and CERN, but I’ll look up the double slit experiment and the quantum eraser experiment. Out of curiosity do you believe that there are multi-verses and if so would that reduce the chances of the computer simulation Degrasse Tyson was referring to? The Mandela Effect scares the hell out of me, truth be told. To think you can wake up singing the Talking Heads “Once in a Lifetime” with an entirely different meaning than ever before.

      1. No one knows for sure why this is happening, but quantum physics gives some solid backup as to why it may be happening…. No one knows really, it seems that all we know for sure – those of us experiencing this – is that its happening…
        Im not really scared. I am however amused and frustrated at everyone who claims we are just misremembering. Clearly, they are not grasping what it is happening to us. Remembering the plot line of a movie that doesnt exist, in fine detail….. is absolutely not the same as haphazard misremembering lololol.

        1. Exactly. My hubby has your attitude about it. He says he finds it interesting but isn’t scared. I’m scared because I overthink too much. It’s one thing to take the dash out of a Kit-Kat bar, but I don’t want to wake up and find out one of my five bunnies doesn’t exist or that my husband or family are different people. On the flip side, if the Mandela Effect could kill my dad about 30 years sooner than he did, that would be awesome. (My dad sucked LOL). Thanks for your comment. I really agree with you 100% on the misremembering. I hate when people write articles and flatly say “It’s not KAZAAM” and then 20 idiots in the comments will say, “Oh, you’re thinking of Kazaam with Shaq.” I get so irritated. Shaq is a great athlete – not so much a great actor or comedian. Sinbad is an AMAZING comedian, one of a kind, his rants when his characters are frustrated are one of a kind. It would be like confusing a Betty Davis movie with a Paris Hilton film. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Thanks again. It’s great to talk to people who understand what’s going on and not jumping on the bandwagon of dismissing us as crazy.

    1. Hi 🙂 GREAT WORK! You’re definitely on the right track with my memories but it’s a little different than what I recall. The shirt I recall being a more sequenced green with longer sleeves. The scene where the necklace and bracelets get tangled, and he brings his arms up to untangle them, his shirt was full length. The pants weren’t as baggy as the traditional genies. They were baggy and a darker gold. He had a matching hat that the little girl asked if she could wear and she wore it throughout most of the movie and then when he went back, she gave it to him. I found a picture that is similar to what I remember but I think it was darker. Then again it was the early 90s and I could have had a shit TV that made it look darker LOL. I’m going to tweet you the kind of hat I recall. It wasn’t as big but it was huge on the girl.

  6. I remember this movie too. It has to be a Mandella effect. It can’t just be removed from all history without a single physical trace if it wasn’t. We can’t all remember the same movie that never existed. I too remember that it had really poor ratings.

    1. Thanks for the comment 🙂 Yeah. I think it had a short run in theaters and then went to VHS. I worked at the VHS store and could take movies out for free. I watched it several times and even through it in the VCR back in the days we could watch G-PG movies instead of trailers discs. I actually liked it, but I LOVE Sinbad. He’s ridiculous. I never liked Shaq. I know he’s an amazing athlete, but he wasn’t a good actor and he doesn’t have comedic timing. Sinbad is one of a kind. It would be like if THE WIZ disappeared and I’m like DIANA ROSS was in it, and some dip-shit kept saying, “NO, you’re thinking of Judy Garland from The Wizard of Oz.” I sometimes want to yell, but I know that reaffirms their belief that I’m a nut.

  7. A true Mandela Effect has everyone agreeing on the details. I’m hearing rumors of how people remembering the Sinbad movie are disagreeing on the details and arguing with each other online. I’ll tell you what is going on – one of the plot lines given is the real Mandela Effect – and the other plot lines are presented by shills, who are trying to discredit the Mandela Effect. There are people who would try to thwart everyone’s knowledge of this phenomenon because it would turn many scientific and cultural paradigms – inside out – essentially change the world 180 degrees. Regardless, it’s going to happen. Trying to ridicule and discredit us will not stop the momentum, we can still share online. The more you try to discredit us, censor us, and delete our posts, the more it will make us realize how real this is.

    1. Well no one will be deleting this post! I didn’t know people were deleting Mandela Effect info. I wish if CERN was involved someone from there would just come forward.

