RECENT WATCHES: Jaws: The Revenge (1987)

“Jaws 3-D” was still successful, but made considerably less money then either previous film. The killer shark franchise would rest for three years before Universal CEO Sidney Sheinberg, during a time when the studio was desperate for a hit, demanded a fourth entry be made. He quickly hooked Joseph Sargent, the director of acclaimed thrillers like "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" and "Colossus: The Forbin Project," to make “Jaws: The Revenge.” There was a catch however: The sequel had to be ready by next summer. The expediated production time is obvious in the final film. “Jaws: The Revenge” is one of the most notorious sequels ever and widely considered one of the worst movies of all time. 

Some have suggested that "The Revenge" disregards the events of "Jaws 3-D" but, if this is true, it has little effect on the final film. Regardless, the saga of the Brody family continues. Martin has passed away at some point, leaving Ellen a widow. Michael is now working as an ocean-life biologist while Sean has inherited his father’s position at the local police force. On a cold Christmas Eve, Sean goes out to investigate a missing boat in the waters around Amity Island. He is attacked by a great white shark and killed. Ellen becomes convinced that the shark is a spectre of revenge, determined to kill off her entire family. She heads to the Bahamas to spend time with Michael, his wife, and her granddaughter. Despite finding romance there, Ellen is still worried about the shark, expecting it to strike at any minute. Which, of course, it does.

“Jaws: The Revenge” has been widely mocked for its “voodoo shark” concept. Most infamously, comedian Richard Jeni did a lengthy bit about it. The film does indeed move the franchise into the previous unseen realm of magic realism. The script never outright confirms whether the shark is a supernatural manifestation of aquatic retaliation, sent to avenge the last three sharks’ murders at the hands of the Brody family. Ellen certainly seems to think so. The shark targeting her family specific and tracking her from Maine suggests this to be the case. Yeah, nothing in the earlier films suggests such a thing being possible. However, let’s be serious: Is it really any dumber then the concept of a Mommy Shark avenging the death of her child in “Jaws 3-D?” Or a second shark attacking Amity Island for a second time, for that matter? At least the mystical route explains why the same shit happens for the fourth time in a row. 

Maybe the weirdest parts of “Jaws: The Revenge” is that large portions of the film doesn’t even focus on the damn shark. Maybe to help distinguish the series from all the “Jaws” rip-offs, each of these movies had to focus on the Brody family. By this point, the only original cast member the producers could get back was Lorraine Gary as Sherriff Brody's widow. (Probably because she was married to Sheinberg.) Focusing on Gary's character has some interesting effects on the narrative. Once in the Bahamas, Ellen is romanced by Hoagie, the plane pilot. The two dance during Junkanoo, canoodle in a casino, and spend an afternoon flirting in a bar. “Jaws 4” might as well be subtitled “How Ellen Brody Got Her Groove Back.” Only occasionally do their conversation circle back around to the killer shark and usually in the most awkward way possible. Michael Caine is fine as Hoagie. (And his openness about the movie’s quality has been charming.) Lorraine Gary, meanwhile, varies between confused and melodramatic, usually whenever she’s crying or yelling at something.

The movie also heavily focuses on the plight of the Brody children. Much time is spent on the relationship between Michael and his wife, Carla. She’s a scrap metal artist, as displayed in several scenes. The two’s sex life also comes up with an unusual amount of frequency. Michael’s job as a marine biologist, especially his studies of conch shells, is another diversion in the script. Meanwhile, his daughter Thea also gets plenty of screen-time, playing with her dad, mom, and grandmother. Mario Van Peebles' character, Jake, and his ridiculous Jamaican accent also appears a lot. Rumor has it, Peebles wrote most of his dialogue. This explains why he does goofy things, like humming the "Jaws" theme song. At one level, I appreciate the film’s attempts to flesh out its cast members. On another level, it feels like padding, leaving viewers with the lingering question of “Why is this shit in a “Jaws” movie?”

In “Jaws 3-D,” Bruce the Shark had already seen better days. When “The Revenge” rolled around, the shark became faker looking than ever. Worst yet, the film seems obsessed with the shark leaping up, flashing his jaws, and roaring. We see this repeatedly, in nightmares and the waking world. One sequence, that has the shark jumping onto Michael’s boat, is protracted and embarrassing. Every time, the shark looks rubbery and fake, like the flaying puppet it is. This is most obvious during a chase scene between Michael and the shark in a sunken ship. In a better movie, that moment could have been suspenseful. Here, the execution is laughable.

