JAWS Is Better Than Everything

[Naïve Old Fart 10,222]

Because @Andy asked for it 

 

Well... what are y'all waiting for?

[Brando 2,044]

This shot lives rent free in my head and everything about it is perfect

 

 

[Andy 4,982]

I think it’s terrifying to know that the haunting shark in the poster didn’t come from Kastel’s imagination, but once lived on this planet.  A real preserved mako was the model for arguably the most iconic movie poster ever.  Chilling. 
 

[A24 4,511]

If Jaws is better than everything then why do some people prefer Jaws 2?

 

[Andy 4,982]

Because it’s still Jaws and not Piranha or Orca or L’Ultimo Squallo. 
 

Hmmm. Maybe Jaws isn’t better than L’Ultimo Squallo. 

[Brando 2,044]

Are the sequels allowed to be discussed or just the first movie? Maybe we should make a 'Jaws 2 is better than everything thread' and so forth with the sequels then make 'the Jaws disenchantment thread' for good measure.

[Andy 4,982]

[Brando 2,044]

I remember seeing this eons ago and I thought it was legit since I was a kid

 

 

[Mr. Hooper 2,958]

17 minutes ago, Andy said:

Max Spielberg should be so lucky. 
 

6 minutes ago, Brando said:

I remember seeing this eons ago and I thought it was legit since I was a kid

It's a legit overuse of fades!

[Brando 2,044]

12 minutes ago, Mr. Hooper said:

It's a legit overuse of fades!

This was a different era...the 2000's!!

[Bellosh 3,811]

The pond is for the older ladies

 

I know it is

 

But just do it for the old man 

[Brando 2,044]

Okay theory time and I wanna hear some opinions, does Ellen say 'I've got Sean', or 'I've got your order', right after Brody sends Mike to the pond? I think its 'I've got Sean' but I've seen some people say the latter, so I wanna know what y'all think.

[Andy 4,982]

I think it’s Sean.  But I also thought it might be I’ve got your lunch because she turns to some food stands behind her. 

[Mr. Hooper 2,958]

"I've got Sean."

 

Which always made me smile, cuz right after you see him running off after his brother towards the estuary.

 

Ellen's not great at supervising. lol

[Tallguy 4,109]

5 hours ago, Brando said:

This shot lives rent free in my head and everything about it is perfect

 

 

 

For all the (not unjustified) talk of how hokey the shark looked there are a lot of shots of the shark that are absolutely magnificent.

 

And Williams works too damn hard. He's got the Jaws theme going. Too easy. He's got the fugue going. Oh, and how about the... Is that end credits theme the Orca theme? And now... Korngold! All part of the show, folks!

 

For 40+ years I've never realized that was Spielberg on the radio but today it jumps out at me like a Great White Shark.

 

4:19 was AWFUL in pan and scan!

 

3 hours ago, Brando said:

I remember seeing this eons ago and I thought it was legit since I was a kid

 

 

 

You know the whole justification for a real Jaws sequel would have been? To see Brody and Hooper on screen together again.

 

4 hours ago, A24 said:

If Jaws is better than everything then why do some people prefer Jaws 2?

 

Love to prove that, wouldn't you?

[Brando 2,044]

10 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

For 40+ years I've never realized that was Spielberg on the radio but today it jumps out at me like a Great White Shark.

WHAT?!!?!?!?!

 

11 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

You know the whole justification for a real Jaws sequel would have been? To see Brody and Hooper on screen together again.

That also would've been great but I am glad they were able to snag Roy for Jaws 2 even though he made it very clear he was not happy being there, but him and Williams make the sequel very worth it.

[Mr. Hooper 2,958]

23 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

For all the (not unjustified) talk of how hokey the shark looked there are a lot of shots of the shark that are absolutely magnificent.

The one shot that has always made me cringe is when the shark surfaces and Brody says "He's eating his way right through that line."

 

The head was pretty bloated at that point from being waterlogged, and it just kinda flounders there with the mouth mechanism working away.

 

If there's a shot I'd change, that would be it.

[Tallguy 4,109]

11 minutes ago, Brando said:

That also would've been great but I am glad they were able to snag Roy for Jaws 2 even though he made it very clear he was not happy being there, but him and Williams make the sequel very worth it.

 

Without them it would have been... Well... Jaws 3 and 4.

 

OK, I've never actually seen Caine speaking THE quote about Jaws 4. Had anyone else heard that he was talking about the house he bought FOR HIS MOTHER?

 

 

[Brando 2,044]

That shot doesn't bother me, since its contorting its mouth to eat whatever's there (which I feel is realistic), but the one that does is the real shark footage right after the shark hits the cage the first time. The real Great White swims past the camera and since its real its blatantly obvious that it doesn't match, now I see why it was used, its a fantastic shot of the real animal but I wish there was an alternate shot of the shark swimming away that didn't outright say 'hey this is definitely not the mechanical shark' thats been scaring you for the past 20 minutes.

