The Jaws Thread

[Mel O'Drama]

Speaking of Ellen-heavy films, I've found this draft of the screenplay for Jaws The Revenge which includes a scene with Matt Hooper.

It's clearly a later draft, and must be fairly close to the final one used. It's obviously known here that there's no way they can get Roy Scheider to come back, so this is closer to the finished film where Sean is killed instead of Martin.

Hooper appears in scenes #53-#58 in a phone call to Michael and the family. Curiously it cuts away before Matt speaks to Ellen, so there's no dialogue of any kind between original film actors Richard Dreyfuss and Lorraine Gary, which would surely be what most of the audience would want to see. Scenes #59-#63 have been omitted, so I assume there was a scripted conversation between them here which was bizarrely cut, even though it lavishes time on conversations he has with Thea and Carla.

I can't quite believe that Hooper would have such a cosy relationship with the Brodys. It even includes references to a time Matt spent Christmas with the Brody family on Amity where Martin dressed as Father Christmas. It's like a curious Hallmark Channel version of Jaws.

It's very weird and probably best it was dropped. It was already enough of a stretch to see Mrs Kintner and Mrs Taft dropping by to see Ellen.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Also, I can't believe this has only just registered with me, but when Sean was attacked, the first thing the shark did was bite off his arm, including his humerus.

Then, when Thea came to Amity for Sean's funeral, the first meal she was jokingly offered was... "a funny bone sandwich".

How very twisted.

 

[Sarah]

Wow thanks for this @Mel O'Drama - it does all seem very bizarre. It’s always struck me as odd that Bess Armstrong just disappeared and that Michael ended up in the Bahamas after he told Kate that he was going to South America. Like how much time has passed between 3 and 4?

Maybe he murdered Kate and threw her to the shark, and the shark is so pissed off he’s come back - hence The Revenge title.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

It’s always struck me as odd that Bess Armstrong just disappeared and that Michael ended up in the Bahamas after he told Kate that he was going to South America. Like how much time has passed between 3 and 4?

Yeah. There's also Thea being the age she is. The only way that could make sense in the timeline is for Michael not to be her biological father.


Jaws 3-D was considered the most "unofficial" of the sequels by the powers that be at Universal. The press releases and promotional material for Jaws The Revenge all referred to it as "the third film in the remarkable Jaws trilogy". The novelisation for JTR, too, ignored all the Seaworld stuff, though there are numerous references to the first two films (or books).

Basically, when The Revenge came along, Universal decided to retcon Jaws 3 out of existence. The audience can probably cobble together a loose thread for the third film to fit into the continuity, but essentially we're supposed to pretend it never happened.

Weirdly, Jaws 3-D also did something similar with Jaws 2. Mike referred to "that shark attack" in Amity, as though there had only been one.

 

[Alexis Colby Carrington]

Jaws 2 is my favourite of the lot. I’ve seen it more times than any of the others.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I still like the original the best. For me nothing comes close to it. But I’ll watch any of them if I happen to be flipping the channels and stumble across them. I’ve always wondered why we’ve never seen a reboot of some kind. I mean they pretty much reboot everything now.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Jaws 2 is my favourite of the lot. I’ve seen it more times than any of the others.

I still like the original the best. For me nothing comes close to it.

I'm very fond of Jaws 2. Back when I was a kid and first saw it it became my favourite for a time and there's lots to like about it.

In almost every way it's the best of the sequels, but in recent years I've also come to view it as the most disappointing. This is because of the potential it had that was only really realised in a couple of scenes.

I love the atmosphere created at times (especially the look of the scene John Hancock directed before he was sacked). I love the Brody family; I love going back to Amity and expanding on that world; I'm even happy to suspend my disbelief and buy that another Great White would cause problems for the town's summer tourism industry.

But each time I watch, there are elements that I enjoy less: the screaming teens (especially Jackie); the lack of suspense; and especially the shark with its huge underbite and its Phantom Of The Opera facial scars.

I view Jaws 2 as a guilty pleasure.

If someone asked me to describe the difference between the films in a nutshell, I'd say this:

Jaws is a film
Jaws 2 is a movie
Jaws 3-D is a B-movie
Jaws The Revenge is a comedy

I’ve always wondered why we’ve never seen a reboot of some kind. I mean they pretty much reboot everything now.