Speaking of laughable… In its last act, “Jaws: The Revenge” goes totally nuts. Ellen has an emotional break, hijacks a boat, and goes after Jaws herself. In a baffling scene, Jake is eaten, seemingly psychically projected into the shark’s mouth. To top that baffling moment, there’s the infamous finale. Just as the shark leaps out of the water, Ellen impales it on the bough of the boat. Without explanation, the marine predator explodes. This is what’s supposed to be happening, I think: Earlier, the shark swallowed a device called an impulse producer. I suppose it's possible the device contain some sort of explosive fuel, which was sparked by the impaling. However, the scene is so badly cut, this is not clearly conveyed. The inexplicable cherry on the baffling sundae is that Jake somehow survives being eaten by the shark. Even though we clearly saw him being munched on earlier! Everyone then has a good laugh and the movie ends. Unsurprisingly, this bizarre conclusion is the result of last minute re-edits and alternate footage.

It is a "no shit" statement to say that "Jaws: The Revenge" is bad. The movie has been a critical punching bag for thirty-five years. However, a part of me enjoys it a lot more than “Jaws 3-D.” It’s shorter, for one, and better paced. Part three's regurgitation of horror clichés and its focus on stiff 3-D gimmick mostly bored me. “The Revenge” is frequently hilarious, albeit for all the wrong reasons. There's a zippy, comedic energy to its slapdash incoherence. Granted, it’s still a pathetic end to the legacy started by Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece. Yet its focus on a middle-age woman and its wacky plot does provide an undeniable novelty. At the very least, “Jaws: The Revenge” is better then the NES game it inspired. And it does have that awesome tagline: “This time, it’s personal!” For all these reasons and more, "Jaws: The Revenge" is, in its own misbegotten way, the most entertaining of the "Jaws" sequels. [5/10]

RECENT WATCHES: Jaws 3-D (1983)

“Jaws 2” didn’t make as much money as “Jaws.” It still made a lot of money though. Enough that a third entry in the shark series was demanded. By this point, the producers already felt the “Jaws” formula had been exhausted. Balancing that against the first film’s already iconic quality, they floated the clever idea of making the third “Jaws” film a parody, entitled “Jaws 3, People 0.” A script, by John Hughes and his National Lampoon cohorts, was written and Joe Dante was chosen to direct. However, the studio brass nixed this idea. Instead, a third, straight “Jaws” film was thrown together. In order to cash in on the brief 3-D revival at the time, “Jaws 3” became “Jaws 3-D.” 

Some time after the events of “Jaws 2,” Mike Brody and his younger brother Sean leave Amity Island. You’d think the Brody boys would never want to lay eyes on water again. Apparently not, as Mike gets a job as an engineer at Florida’s SeaWorld. Sean, the slacker of the two, merely hangs around SeaWorld, despite having a phobia of the water. All is well until, once again, history repeats itself. A giant great white shark swims into SeaWorld and begins to eat people, create chaos, and ruin quite a few family vacations. 

“Jaws 2” was derivative of the first film and not very interesting. At least it had some sort of heart and soul, mostly thanks to Roy Scheider. “Jaws 3-D,” on the other hand, is dumb as hell. Even the corporate studio stooges who made this movie realized a shark attacking Amity Island a third time was a bit too much. (The sequel is the sole directorial credit of Joe Alves, the production designer on the first two "Jaws" movies.) However, the idea they cooked up instead is equally unlikely. A giant shark operating undetected in a location as tightly organized and controlled as a theme park is utterly implausible. The reason why the shark swims into SeaWorld is even dumber. About halfway through, the film’s heroes are attacked by a normal sized shark, which is successfully captured and put on display. At this point, I’m thinking “There’s no way this is Jaws!” And, naturally, it isn’t. This shark is a baby and the giant is its mother. When the baby shark inevitably dies, the larger great white’s rampage is one of personal revenge. Gee whiz, I didn’t know sharks could hold grudges. Or personally raised their young, for that matter.

Not helping matters is the generic cast of characters. Dennis Quaid, always a leading actor whose charisma can vary from project to project, plays Mike as a bland and boring hero. He has a standard story arc with his girlfriend, dolphin trainer Kay. He has to leave the country for work and she wants him to stay. The rest of the characters are similarly forgettable. Sean, and most everyone else, seems preoccupied with getting laid. Much of the cast is just shark fodder, introduced seconds before being eaten. Even the park owner is in the same mold as Amity Island’s mayor, a man obsessed with the bottom line and disinterested if human lives are threatened by this.

It’s hard to even enjoy “Jaws 3-D” as a trashy horror movie. The special effects, simply put, look like shit. The shark in the first two movies looked artificial but in a way that enhanced its power. It didn’t look like a normal shark because it wasn’t one. It was more than just a simple animal. This shark, however, looks like an awkward, stiff puppet. Since the script calls for the shark to do more stuff then last time, this is all-the-more obvious. The 3-D effects, which the whole movie was sold on, look particularly bad. A severed arm, obviously fake, floats weirdly in the water, protruding towards the camera. A sequence in an underwater tunnel is especially lame, the people inside clearly not being in the same area as the giant shark. 