5 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

 

Without them it would have been... Well... Jaws 3 and 4.

 

OK, I've never actually seen Caine speaking THE quote about Jaws 4. Had anyone else heard that he was talking about the house he bought FOR HIS MOTHER?

 

 

I wish I could watch this movie with him, it would be a blast

[Mr. Hooper 2,958]

8 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

OK, I've never actually seen Caine speaking THE quote about Jaws 4. Had anyone else heard that he was talking about the house he bought FOR HIS MOTHER?

[Not Mr. Big 4,719]

The other movies get most of the love but Jaws 3D doesn't get enough credit (if nothing else than kick starting the 3D craze)

[Brando 2,044]

I live 45ish minutes from the attractions pit of Orlando, so anytime I drive by SeaWorld I look over and I immediately think of Jaws 3. Its fun watching the movie and seeing how different it used to look back in 1983.

[Andy 4,982]

The 3D conversion of the original Jaws that was released in theaters last year was jaw-dropping, pun intended.  I wish it would be released to 3D Blu Ray.   Sooooo good. 

[Mr. Hooper 2,958]

22 minutes ago, Not Mr. Big said:

The other movies get most of the love but Jaws 3D doesn't get enough credit (if nothing else than kick starting the 3D craze)

I remember also seeing 'Metalstorm' in 3-D that summer. Didn't see 'Spacehunter', and was too young for 'Friday the 13th Part 3'.

 

The 3-D craze also extended to TV in the Toronto area where I grew up, as a local station showed old movies like House of Wax, Gorilla at Large, and Revenge of the Creature, and we could buy the red and blue glasses at participating convenience stores. Fun times!

 

24 minutes ago, Brando said:

I live 45ish minutes from the attractions pit of Orlando, so anytime I drive by SeaWorld I look over and I immediately think of Jaws 3. Its fun watching the movie and seeing how different it used to look back in 1983.

 

In 1988, me and my family went to Florida and visited SeaWorld, and boy was I disappointed when I learned there was no actual "Undersea Kingdom"...

 

Like Pee-wee Herman finding out the Alamo had no basement. lol

[Brando 2,044]

14 minutes ago, Mr. Hooper said:

In 1988, me and my family went to Florida and visited SeaWorld, and boy was I disappointed when I learned there was no actual "Undersea Kingdom"...

Its really cool that this sign is still there that you can see in the movie.

 

 

[Tallguy 4,109]

Now my YouTube feed is 50% Michael Caine videos. Not many people know that.

[Mr. Hooper 2,958]

2 hours ago, Tallguy said:

Now my YouTube feed is 50% Michael Caine videos. Not many people know that.

Mine is now Louis Gossett Jr. videos. 

[Nick1Ø66 5,563]

While Jaws isn't my favourite Spielberg film (though firmly in the Top 5), it's certainly his most quotable.  When I was at Uni I used Quint's Indianapolis speech as an audition for a play, and my best mate and I quote Jaws to each other all the time. 

[Jurassic Shark 12,782]

You and Aragorn?

[Nick1Ø66 5,563]

Me and your wife.

[Andy 4,982]

20 minutes ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

Me and your wife.

Are we discussing the novel now?

[Naïve Old Fart 10,222]

2 minutes ago, Andy said:

Are we discussing the novel now?

 

The topic doesn't specify 

[Mr. Hooper 2,958]

3 hours ago, Andy said:

Are we discussing the novel now?

It was smart of them to get rid of that subplot. Although Ellen may appear taken with me at the dinner table, there was no footsies underneath.

[Brando 2,044]

10 minutes ago, Mr. Hooper said:

It was smart of them to get rid of that subplot. Although Ellen may appear taken with me at the dinner table, there was no footsies underneath.

I remember reading the novel for the first time and I had an inkling of this affair because of the making of documentary I had seen, and after that happens in the book it goes downhill for me. I was telling someone the other day on Threads who didn’t know there was a novel (I guess they didn’t pay attention to the credit not even a minute into the movie🤷‍♂️) that the only characters who are actually decent are Quint and the shark. Everyone else kind of just sucks and are awful. It’s no wonder Steven was rooting for the shark to win. This is one of the rare and few times the movie succeeds the source novel in every way.

[Nick1Ø66 5,563]

4 hours ago, Andy said:

Are we discussing the novel now?

 

That's a deep cut!

 

57 minutes ago, Mr. Hooper said:

It was smart of them to get rid of that subplot.

 

Oh yeah. Actually IMO, Jaws, like The Godfather, is one of those rare instances where the film is better than the novel.

[Tallguy 4,109]

I finally read the book when I got the 20th anniversary laser disc. No wonder my mom wouldn't let me read it when I was 5.

