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Jaws VS Jaws 2


Brundlefly

Jaws VS Jaws 2  

59 members have voted

  1. 1. Which score do you prefer?

  2. 2. Which movie do you prefer?



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Unlike Jurassic Park and The Lost World those two scores and movies are more similar. But which score and which movie do you like more?

 

IMO Jaws 2 has a musically more complex and thrilling score, but here it is close.

The second movie, however, is far inferior.

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It would appear that the general consensus of opinion, is that JAWS beats JAWS 2. There is, however, much to admire about the sequel. Neal Travis' editing is crisp, and sprightly, Michael Butler's photography is easily as good as Bill Butler's on the original, and it's always good to see Murray Hamilton playing another harassed character, as only Murray Hamilton can.

Then there's the score. As with so many sequel scores, JW expanded on the original's sound, and actually outdid himself. To be fair, when the OST for JAWS 2 was released, it was not really possible to compare the two, as so much of JAWS was re-recorded. Now, of course, we have the complete "original" original scores, for both. At the end of the day, it all comes down to a purely arbitrary decision: which film/score do you like best, which film/score do you get most pleasure out of watching/listening to? For my money, JAWS is a classic of modern cinema and that's a stone cold fact, while JAWS 2 is...a "not bad" sequel. It would be interesting to have seen what John Hancock would have done with JAWS 2, but it wasn't to be. I do prefer the score for JAWS 2, however; it's lighter than the original, in mood, it's more varied, and John Neal did a bang-up job of engineering it. No matter what the naysayers think, END TITLE, END CAST is absolutely beautiful, and is worthy of inclusion on any "greatest hits" package. That it hasn't been (so far, I think, but I stand ready to be proven wrong) is a gross overlook.

 

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I agree with Richard about the cinematography in the two films. They pretty much look identical, there's a nice visual cohesion between them.

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Jaws for both though score wise, Jaws 2 runs the first close. The first film has a lot more going for it, the second could've been more -maybe if they had gone down the Indianapolis route or just not bothered. Like other films, the first feels a little tainted by having three sequels follow. 

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Jaws for both as well, although I think the quality of the Jaws 2 score is much greater than this poll will unfortunately represent.  Its movie is watchable junk too, but I'm not going to waste space trying to compare it to the granddaddy of summer entertainment, Jaws.

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Jaws 2 makes for an overall more fun listening experience out of context, but seeing as how Williams is stuck scoring a movie that's pretty much Friday-the-13th-with-a-shark, all the music really has to say for 52 minutes is "We're happily sailing because we don't know there's a shark in the water, YAY!" or "Oh no, there's a shark in the water!". 

The original score has a genuine narrative to support. 

That said...I like Jaws 3D. Both film and score. :blush:

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I prefer the first film and score, but if I could only listen to one track from either it would definitely be the sequel's End Title/End Cast. After waiting for the Jaws 2 expansion for years, I was surprised at how much I vastly preferred the original album once I listened to the expansion. It's one of Williams' best album presentations, imho.  

 

My favorite scene in the entire franchise for sheer mood and atmosphere is in Jaws 2 where the fin appears in the harbor at night. It's the only piece of footage from the Hancock shoot that was used, and I always wonder how the rest of the film would have turned out if they would have stayed with that darker approach. 

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2 hours ago, MikeH said:

I prefer the first film and score, but if I could only listen to one track from either it would definitely be the sequel's End Title/End Cast. After waiting for the Jaws 2 expansion for years, I was surprised at how much I vastly preferred the original album once I listened to the expansion. It's one of Williams' best album presentations, imho.  

 

My favorite scene in the entire franchise for sheer mood and atmosphere is in Jaws 2 where the fin appears in the harbor at night. It's the only piece of footage from the Hancock shoot that was used, and I always wonder how the rest of the film would have turned out if they would have stayed with that darker approach. 

 

The novelisation includes all that.

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The screamy teens of Jaws 2 are one of the irritations the movie has on older ears. I didn't used to notice them as being particularly excessive when I was a kid, but when I watch now I sit in wait for the main offenders to be eliminated.

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I said I wasn't sure. I was 1 when Jaws 2 came out.

 

1 hour ago, Disco Stu said:

We measure cultural influence by tagline?

 

But yes, words and phrases do resonate powerfully in popular culture. Whether or not they are influential is something different to what we were talking about earlier. You said "pop culture sensation".

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ok, don't crucify me but whenever i watch Jaws i get bored with the men going hunting, talking etc. and i wouldn't care if they were all dead! :P

I prefer the terrorized - though a bit annoying -  kids. more suspense and drama for me!

 

so, jaws 2 for both score and film.

