While the coronavirus pandemic has forced us all to stay
within the confines of our homes rather than being out and about, we are very
much in the summer season, and with that in mind, I decided that today was the
perfect time for a retrospective of a franchise that’s practically defined by the
summer aesthetic. But, of course, what’s it mainly known for is its first
installment, which is not only widely considered to be one of the greatest
films ever made but was also the film that single-handedly launched the career
of its director and revolutionized the concept of ‘summer blockbusters’. Yes,
folks, today we’re talking about the Jaws franchise, which began in 1975
with the adaptation of the 1974 novel of the same name by Peter Benchley about
a great white shark that terrorizes the summer town of Amity Island. While the
film ended up enduring a notoriously troubled production due largely to
problems surrounding its special effects, it promptly became a full-blown
phenomenon. In doing so, it firmly established its director, a fellow by the
name of Steven Spielberg, as one of the top filmmakers in the
industry; a pedigree that persists to this very day. Jaws went on to
inspire countless imitators while also spawning three follow-ups of its own.
However, Spielberg had nothing to do with any of the sequels, which gradually
fared worse with critics and audiences with each subsequent release. And while
I’m well-aware of the situation that I’m about to get myself into when it comes
to this franchise’s low points, I’m still very eager to tackle the film that helped
paved the way for all the great blockbusters that have come out in the years
since. Plus, the first film is celebrating its 45th anniversary this
year, and like I said before, even if the idea of going to the beach right now
is about as scary as dealing with a man-eating shark, I figured that there’s no
better time to do this. With that in mind, beware what may come from the ocean
and prepare for the possibility that you’re “gonna need a bigger boat” as we
look at the four films that make up the Jaws franchise.
JAWS (1975)
At this point, what more is there to be said about Jaws?
It’s a film that’s easily one of the most notable success stories in the
history of film despite its production being a full-blown nightmare. Sure, it
may have been riding on all the hype surrounding its source material, but what
was originally meant to be a seemingly easy two-month shoot that began in the
summer of 1974 ended up lasting all the way to October. This was largely due to
the bold decision by Steven Spielberg (who was just a relative newcomer at the
time) to shoot the film’s third act at sea instead of in a large water tank as
is usually the case with films of this nature. Because of this, the filming of
those scenes was often waylaid by various delays including bad weather and,
most infamously, the consistent malfunctions of the film’s ambitious mechanical
shark props. And yet, this is what ultimately gave Spielberg the inspiration
that he needed to rework the film into the masterpiece that it is today.
Instead of regularly showing the shark as he originally intended (which was
obviously impossible at that point given all the technical problems), he
decided to limit the shark’s time on-screen to make it more of an ominous
threat. In doing so, this helped turn a standard B-movie type premise into
something reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock, which you can certainly see in the
final film. Thanks in large part to the underwater sequences that are from the
shark’s perspective, Jaws does a wonderful job of establishing its threatening
presence without ever showing it. But, of course, this then results in one of
the most iconic sequences in all of film when the shark emerges from the water
while Chief Brody is throwing chum into the ocean, thus paving the way for the
classic line, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat!”. So, at the very least, when
the shark does appear on-screen, Spielberg and his team were able to use
it as effectively as they could despite all the issues that it caused for them
during the shoot.
But, of course, the other key thing that makes Jaws such
a masterpiece is how it’s very much a character-driven story, and it’s all
thanks to the outstanding lead trio of Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and
Robert Shaw. As Chief Martin Brody, Scheider brings much of the film’s
emotional heft as the reluctant hero looking to protect the people of Amity
Island. As oceanographer Matt Hooper, Richard Dreyfuss provides a lot of the
film’s best humorous moments while still crafting an excellent rapport with his
co-stars. And as the grizzled shark hunter Quint, Robert Shaw brings nothing
but pure gravitas to the role, especially in the scene where Quint reveals the
harrowing story of how he was one of the few survivors of the ill-fated USS
Indianapolis. These three are also backed by excellent supporting players
like Lorraine Gary as Brody’s supportive wife Ellen and Murray Hamilton as the
conniving Mayor of Amity Island, Larry Vaughn, who prevents Brody from closing
the beaches due to how it’d affect the town financially (which, yes, is a
situation that’s quite ironic nowadays…). But perhaps the most interesting
thing to note here is that the biggest deviation that the film makes from the
book is that the main characters are far more likable than they were in the
novel, resulting in one of the rare cases where a book-to-film adaptation does
manage to improve upon its source material. And sure enough, it’s one of the
many reasons why Jaws is the undisputed cinematic classic that it
is. While I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that my most recent viewing of the
film was the first time that I’d ever seen it in full (Oh, don’t look at me
like that. We all have those films that we haven’t gotten around to seeing yet…),
it’s easy to understand why its legendary reputation has endured to this day.