  8. I recommend watching the ST: TNG episode PARALLELS. Worf travels instantaneously between parallel timelines, but all of the differences from one to the next are *absolutely seamless* to everyone – except him. The point being this: if this movie once existed in a parallel timeline (and I believe it did), but there has somehow been a timeline shift, there won’t BE any evidence that it ever existed because in THIS timeline – it never did.

    1. It’s so strange and I’ll definitely watch the episode. I have heard of “residual effects” is that just our memories of how things were different or physical evidence?

    2. Hi. Just wanted to chime in on your thought there. I have been looking at literally HUNDREDS of these changes and there are some puzzling residuals. The biggest I’ve seen is a photo of the JFK car, (old 4 seater with Conally in front with cowboy hat.) That is exactly how I remember it and that photo still exists when the CURRENT REALITY shows photos and videos of a SIX seater car. That photo should NOT exist with the current changes but does.

      1. Oh, and just saw another detailed video listing STNG episode “All Good Things” having also CHANGED with Mandela. Thanks!

      2. That one scares me. The “new” footage where it appears at one point Jackie-O is holding the gun. I remember the 4 seat car not the 6 seat one. Very strange indeed.

      3. Seriously I need to see the photo with Connally in front with cowboy hat on in the 4 seater. If u have fb please join mandela effect proof + jfk assassination car. On this group we have another 4 seater photo but it has the roll bar which wasn’t there. Need to see yours

    1. Hello 🙂 Hope all is great in Belgium!! I don’t think so. It’s possible that at some point they repackaged it and gave stores like FYE photoshopped pics, but that’s not the original cover which typically matches the poster.

    1. CERN’s quantum computers are said to have the abilities to create a Mandela Effect if the multi-verse/multiple dimensions theory is correct. They’ve been doing experiments there that prior to doing them, were controversial because of the possible outcome. There are a lot of great docu-videos on youtube. some are garbage, but some are good. Just type in CERN and Mandela Effect. The only other theory that makes sense to me, is the computer simulation theory that Neil Tyson Degrasse said there was a 50/50 shot of. It’s a theory that has been around forever but now that the quantum computers themselves can create these simulations, if there is an advanced society that regards us as their ancestors or sub-species, they could have been doing experiments for years. The closest I can get to this in any type of show or film is The Twilight Zone’s ep. The Monsters are Due on Maple St. where aliens utilize man’s own fear and distrust of one another to cause chaotic conflict.

    1. I will definitely read the reddit section later, but I did have time to look at the cover. It’s def a photoshop but the hat is 100% right, the clothing is very close to the movie. JTT was not the boy though and the girl from Madeline was not the girl. The cover had Sinbad looking over his shoulder as if he were up to no good. He had a smirk on his face. Sinbad was closer to the middle of the cover looking backward -so his back was visible, but because he was looking behind himself and over his shoulder you could see him. The boy and girl were either on the front cover or one of the pics on the back. The boy was slouching, and the little sister was hugging him. I’ve seen a lot of posters/VHS covers. I think they’re all PS but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that a few are alternative covers. This one is def a reconstruction probably as close as the person could photoshop from memory. Thanks for sharing!

  9. Yes of course it’s a Reconstruction of what he remembers 🙂 No problem, thank you for your accuracy

    1. Sure 🙂 It’s such a strange event – this film in particular. I’m trying to take a break from it because it legitimately scares me – so I’m just listening to music right now. I’d feel so much better if CERN came out and said, “hey we fucked up,” but instead it makes me feel crazy sometimes.

  10. Thank you for this movie summary. I never did see the movie when it came out:( I do remember seeing a trailer for it as well as the movie box at the video rental stores. The movie box did have Sinbad standing with his back to a kid who was holding a genie lamp. All I remember is just the 2 of them on the front cover with the movie title at the top of the box in large lettering. The colors, Orange, Yellow, and Purple stand out to me

    From the trailer, I remember a couple of scenes. There was a scene where Sinbad and the kids were running in a mall food court like they were trying to get away from someone. Perhaps this was around the Foot Locker scene?

    Sinbad also had a popular line which mocked In Living Color’s Homey-D Clown (which was popular at the time). Sinbad said, “Genie don’t play that!”