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1 hour ago, Quintus said:

But yes, words and phrases do resonate powerfully in popular culture. Whether or not they are influential is something different to what we were talking about earlier. You said "pop culture sensation".

 

It's a great tagline, to be sure, and fun to use for jokes.  Kudos to the marketer who came up with it.

 

Apparently it was this guy Andrew Kuehn.  Found his name through his NY Times obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/03/business/andrew-kuehn-66-innovator-in-the-movie-trailer-industry.html?_r=0

 

Looks like he was Lucas and Spielberg's go-to guy for cutting film trailers together:

Quote

Mr. Kuehn developed trailers for films including the original ''Jaws,'' the ''Indiana Jones'' trilogy, ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,'' ''Schindler's List,'' ''The Lost World: Jurassic Park,'' ''The French Connection,'' ''The Sting,'' ''Star Wars,'' ''Funny Girl,'' ''Aliens,'' ''Top Gun,'' ''Back to the Future'' and ''Witness.''

 

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No contest. Jaws film and score. 

 

However, this doesn't mean the second movie and score are bad. They're just not as good as the first ones.....

 

JW especially is in top form with both movies.

 

 

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On 5/10/2017 at 1:21 PM, filmmusic said:

ok, don't crucify me but whenever i watch Jaws i get bored with the men going hunting, talking etc. and i wouldn't care if they were all dead! :P

I prefer the terrorized - though a bit annoying -  kids. more suspense and drama for me!

 

so, jaws 2 for both score and film.

 

The more action or story events, the better movie is? 

 

Not too long ago, I switched off Jaws 2, because I saw the work of a poorly talented storyteller who can't keep me interested. Jaws 2 simply doesn't have Spielberg's film language, style, atmosphere, handling of characters, character interaction, ... Yes, Quint's story of the war does wear off after a few rewatches, but I happily take that over Szwarc's bland sequel.

 

Rest me to say ... Only at JWFan!

 

 

Alex

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48 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

 

The more action or story events, the better movie is? 

 

 

Of course not.

I just said which film I personally prefer to watch.

 

If I generally liked more action and story events, I'd like recent action films and I don't.

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JAWS is an undisputed masterpiece for a reason. It's part blockbuster, part a piece of auteur art. 

 

JAWS 2 is more in potboiler territory, but succeeds reasonably well as that. Far more than the two sequels, anyway. Capable craftsmanship, I would say.

 

But for as much as I love Williams' JAWS score -- especially in, but also out of context -- I enjoy the sequel album more as a pure listening experience. While that also has its share of gritty dissonance, it has a more pronounced sense of adventure. Like a tone poem for the seas in many cases (love them harps!).

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  • 3 months later...

I've never seen Jaws 2, so the original Jaws wins for film by default.

 

As for the scores, both are great!  But I easily choose the original as my favorite.

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12 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Good Lord, Jay.  How many unread threads have you been sitting on?!

 

More than I thought!  I keep thinking I must be at the end of the list more I click Show More, and there's more!  I guess I really skipped a ton of threads back in late April / early May for some reason...

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  • 2 months later...
On 5/12/2017 at 11:31 AM, Thor said:

JAWS is an undisputed masterpiece for a reason. It's part blockbuster, part a piece of auteur art. 

 

JAWS 2 is more in potboiler territory, but succeeds reasonably well as that. Far more than the two sequels, anyway. Capable craftsmanship, I would say.

 

But for as much as I love Williams' JAWS score -- especially in, but also out of context -- I enjoy the sequel album more as a pure listening experience. While that also has its share of gritty dissonance, it has a more pronounced sense of adventure. Like a tone poem for the seas in many cases (love them harps!).

 

Do Jaws 3 and 4 contain any intelligent reworking of JW's themes?

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2 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Do Jaws 3 and 4 contain any intelligent reworking of JW's themes?

 

Jaws 3, not really. Not a bad score in its own right though. Jaws the Revenge is my most listened-to Jaws score. I like it more than 1 and 2.

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1 hour ago, Baby Jane Hudson said:

Jaws the Revenge is my most listened-to Jaws score. I like it more than 1 and 2.

 

Take this rubbish to the Unpopular Opinions thread!

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10 hours ago, Baby Jane Hudson said:

 

Jaws 3, not really. Not a bad score in its own right though. Jaws the Revenge is my most listened-to Jaws score. I like it more than 1 and 2.

 

I love watching old videos of Siskel & Ebert reviewing bad movies

 

 

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20 hours ago, Baby Jane Hudson said:

I paid over $100 for the promo on eBay, then a few days later, the Intrada one was announced. I still listen to the promo more.

 

Jason, spam bots are back

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