Thanks to the phenomenal direction from Steven Spielberg and an outstanding
cast, Jaws managed to overcome one of the most notorious productions in
film history (one that, let’s face it, would’ve been mercilessly scrutinized in
today’s internet age) to become a landmark outing that forever changed the art
of filmmaking as we know it.
Rating: 5/5!
JAWS 2 (1978)
Bolstered by the immense success of Jaws, Universal
immediately set their sights on a follow-up. The only problem, though, was that
Steven Spielberg wanted nothing to do with it, citing all the problems that he
faced while making the first film while also going on record stating that he
thought that a sequel was a terrible idea. So instead, the studio tapped
director John D. Hancock, who was fresh off the 1973 sports drama Bang the
Drum Slowly, to direct Jaws 2. However, just one month into the production,
Hancock ended up getting fired from his position due to a combination of the
studio’s disapproval of the darker tone that he was going with and his general
inexperience when it came to directing action. It even got to the point where
Spielberg was finally open to the idea of returning to direct, although that outcome
never came to pass due to his commitments to Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Thus, a new director was finally found in Jeannot Szwarc, who would go on to
direct a few notable cult classics such as 1980’s Somewhere in Time and
1985’s Santa Claus: The Movie. Unfortunately, that didn’t put an end to
the production’s various problems. Aside from the continued issues that stemmed
from shooting on the open water (albeit in the Gulf of Mexico this time around
rather than Martha’s Vineyard, which was thankfully still used as the setting
for the town of Amity Island), much of the production was dominated by the
tense relationship between Szwarc and Roy Scheider. Just like Spielberg,
Scheider wasn’t keen on a sequel and the only reason why he ended up doing it was
to opt out of a contract that he had with the studio after he had backed out of
the lead role in The Deer Hunter due to creative differences. Throughout
the production, Scheider consistently clashed with Szwarc, primarily due to the
latter’s tendency to focus his attention more towards technical matters rather
than his actors. In fact, it even got physical between the two at one point
when the producers attempted to deal with their feud. And yet, despite all this
and the obvious burden of having to follow an all-time classic, Jaws 2 still
manages to be a decent enough sequel.
At the end of the day, the worst thing that I can say about
this film is that it’s the very definition of a ‘by-the-numbers’ follow-up. It
does its job of continuing the story as primarily seen through the eyes of
Chief Brody, who once again finds himself dealing with a ferocious shark that
threatens the people of Amity Island despite facing opposition from those who
don’t believe him. It also fulfills the sequel requirement of boasting larger
set-pieces that result in more screen time for the shark while simultaneously
raising its narrative stakes, namely by having Brody’s sons Michael and Sean
trapped at sea when the shark attacks the group that they’re hanging out with.
Despite this, however, much of the film ends up feeling rather flat, especially
when it comes to the story. Part of this is due to the considerable amount of
time spent with Mike Brody’s friends in the second half of the film, who are largely
one-note and almost completely indistinguishable from each other. But at the
very least, the film isn’t a chore to sit through and has some solid shark
sequences even if some of them could’ve benefitted from some better editing.