The last act features the worst scenes yet. Getting a P.O.V. shot of someone being eaten by the shark is a neat concept. However, instead of being torn apart by rows of teeth, he lays inside the fish’s throat, while the jaws flop around. Eventually, the muscle seem to crush him. The absolute lowest visual effect is when the shark smashes the window of a control room. In slow motion, it lunges towards the room, in a robotic, sluggish fashion. The nose pierces the glass, sending huge cartoon shards flying into the room. Once again, Bruce (Brucina?) is exploded, this time with an improbably placed grenade. Its severed jaws float towards the audience, as if suspended on fishing wire. This goofy-as-fuck finale is the only time “Jaws 3-D” comes close to being unintentionally hilarious. Well, Lou Gosset Jr.’s sweaty, street lingo-spouting performance is pretty funny too.

“Jaws 3-D” is not a good movie. “Jaws 3-D” is not even a good-bad movie, for the most part. Mostly, “Jaws 3-D” is just a boring and incompetent movie. It’s a film that makes the mediocre “Jaws 2” seem nuanced and exciting in comparison. As poor as the finished product turned out to be, I think the initial plan to make a parody was the right decision. That might have been interesting. There was no more depths to search, no more blood to drained out of this shark’s tooth. This fish was fried, all dried up, out of water, and any other pun you can think of. [4/10]

RECENT WATCHES: Jaws 2 (1978)

There was no way a movie as massively successful as “Jaws” wasn’t going to get a sequel. When a movie makes that much money, the studio naturally wants more of it. This was true even at the beginning of the blockbuster era. However, no one was eager to make “Jaws 2.” After having such a difficult time making the first one, Steven Spielberg vehemently rejected the offer to direct. The production went through two directors. John D. Hancock was fired after several weeks, with Jeannot Szwarc hastily being brought in as a replacement. Roy Scheider only returned to the part of Martin Brody to fulfil a contract with Universal. He actively loathed making the movie and frequently argued with Szwarc. Despite its troubled production, “Jaws 2” still went on to become a monster hit, becoming the seventh high-grossing film of the year. Some of the thanks has to be laid at the clever, frequently parodied tagline: “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...”

A big problem with making a sequel to “Jaws” is how difficult it is to follow up the premise. What? Is another giant great white shark going to swim into the waters around Amity Island and start eating more people? Apparently, yes. The same shit happens to the same town a second time. While divers are photographing the wreckage of the Orca, another shark attacks. After a few people are killed and a half-eaten whale washes up on the beach, Sheriff Brody begins to worry that history is repeating itself. Just like last time, the Mayor ignores his pleas and insists that the beach stays open. Unfortunately, the shark attacks on the same weekend Brody’s sons and a bunch of their teenage friends decide to go sailing, forcing the sheriff to once again take matters into his own hands.

“Jaws 2” is, somewhat inevitably, a less classy affair then the original. In any many ways, it resembles the slasher films that would become popular in the next decade. The shark attacks are a little more gimmicky, with Bruce the Second pulling a water skier under the waves or blowing up a boat. Probably the broadest moment in the sequel occurs when the shark successfully takes down a helicopter. There’s none of the slowly creeping tension of the first film. The shark is shown in full detail early on, sapping away most of its threatening power. Instead of being a nearly supernatural phantasm of death, the great white becomes a cartoonish, unlikely threat. The animal’s full transformation into comic book supervillain is confirmed when half of its face is badly scarred in the aforementioned boat explosion. The only tension “Jaws 2” generates is of the cheap and easy “jump-scare” variety, John Williams’ score blaring whenever the predator’s head screams out of the water or through a boat sail. To confirm its status as an aquatic precursor to the slasher flick, “Jaws 2” mostly revolves around teenagers. 

To give credit where it’s due, “Jaws 2” is a little less shallow than it needed to be. The teens are a relatively indistinct lot. There’s the nerd, the clown, the horny boyfriend and girlfriend, and the religious girl. Many others don’t even get that much personality. Mike Brody is mostly characterized as the rebellious teenage son who learns the hard way that his dad was right. Even if the teens aren't that captivating, their plight is decently constructed. After her boyfriend is eaten, a girl is reduced to a babbling, terrified headcase. After a few victims are claimed, the religious girl falls to her knees and begins to pray. When focusing on the kids, stranded at sea and cornered by a killer shark, “Jaws 2” reveals that it could have been a decent survival thriller with a less cliched plot and a more focused script.

The best thing about “Jaws 2,” the only element really elevating the film above a standard rehash sequel, is Ray Scheider. You’d think after the first film, Martin Brody would never want to look at the ocean ever again. However, since his devotion to his family and his community was so great, you also can’t imagine him leaving Amity Island. “Jaws 2” has Brody going through many of the same steps as last time. The Mayor and other local authorities don’t believe him, even when he presents them with a picture of the shark. This time, it even costs Brody his job. 

