{"id":403,"date":"2022-08-19T14:45:54","date_gmt":"2022-08-19T18:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iterudio.com\/?p=403"},"modified":"2022-08-19T14:45:54","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T18:45:54","slug":"jaws-and-sequels-in-genera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/?p=403","title":{"rendered":"Jaws, sequels in general, and Steven Spielberg"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


Jaws – 1975<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

There have been a couple documentaries about the 1975 blockbuster “Jaws” — which probably illustrates the long term impact of the original movie.

Any “major” movie made in the era of “DVD extras” is going to have an obligatory “making of” documentary – so the fact

“Jaws: The Inside Story” aired on A&E back in 2009 (and is available for free on Kanopy.com). It was surprisingly entertaining – both as “movie making” documentary and as “cultural history.”

This came to mind because the “Jaws movies” have been available on Tubi.com for the last couple months.

full disclosure: I was a little too young to see “Jaws” in the theater — the “edited for tv” version of “Jaws” was my first exposure to the movie, when the movie got a theatrical re-release and ABC aired it on network tv in 1979.

I probably saw the “un-edited” version of “Jaws” on HBO at some point – and I have a DVD of the original “Jaws.” All of which means I’ve seen “Jaws – 1975” a LOT. Nostalgia aside, it still holds up as an entertaining movie.

Yes, the mechanical shark is cringeworthy in 2022 – but the fact that the shark DIDN’T work as well as Spielberg et al wanted probably contributes to the continued “watch – ability” of the movie. i.e. Mr Spielberg had to use “storytelling” technics to “imply” the shark – which ends up being much scarier than actually showing the shark.

i.e. what made the original “Jaws” a great movie had very little to do with the mechanical shark\/”special effects.” The movie holds up as a case study on “visual storytelling.” Is it Steven Spielberg’s “best movie”? No. But it does showcase his style\/technique.

At one point “Jaws” was the highest grossing movie in history. It gets credit for creating the “summer blockbuster” concept i.e. I think it was supposed to be released as as “winter movie” – but got pushed to a summer release because of production problems.

Source material<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

The problem with the “Jaws” franchise was that it was never intended to be a multiple-movie franchise. The movie was based on Peter Benchley’s (hugely successful) 1974 novel (btw: Peter Benchley plays the “reporter on the beach” in “Jaws – 1975”).

I was too young to see “Jaws” in the theater, and probably couldn’t even read yet when the novel was spending 44 weeks on the bestseller lists. <\/p>\n\n\n

“Movie novelizations” tended to be a given back in the 1970’s\/80’s – but when the movie is “based on a novel” USUALLY the book is “better” than the movie. “Jaws” is one of the handful of “books made into movies” where the movie is better than the book (obviously just my opinion).<\/p>\n\n\n

The basic plot is obviously the same – the two major differences is that (in the book) Hooper dies and the shark doesn’t explode. <\/p>\n\n\n

Part of the legend of the movie is that “experts” told Mr. Spielberg that oxygen tanks don’t explode like that and that the audience wouldn’t believe the ending. Mr Spielberg replied (something like) “Give me the audience for 2 hours and they will stand up and cheer when the shark explodes” — and audiences did cheer at the exploding shark …<\/p>\n\n\n

(btw: one of those “reality shows” tried to replicate the “exploding oxygen tank” and no, oxygen tanks do NOT explode like it does at the end of Jaws – so the experts were right, but so was Mr Spielberg …)<\/p>\n\n\n

Sequels<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

It is estimated that “Jaws – 1975” sold 128 million tickets. Adjust for inflation and it is in the $billion movie club.<\/p>\n\n\n

SO of course there would be sequels.<\/p>\n\n\n

Steven Spielberg very wisely stayed far away from all of the sequels. Again, the existential issue with MOST “sequels” is that they tend to just be attempts to get more money out of the popularity of the original – rather than telling their own story.<\/p>\n\n\n

Yes, there are exceptions – but none of the Jaws sequels comes anywhere close to the quality of the original.<\/p>\n\n\n

“Jaws 2” was released in summer 1978. Roy Scheider probably got a nice paycheck to reprise his starring role as Chief Martin Brody – Richard Dreyfuss stayed away (his character is supposed to be on a trip to Antarctica or something). Most of the supporting cast came back – so the movie tries very hard to “feel” like the original.<\/p>\n\n\n

Again – I didn’t see “Jaws 2” in the theater. I remembered not liking the movie when I did see it on HBO – but I (probably) hadn’t seen it for 30 years when I re-watched it on Tubi the other day.<\/p>\n\n\n

Well, the mechanical shark worked better in “Jaws 2” – but it doesn’t help the movie. Yes, the directing is questionable, the “teenagers” mostly unlikeable, and the plot contrived – but other than that …