[Andy 4,982]

The characters are dreadful in the book. I wonder if Benchley intentionally made them unlikabe to contrast them with the natural appeal of the shark?  It’s a strange read for sure, and hard to imagine that before the film it would be such a sensational best seller.  Even weirder that they optioned it for the film before it was actually published.  
 

Anyways, as a lover of old timey illustration, my favorite version of the book is the Reader’s Digest Condensed version.

 

 

[Mr. Hooper 2,958]

15 hours ago, Andy said:

I can almost smell the musty pages...

 

 

 

Karma. 
 

 

[Andy 4,982]

I have a copy. I need to get the Jaws 2 one.  I think it is illustrated as well. 

[ThePenitentMan1 978]

51 minutes ago, Mr. Hooper said:

I can almost smell the musty pages...

 

 

 

Karma. 
 

 

 

Aren't you glad you survived that in the movie?

[Tallguy 4,109]

4 minutes ago, ThePenitentMan1 said:

Aren't you glad you survived that in the movie?

 

They only did that so he can come back for the sequel.

[Mr. Hooper 2,958]

35 minutes ago, ThePenitentMan1 said:

 

Aren't you glad you survived that in the movie?

Hooper has that spectacular Ron and Valerie Taylor live shark footage to thank.

 

For those who don't know the story, the shark got caught in the line connecting the miniature cage to the boat, and it fought to free itself.
 

Spielberg was so impressed that he wanted to use it, but—and luckily for the little person hired to be inside—the cage was empty at the time.

 

So, Mr. Hooper survived.

 

43 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

 

They only did that so he can come back for the sequel.

 

'Jaws 2' wouldn't have been the same without that long-distance call saying he'd be outside of radio range. lol

 

[ThePenitentMan1 978]

46 minutes ago, Mr. Hooper said:

Spielberg was so impressed that he wanted to use it, but—and luckily for the little person hired to be inside—the cage was empty at the time.

 

Indeed!  I love that story.

 

Also, I gotta mention—and I do know this is a bit of a tangent here—just how much I love em dashes!

 

Do you copy+paste them or use ALT+0151?

[Yavar Moradi 2,864]

Em dashers UNITE!

Yavar

[Tallguy 4,109]

52 minutes ago, Mr. Hooper said:

So, Mr. Hooper survived.

 

Is that seriously the story? Either I've never heard that or I heard it and forgot it. Am I right in remembering that the documentary on the laser disc was quite a bit longer than what ended up on DVD?

 

8 minutes ago, ThePenitentMan1 said:

Also, I gotta mention—and I do know this is a bit of a tangent here—just how much I love em dashes!

 

I once spent a whole week chasing down a system failure that turned out to have been caused by a database instability caused by improperly processed em dashes!

[ThePenitentMan1 978]

11 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

Is that seriously the story? Either I've never heard that or I heard it and forgot it. Am I right in remembering that the documentary on the laser disc was quite a bit longer than what ended up on DVD?

 

Yep!

 

https://thedailyjaws.com/blog/the-real-reason-hooper-lives-in-spielbergs-jaws

 

11 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

I once spent a whole week chasing down a system failure that turned out to have been caused by a database instability caused by improperly processed em dashes!

 

How'd that happen?  When did this incident occur?

[Mr. Hooper 2,958]

9 minutes ago, ThePenitentMan1 said:

Also, I gotta mention—and I do know this is a bit of a tangent here—just how much I love em dashes!

 

Do you copy+paste them or use ALT+0151?

 

It's available on my iPad virtual keyboard. I choose the longest dash for effect! lol

 

3 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

Am I right in remembering that the documentary on the laser disc was quite a bit longer than what ended up on DVD?

Now you have me wondering... I only watched the laser disc a few times on one of the players at my university library, back when it came out. But I'm inclined to say that it wasn't edited for the DVD.

 

[Andy 4,982]

4 minutes ago, Mr. Hooper said:

 

I only watched the laser disc a few times on one of the players at my university library, back when it came out. 

 

Wow, get out of my head. That’s how I watched it too!

 

I’m not sure if the laserdisc Doc was edited for DVD/Blu, or if it’s the Shark is Still Working that was edited for the Blu. 

[Mr. Hooper 2,958]

4 minutes ago, Andy said:

I’m not sure if the laserdisc Doc was edited for DVD/Blu, or if it’s the Shark is Still Working that was edited for the Blu. 

I remember The Shark is Still Working going to festivals before it was picked up by Universal, and that version was much longer than what ended up on the Blu-ray.

[Brando 2,044]

4 hours ago, Mr. Hooper said:

I can almost smell the musty pages...

When I got all 3 novels off of eBay several years ago the first thing I did was crack open them and sniffed them. 2 and Revenge were older printings I think, and the first novel had a different cover than what was normally used, I think it was called the mass market paperback version?