The Jaws Thread

You know one thing that makes you appreciate Jaws that I only realized now. A child character actually gets murdered by a monster.

Maybe I just haven't seen these types of movies recently but a story where a child doesn't get to be a plucky side character and instead just dies, kind of feels daring. One of the only other examples I can think of is the 80s remake of the Blob where one of the kids gets brutally killed by the titular monster.

Too often children have plot armor it feels like. And it's nice when you see that subverted.

Yeah. I mean to kill off both a teen girl and then a young boy and have their deaths be those of the major victims investigated throughout the film was certainly a daring and risky move for a movie that while rated a hardcore PG at the time (and would probably be PG-13 today) was something a lot of people saw—and became one of the most successful movies ever made at the time—shows how incredibly unique and appealing the film still managed to be for so many who saw it.

Also, sheesh. With the nosebleed inducing differences between both Jurassic Park and Schindler's List, it's a miracle Spielberg managed to stay sane making both of those movies at the same time. Anyone else would've had a heart attack.

That Jaws managed to be a thrilling monster movie while also this impressive psychological study about dealing with a man-eating creature at the same time is certainly a testament to both the film itself and to Spielberg's talent and craft as well.

Edited by futuremoviewriter on Feb 5th 2024 at 3:32:36 AM

It's an unbuilt trope back then. Back when Spielberg was young and didn't think much about raising children just yet.

Note as he got older, he became a lot more family friendly even in works that would fit right alongside with the novel Jaws, namely Jurassic Park.

It's a complete package of things I like. All the things I want from a film, Jaws delivers. I'm trying to think if there is any trope I dislike from this film and I can't really think of any. They are all tropes I like.

This movie is so much like Rocky where the more you unpack it the more you find that just sticks with you.

Many great movies find layers to sell themselves with: things that'll either appeal to most people or different things that'll appeal to most people while varying with those who like them. Jaws is definitely one of those movies.

Edited by futuremoviewriter on Feb 5th 2024 at 10:56:55 AM

Funnily enough the mostly-comedic Alligator also had a kid getting chowed by the titular Ramón the alligator. Looks like the 70s-80s had some kid-killing flicks from time to time

The book's 50th Anniversary is this month. Appropriate time for the discussion to go active on here again.

Funny how while I am a massive fan of the movie, I don't really care for the book. I can respect aspects of it but the whole novel is just very clunky. A lot of the best parts of the movie are not in the original story.

What IS in the original story? Ellen's angst over her marriage because it was a one night of passion that led to her getting this unhappy romance.

Which leads to her having an affair with Hooper who is not a likable and charming scientist but a classy and arrogant college graduate who is kind of a pretentious ass.

Quint being a generic Captain Ahab without the fun dialogue or character traits that make him compelling.

The Mayor's lame mafia plot line that serves as a generic mystery and contributes nothing to the actual story?

Maybe the part where there is all this lore about this one off lesbian woman who is treated like a joke in universe?

You notice a pattern? None of these things are in the movie! And it's better for it.

Hearing about the things that were in the book but not in the movie, I'm very fascinated to see HOW that would've worked certainly. Haha.

Well, the thing that's notable in the book is that Quint actually succeeds in killing the shark. Posthumously. Turns out, no great white could pull down three barrels down for long period of time, and that was the shark's downfall. It was simply too tired out from pulling the barrels that it died from exhaustion (since great white shark needs to keep moving to keep breathing).

While I could see them thinking that would be anticlimactic, it could've still been an effective ending. Basically they took out the Shark through death by a thousand cuts rather than a big bang. A long grueling process that still would've had the same outcome in the end.

That is an anticlimactic ending. Compared to "Smile you son of a bitch!" followed by the Kaboom!

I mean because the intensity of the drama of the Shark continuing to be a threat that gets bigger and bigger utility just running totally out of energy and dying would still develop tension up until the final moment and then just strike you with quickly it would end right after that. That's what I was getting at. The dramatic suspense and the sudden while also gradual release of tension when the Shark just…dies—like the air of discomfort combined with the chance to finally catch your breath could still be very effective.

It's hard to beat that moment though. I'll definitely give you that.

Edited by futuremoviewriter on Feb 7th 2024 at 10:10:51 AM

If the movie was gonna have the gradual death of the shark be the plot point that it wanted to follow, with a slow death as opposed to a fast one, it should have still had some suspense which the book lacked.