  11. Question – does “Hal Scardino” look like the main child? I was reading all this about shazaam and got worried about my other random loved 90s movies, including “The Indian in the Cupboard”. (Thank God it still exists). After googling and IMDB’ing him, and seeing how few to none movies he was in, thought maybe it was worth suggesting! Let me know. Thanks for the review! It makes me want to cry knowing that I’ll never be able to rewatch and enjoy this movie anymore 🙁 can take our shit but can’t take our memories!

  12. I remember the movie and have been doing my own memory research. I thought the kids found a glass bottle on the beach and opened it and Sinbad came out. I do remember him saying that he was a jinn and not a genie, but similar. I remember a scene when they are leaving an airport and Sinbad was driving the taxi they where in. I also remember the little girl carrying around a doll that was missing an eye and that was her wish to have it fixed. The kids dad was some busy business type that didn’t spend much time with them and they made a wish for their dad to be able to be with them more or something like that. I think the dad left on a business trip and sinbad was kind of like their chaperone while he was gone. And the movie does end with a pool party or something like that with their father there back from his trip and they are all happy. Im trying to pull it all together but my memory is very foggy. I hope this may help anybody trying to figure it out also.

  13. ME is real watch D wave quantum computers are changing reality itself. On you tube, by Soul Evolution.

  14. thank you for letting me know im not alone and not crazy. i watched shazzam too and i really liked it, my memory isnt as good as yours is because i only watched it once when it aired on live TV, but as i read your summary it brought back a lot more and makes me even more frustrated, its definately an example of the mandela
    effect.. beaupaulbrady87@gmail.com

  15. (Continued) St. Paul in the Bible said it’s not the things that are seen that are real, but the unseen (the Afterlife, Heaven & Hell). 2 Corinthians 4:18 People who have had Near Death Experiences (died and come back to life), those who went to Heaven have compared our earthly world to a negative of a photo, and Heaven as a color photograph. They said Heaven is so incredible, the colors and everything are so beautiful that they cannot describe it. Scientists, Quantum Physicists, say we live in a Matrix, something like a computer program. I believe they are right in a sense, but it was created by God. We’re only on earth for a short time. The Afterlife is the real lasting world. Where we spend eternity, which realm we go to after we die, is dependent on our belief in Jesus Christ.

  16. That link you posted is no where to be found on Twitter. Look it never happened. No one can actually settle on the plot. every one has a different version of the plot and what his clothes looked like. Even the movie Kazaam has the genie helping a kid. as well in the cartoon shazzan the genie helped a young boy and girl. mixing memories togather is very normal. ive been doing alot of research into this and again. there is not one person who can legitimately prove the mandela effect is real or this movie is real. to back up my claim this never happened look into the story of how the mandella effect changed the name from the grinch who stole christmas to how the grinch stole christmas. my mom has a book on the shelf from when i was a kid. every scratch on the cover and every page that was creased is still there. inside the book it says the copyright for the grinch went all the way back to 1957 and it was always how the grinch stole christmas. all it is is peoples memories messing up and mashing a bunch of memories together. remember sinbad in the 90’s always wore big baggy brightly colored pants and jewely.

    1. Thanks for the comment, but Please read the review prior to commenting. This was the one thing I asked people not to address! I know about KAZAAM with Shaq. It’s a completely different film! IF you read my review of SHAZAM vs the synopsis of KAZAAM you would see that there are virtually zero similarities. Also, Shaq and Sinbad couldn’t be more different. Other than they are both African American, no one in their right mind would confuse the two. Shaq can’t act, attempted to rap in Kazaam which was dreadful, and Shaq does not have any comedic timing. Sinbad on the other hand is one of a kind. His comedy is hilarious! He is a great actor. His physical appearance is COMPLETELY different than Shaq! I worked in a video store (actually 2 but that’s irrelevant) when the films came out it was only like a year apart. Sort of like A BUGS LIFE and ANTS or VOLCANO and DANTE’s PEAK.

      1. Also – Deep Impact and Armageddon. The 90’s had a lot of duplicate movies. My suggestion is to start documenting everything in a journal. Keep a paper copy (hand written) and an digital copy for quick searches. If the Mandela Effect is a conspiracy where a malicious group is purposely getting rid of digital occurrences, then the paper copy will be there as a backup. I do remember there being 2 movies as well: Shazam and Kazaam. As for alternate universes, I don’t know how you could preserve something of that nature.