I'm not sure, but I'd guess that Steven Spielberg might have enough influence to prevent it happening (even if he couldn't prevent the sequels).

He's been protective of the original film and I believe has resisted making any changes that would make it feel different, such as using CGI to improve the effects of the time. The HD restoration that was done for Blu-ray and released in the cinema around a decade ago is a masterpiece. The changes were so subtle and enhanced the viewing experience without the viewer even consciously realising anything's changed.

I suppose, also, the original film is still effective. In terms of direction, performances, editing and music it's pretty perfect. Only the animatronic shark is very of its time. I've watched reaction videos of young people watching the film for the first time, and every moment in the film still works as it did when it was first released.

I'm sure it will be revisited at some point, but I'm also very grateful that it hasn't been so far.

 

[Alexis Colby Carrington]

Jaws 2 is on one of the itv channels tonight.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Jaws 2 is on one of the itv channels tonight.

Just when you thought it was safe to settle back in your armchair...

 

[Sarah]

Just when you thought it was safe to settle back in your armchair...

Is that Bess Armstrong??

 

[Alexis Colby Carrington]

Just when you thought it was safe to settle back in your armchair...

Size of the shark in comparison to the person!

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Size of the shark in comparison to the person!

I know. It's one of those images that if you stop and think about it is entering the realm of sci-fi.

There's a fun article here which works out how large the shark on the poster for the original film would be if it were real. And it's longer than twenty five feet!!

 

[DallasFanForever]

A 52 foot long shark would’ve been cool! Definitely would’ve changed the script though. Chief Brodie’s wish of a bigger boat would’ve had to have been addressed much sooner.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

A 52 foot long shark would’ve been cool! Definitely would’ve changed the script though. Chief Brodie’s wish of a bigger boat would’ve had to have been addressed much sooner.

Ha ha. That's very true.

 

[Sarah]

I could look this up but we have a perfectly good thread here to discuss it so what's the point?!

Watching Jaws 2 the other night, it occurs to me that this whole time I've believed Ellen is the mayor's assistant. Is that right? I started to doubt myself when she was giving a tour on the beach as if she was in real estate.

I also think the mayor has a crush on Ellen but that's a different story.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Watching Jaws 2 the other night, it occurs to me that this whole time I've believed Ellen is the mayor's assistant. Is that right? I started to doubt myself when she was giving a tour on the beach as if she was in real estate.

As well as being the mayor, Larry is owner of Vaughn Realty, as established in the first film (look over the doorway on the right):

That's the capacity in which Ellen works for him, selling "a piece of this. A piece of that".

I also think the mayor has a crush on Ellen but that's a different story.

Oh, probably.

Actually, Jaws 2 had a major subplot where Les Peterson had a thing for Ellen, leading to a big rivalry between Martin and Les. It was Peterson who pushed for Brody to be fired after the gun on the beach incident, and it was actually Larry Vaughn who tried to stand up for Martin.

Most of the scenes were cut for time, but they can be seen in the deleted scenes on the DVD/BD, and on YouTube:

 

[Sarah]

Oh yes of course! A piece of this and a piece of that!!! DOH! I remember now. And they arrived in Amity from NYC didn't they? @Mel O'Drama

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Oh yes of course! A piece of this and a piece of that!!!

And by Jaws The Revenge, she was in business with Mrs Taft (who doesn't think that's funny at all):

And they arrived in Amity from NYC didn't they?

They did indeed. They bought the house the autumn before the first shark attacks.

 

[darkshadows38]

i bought parts 2-4 on bluray last week i just haven't watched any of them yet

 

[Mel O'Drama]

i bought parts 2-4 on bluray last week i just haven't watched any of them yet

I hope you'll post some thoughts when you do get round to watching. Have you seen any of the sequels before?

They're worth getting on Blu-ray, I think.

• Jaws 2 is definitely worth the upgrade and looks and sounds very nice
• Jaws 3 is finally available to watch in its original 3-D for the first time on home media (one of our TVs was bought during the 3-D revival of last decade, so I've got to properly see it in all its glory for the first time since it was in the cinema)
• Jaws The Revenge finally presents the original theatrical ending, as well as the international one (the only bad news is that there isn't an option to watch the entire film with a choice of ending. The theatrical ending can only be watched as a short special feature)