And despite the whole thing about him not really wanting to be there, Roy Scheider
is still great in the role of Chief Brody and is once again backed by Lorraine
Gary as Ellen and Murray Hamilton as Mayor Vaughn (no Richard Dreyfuss, though,
due to the lack of involvement from Spielberg). This is what largely makes Jaws
2 a generally okay albeit mostly forgettable sequel. It isn’t really
anything special and is obviously not as good as its predecessor, but to its
credit, it’s still competently made. I mean, let’s be honest, folks… it goes
without saying that this is the best that we’re going to get out of the Jaws
sequels. From this point onward, it’s all downhill from here…
Rating: 3/5
JAWS 3-D (1983)
Following in the footsteps of other horror threequels such
as Friday the 13th: Part III and Amityville III, it
was decided to have the third Jaws film be shot in 3-D. This was during
a time where the 3-D format was experiencing a major resurgence about three
decades after its previous peak in the 50’s and another three decades before it
became popular once again in the early 2010’s. However, like those other 80’s
horror films, most of Jaws 3-D’s initial home releases didn’t offer the
option to view it in its intended format, and while the 3-D version is more
common nowadays thanks to its most recent Blu-Ray release, I wouldn’t be
surprised if most people have only seen the 2-D version (myself included). Because
of this, we’re left with a film that’s full of blatant attempts to have things
jump out at the camera for the 3-D effect. But while this does technically mean
that there was more effort in making this a 3-D film compared to films that
just get post-converted into 3-D, shots like this end up looking incredibly
awkward when viewed solely in 2-D. It also doesn’t help that the film’s weak
effects aren’t just limited to the 3-D as it also suffers from some laughably
bad green-screen effects and an all-around blurry film quality that was,
apparently, a result of it being turned into a 2-D release. And as for the film
itself, it’s just another generic shark attack flick with a dull story and one-note
characters, even if it does notably switch up the setting from Amity Island to
SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida. Thus, while it does have the distinction of being
directed by the original film’s production designer, Joe Alves, that doesn’t keep
Jaws 3-D from being the mediocre B-film that the original Jaws managed
to avoid being thanks to the efforts of Steven Spielberg and company. If
anything, I’ll give it credit for the amusingly hokey vibe that it always gives
off, but it probably would’ve been a more interesting and all-around better
film had it gone with its original plan of being a comedic spoof titled Jaws
3, People 0 and co-written by John Hughes (yes, that nearly happened…).
Rating: 2/5
JAWS: THE REVENGE
(1987)
And finally, we come to Jaws: The Revenge, which
opted to ignore the events of Jaws 3-D in favor of returning to the idea
of focusing solely on the Brody family whereas Jaws 3-D wasn’t even originally
meant to feature Michael and Sean Brody. This time, however, it’s primarily
centered on Ellen Brody (with Chief Martin Brody established as having died
in-between films) as she and Michael find themselves dealing with another shark
when it appears in the Bahamas while Ellen is visiting Michael’s family. And if
that wasn’t enough, they have quite a bit of history with this shark since it was
the one that killed Sean, hence the film’s infamous tagline, “This time it’s
personal”. But, of course, as I’m sure many of you already know, Jaws: The
Revenge was nothing short of a disaster upon its release and is widely
considered to be one of the worst films of all time… and yeah, it’s easy to see
why. Specifically, this film suffers from an utterly incomprehensible story
that’s chock-full of bizarre logic gaps and undercooked ideas, namely through
the implication that Ellen has a psychological connection to this shark and
that it purposefully followed her and her family to the Bahamas. Pair that with
the worst shark sequences in the history of the franchise and mediocre
direction that reflects poorly on everyone in the cast (including the returning
Lorraine Gary and newcomer Michael Caine) and you have a film that, for much of
its runtime, doesn’t really feel like a Jaws film at all. In short, Jaws:
The Revenge still stands as the prime example of when a film franchise truly
hits rock bottom and can best be summed up by a quote from Marty McFly in the Spielberg-produced
Back to the Future Part II when he comes across a virtual shark hologram
promoting the fictional Jaws 19 in 2015.
Rating: 1/5
And that concludes
this retrospective on the Jaws franchise. Sure, it didn’t exactly end on
a great note thanks to the one-two punch of Jaws 3-D and Jaws: The
Revenge, but in the oft chance I haven’t said it already on this site, one
of the most entertaining aspects of doing retrospectives like this is getting
to see how franchises play out for better or worse. And at the end of the day,
the original Jaws will continue to serve as one of the most quintessential
films of all time regardless of the steadily declining quality of its sequels.
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