    1. MARIO MARIO MARIO!!!! Thanks for the comment, but Please read the review prior to commenting. This was the one thing I asked people not to address! I know about KAZAAM with Shaq. It’s a completely different film! IF you read my review of SHAZAM vs the synopsis of KAZAAM you would see that there are virtually zero similarities. Also, Shaq and Sinbad couldn’t be more different. Other than they are both African American, no one in their right mind would confuse the two. Shaq can’t act, attempted to rap in Kazaam which was dreadful, and Shaq does not have any comedic timing. Sinbad on the other hand is one of a kind. His comedy is hilarious! He is a great actor. His physical appearance is COMPLETELY different than Shaq! I worked in a video store (actually 2 but that’s irrelevant) when the films came out it was only like a year apart. Sort of like A BUGS LIFE and ANTS or VOLCANO and DANTE’s PEAK.

  17. I noticed that the people who remember the Shazaam genie movie do not know of Billy Batson who invoked the power of Shazam. And starred in the comic book of that title in the mid 90s. And comic book nerds like myself have never heard of Shazaam the genie. No one remembers both. So is it possible that Fawcetts Shazam/Captain Marvel never existed in your universe?

    1. I really don’t know. I was into a few specific comics (X-Men, anything with the Joker, V for Vendetta,etc) but I was never a hardcore follower so it’s very possible it existed and I didn’t know about it. Great question and insight. That’s definitely something we should pose to more people!

  18. HI, I recently became aware of this conspiracy/phenomena?and being around 12 in 1994 do have a strong memory of Sinbad being in a genie movie back then. Just saw this posted on Reddit yesterday and wondered if anyone had any thoughts on it. A user claims to have stumbled on this movie page while searching for another actor. Does anyone remember any of these actors from the film credits being in this movie? If this is real info the credits seem to make sense. According to IMDB, in 1994 director Andy Tennant only shot 1 episode of a tv show so there’s a lot of space that’s missing there in his career given his normal output at the time. And the producer’s first film was apparently Jack w/ Robin Williams (1996) and mainly made family films. Here is the link to the screengrab posted on reddit. When I went to search the film myself on the Hong Kong Movie Database it appears to have been erased,

    http://imgur.com/VzWMOwz

    1. Very interesting!! It could be a photoshop but strange that they used Sinbad’s real name. I need to look into this more. Thanks for the share!

    1. Hi Autum,

      I discuss Kazaam at length in my article as well. People always bring that film up but no, no one is confusing the two. They’re completely different films that came out in close range to one another. (e.g A Bug’s Life & ANTZ, Dante’s Peak & Volcano) Thanks for reading. All the best.

  19. I remember this movie. Parts that stood out was the genie saying that he was around when stuff was happening that’s in the bible but he kept pronouncing it bibbel.

    1. I don’t remember that at all but that’s not to say it didn’t happen. Who knows how many parallel universes there are! CRAZY Stuff!

  20. I remember this movie because in the early 1990’s I was in high school and I babysat these kids that were always watching family-friendly movies while I was there. Their mom taped a ton of stuff off TV and I am sure what I watched was taped off of television. I am NOT thinking of Kazaam because that movie came out when I was in college. I was no longer a babysitter and have never seen Kazaam. I do remember Sinbad because I knew him from the show “A Different World.” There was a boy and a girl that were not famous and a Dad that was either widowed or divorced. Shazam wore an orange and purple outfit and his pants were like Hammer pants. He wore big gold hoop earrings and shoes that curled up. From what I recall of the plot was that since the mom had left, the family moved and Dad was working a lot. The kids wanted Dad to fall in love and somehow they got ahold of a lamp and Shazaam came out and was going to help them set their Dad up with a neighbor. There was a scene at a mall where they try to dress the genie up in modern clothes so that he can blend in and all sorts of silly things happen with misunderstandings and strange clothing. I usually didn’t pay much attention to the movies and spent the time writing notes to my friends. But I do remember it because I recall the way the oldest kid in the family I babysat for would say “Shazam.” He would say, “Let’s watch Shazzzzammm….” The were on that kick or a month or so and then went onto another movie and their mom taped over Shazam and it was replaced by “the Little Mermaid” which much have had its TV premiere in the early 1990’s.

    I know I am not crazy, but I sure feel like I am!

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