What I would have done is have the shark chasing down Brody as he tries to steer the failing Orca back towards the shore. Kind of like that scene in the movie where Quint loses his nerves and starts panicking. Except this time the shark is biting chunks out of the Orca like some insane demon that is killing itself over anything logical. And then the boat's engine finally fails and the shark beaches itself over the transom. Or maybe Brody crashes into the beach himself and scrambles for shore only to see the shark beach itself and drown.

Basically, a final chase sequence that ends with the shark committing suicide.

Or the Shark continues busting or chewing away at the boat and getting more and more out of breath, continues using as much energy as possible and just gets even more and more tired and then eventually either draws its last breaths and either lays lifeless on the remains of the boat as it dies or either floats away or sinks to the bottom—with Brody catching his breath and gradually sighing in relief.

They clearly wanted the death of the Shark to be a satisfying; crowd-pleasing moment and with a draw-out scene though like this that gives the Shark an Alas, Poor Villain demise—or at least makes the animal's suffering more apparent? It wouldn't really be fun for the audience ultimately.

Edited by futuremoviewriter on Feb 7th 2024 at 1:25:49 AM

What you described reminds me of this one episode from Primal, which features a dinosaur getting infected with this disease that turns it into a bloodthirsty zombie. And then at one point that creature just destroys itself trying to kill the main character, Spear, as it smashes its body apart and ends up boiling itself alive in a pit of lava.

Something like that doesn't make you cheer for the monster's demise, but instead makes you feel horribly sorry for it. And while that could work for another story, that doesn't fit the bombastic epic scale of the film version.

Plague of Madness: That was the episode.

Edited by Patar136 on Feb 7th 2024 at 2:37:43 AM

I mean, if you're going to do a remake of Jaws, you better make it stand out drastically from the original film. And having the shark die in an Alas, Poor Villain moment through exhaustion is a great way to get a different perspective about sharks, especially in light of the dangers humans pose to them.

For sure. I would want the remake to be different. I mean, I don't want a Jaws remake at all, but if it HAD to be done I would want some originality.

Anyone wanna talk about Jaws Unleashed? Pretty ridiculous game. You play AS the shark. And EAT people. Pretty funny idea.

You'd love Maneater then.

If a remake is to be done with a twist indeed.

Or it could have a reveal that it is not just one shark that is stalking the waters of Amity but a whole shoal. Passing through for food which unfortunately happened this time around when the summer-season and a ton of people get in the water within a short period of time.

One victim gets snatched by one. Another victim by another. It continues.

And for the infamous scene, Brody throws out the bait and instead of one shark, the whole water fills up with them, making him realize in dawning horror the potential sheer number of hungry sharks that's in the water around and under their feet at that moment in this little boat of theirs. (The sharks thinking this thing is a small whale, bleeding, and waiting for it to die as a whole whale is basically a free all-you-can-eat dinner for them)

Hence "You're going to need a bigger boat."

I mean I think of that TV movie from years ago that I saw on then ABC Family called Spring Break Shark Attack where somebody sabotaging a rival beach used bait to lure a school of tiger sharks there and they attacked beachgoers.

You think of how drastically the Jurassic Park movies changed over the years—and still manages an incredibly successful film franchise while Jaws failed to become one almost instantly—and it goes to show that the landscape makes it very hard to support the idea now certainly. Also, the "Monster Hunt" episode from Jimmy Neutron is a good Jaws parody and just further shows how far the idea of a legit Jaws franchise fell too.

Edited by futuremoviewriter on Feb 8th 2024 at 8:35:30 AM

I mean Jaws was lightning in a bottle. It was a perfect miracle of circumstances that allowed it to be wildly successful. How do you possibly up the stakes at this point?

It's like trying to do the "I am your father" from Star Wars and not be parodied.

One thing that I am reminded of is the expert film editing by Verna Fields. She 100% deserved her Oscar because she did an amazing job composing shots together. So many sequences are just perfectly composed with the best dialogue transitions I’ve ever seen in a film. Absolutely amazing.

One scene from the sequel. Anyone with a shred of knowledge on scuba diving will tell you it's a bloody miracle this guy didn't end up dead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqWz0oKJQ5E

Edited by Patar136 on Feb 24th 2024 at 7:02:03 AM

From the looks of Jaws 2, it probably figured you either invest in another similar series of shark attacks in the same town with more audacity or you don't. Haha.

Honestly Jaws 2 portraying an Orca getting killed by the Shark as jab-back at Orca: T He Killer Whale for showing a shark being killed by the animal is hilarious to anyone who knows that the latter case is how it actually goes in real life to the point where some cases of great whites show they may stray far from Orca-inhabited areas