How could “Jaws 2” have been better? Well, fewer screeching teenagers (or better directed teenagers). It felt like they had a contest to be in the movie – and that was how they selected most of the “teenagers.” <\/p>\n\n\n

Then the plot makes the cardinal sin of trying to explain “why” another huge shark is attacking the same little beach community. Overly. contrived.<\/p>\n\n\n

If you want, you can find subtext in “Jaws – 1975.” i.e. the shark can symbolize “nature” or “fate” or maybe even “divine retribution” take your pick. Maybe it isn’t there – but that becomes the genius in the storytelling – i.e. don’t explain too much, let the audience interpret as they like<\/p>\n\n\n

BUT if you have another huge shark, seemingly targeting the same community – well, then the plot quickly becomes overly contrived. <\/p>\n\n\n

The shark death scene in “Jaws 2” just comes across as laughably stupid – but by that time I was just happy that the movie was over.<\/p>\n\n\n

SO “Jaws 2” tried very hard – and it did exactly what a “back for more cash” sequel is supposed to do – i.e. is made money.<\/p>\n\n\n

“Jaws 3” was released in summer 1983 and tried to capitalize on a brief resurgence of the “3-D” fad. This time the movie was a solid “B.” The only connection to the first two movies is the grown up Brody brothers – and the mechanical shark of course.<\/p>\n\n\n

The plot for “Jaws 3” might feel familiar to audiences in 2022. Not being a “horror” movie aficionado, I’m not sure how much “prior” art was involved with the plot — i.e. the basic “theme park” disaster plot had probably become a staple for “horror” movies by 1983 (“Westworld” released in 1973 comes to mind).<\/p>\n\n\n

Finally the third sequel came out in 1987 (“Jaws: The Revenge”) – I have not seen the movie. Wikipedia tells me that this movie ignores “Jaws 3” and becomes a direct sequel to “Jaws 2” (tagline “This time it is personal”)<\/p>\n\n\n

The whole “big white shark is back for revenge against the Brody clan” plot is a deal breaker for me – e.g. when Michael Caine was asked if he had watched “Jaws 4” (which received terrible reviews) – his response was ‘No. But I’ve seen the house it bought for my mum. It’s fantastic!’<\/p>\n\n\n

Thankfully, there isn’t likely to be another direct “Jaws” sequel (God willing). <\/p>\n\n\n

Humans have probably told stories about “sea monsters” for as long as there have been humans living next to large bodies of water. From that perspective “Jaws” was not an “original story” (of course those are hard to find) but an updated version of very old stories – and of course “shark”\/sea monster movies continue to be popular in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n

Mr Spielberg<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Steven Spielberg was mostly an “unknown” director before “Jaws.” Under ordinary circumstances – an “unknown” director would have been involved in the sequel to a “big hit movie.”<\/p>\n\n\n

Mr Spielberg explained he stayed away from the “Jaws sequels” because making the original movie was a “nightmare” (again, multiple documentaries have been made). <\/p>\n\n\n

“Jaws 2” PROBABLY would have been better if he had been involved – but his follow up was another classic — “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977).<\/p>\n\n\n

It is slightly interesting to speculate on what would have happened to Steven Spielberg’s career if “Jaws” had “flopped” at the box office. My guess is he would have gone back to directing television and would obviously have EVENTUALLY had another shot at directing “Hollywood movies.”<\/p>\n\n\n

Speculative history aside – “Jaws” was nominated for “Best Picture” (but lost to “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”) and won Oscars for Best Film Editing, Best Music (John Williams), and Best Sound.<\/p>\n\n\n

The “Best Director” category in 1976 reads like a “Director Hall of Fame” list – Stanley Kubrick, Robert Altman, Sidney Lumet, Federico Fellini, and then Milos Forman won for directing “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” SO it is understandable why Mr Spielberg had to wait until 1978 to get his first “Best Director” nomination for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” … <\/p>\n\n\n

(btw: the source novel for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is fantastic – I didn’t care for the movie PROBABLY because I read the book first … ) <\/p>\n\n\n

Best vs favorite<\/strong>
ANYWAY – I have a lot of Steven Spielberg movies in my “movie library” – what is probably his “best movie” (if you have to choose one – as in “artistic achievement”) is hands down “Schindler’s List” (1993) which won 7 Oscars – including “Best Director” for Mr Spielberg.<\/p>\n\n\n

However, if I had to choose a “favorite” then it is hard to beat “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (but there is probably nostalgia involved) …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jaws – 1975 There have been a couple documentaries about the 1975 blockbuster “Jaws” — which probably illustrates the long term impact of the original movie. Any “major” movie made in the era of “DVD extras” is going to have an obligatory “making of” documentary – so the fact “Jaws: The Inside Story” aired on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","category-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}