However, the sheriff is more nervous. On a busy beach, he rushes out, screaming “Shark!,” shooting at a school of blue fin. Since his kids are directly endangered, Brody is even more invested in the climax. The final duel between Brody and the shark creates some okay thrills. Scheider might have been displeased with the script but he never let it show. His performance is as convinced as last time, even when electrocuting the monster to death with a conveniently placed power cord.

“Jaws 2” is about as routine a repetitive sequel as you could expect. The product could have been way crasser, all things considered. Bringing Schieder back was a great move. Ultimately, there’s not very much memorable about “Jaws 2.” Aside from Brody, the follow-up doesn't have a single interesting character. The attack sequences are only especially entertaining when going to the more absurd reaches. Szwarc's direction is competent and can generate one or two clever scenes. Ultimately, "Jaws 2" grossly pales in comparison to the original. How couldn't it? Yet it doesn’t even stand on its own as a guilty pleasure. [5/10]

Director Report Card: Steven Spielberg (1975)

6. Jaws

“Jaws” is the movie that made Steven Spielberg’s career. It was a risk for the studio. A director that had worked mostly in television before was chosen to direct an adaptation of a best selling (if not particularly well-regarded) novel. The production was fraught with problems, going over budget and over schedule. Spielberg was certain the movie was going to end his career. None of this ended up mattering when the film became a monster hit. Lines went around the block, reviews were ecstatic, and Spielberg was hailed as a new master filmmaker. The movie won three Academy Awards. “Jaws” more-or-less invented the modern blockbuster, paving the way for Spielberg’s career as one of the most successful filmmakers of all time. 

However, I didn’t know any of this when I first saw the movie in a friend’s basement at age six. I was so frightened by the film as a kid that, for several months afterwards, I was afraid to take a bath. I was gripped with the fear that a shark could somehow works it way up the drain after me. Many years later, after becoming a budding film nerd, I was prone to naming it as the greatest movie ever made. To this day, few films effect me the way “Jaws” does. Maybe calling it the greatest movie ever made is overstated but it sure is one of my favorites.

Considering what we know about sharks now, the story of “Jaws” might seem unlikely. If it didn’t happen first. When writing the novel, Peter Benchley was inspired by the true story of the 1916 Jersey Shore man-eater. This informed his plot: A small New England town called Amity Island, ready to enjoy a prosperous summer tourist season, is interrupted when a huge Great White shark swims into its bays. The local government wants to ignore the increasingly frequent attacks but Sheriff Martin Brody is on the case. Soon, the aquaphobic sheriff is joined by a shark expert, Hooper, and an old sailor, Quint, in his hunt to stop the animal before it kills anyone else.

One of the many things that makes “Jaws” so effective is how nice the town of Amity Island seems. It is established early on as a pleasant community. Kids still play excitedly in the streets. The local shops are still owned by grandparents. The local sheriff interacts with the town folks personally. There are local eccentrics, like Bad Hat Harry. Everyone is excited to be on the beach during the Fourth of July weekend. Amity is a nice place to live and that fact is right there in the town’s name. This sort of wholesome Americana would become a trademark of Spielberg’s career. In “Jaws,” however, it serves an important purpose. Amity must seem like the perfect small town. It makes us understand the severity of the threat the sharks poses to anyone who steps foot into the water.

Amity is the idyllic town. Except for one thing. The local government puts profits over human lives. The mayor, always dressed in a tacky seersucker suit, reminds Brody repeatedly that the beaches must stay open. In the years following “Jaws,” and in the numerous imitators it inspired, authority figures keeping the beach/park/camp/so forth open in spite of all the deaths would become a hoary cliché. The plot development serves several purposes here. It makes Brody a lone hero, working against the system. It ratchets up the tension. After it claims several victims, we know how dangerous the shark is. Because the beach is threatening to reopen, the heroes have to work faster and harder to stop it before more lives are put at risk. In Benchley’s novel, the Mayor is keeping the beach open because, in a convoluted subplot, he owes money to the mob. In the movie, it’s simply greed, stupidity, and pride that keeps the beaches open. In our current COVID era, authority figures putting the economy before human lives is all the more relevant. 

“Jaws” ultimately revolves around three main characters. The most important of which is Martin Brody. Brody is a family man, devoted to his wife, two sons, and their home. The early scenes of him snuggling with Ellen and playing with his boys establish him as a normal, down-to-earth guy. He’s also an out-of-towner, making his struggle against the Mayor a little more realistic. Despite that, Brody is devoted to Amity and wants to protect it. Even if that means conquering his fear of the ocean. Brody is the best kind of everyman. He has values that anyone can relate to but he’s not generic. Roy Scheider’s personable performance, full of small touches and gentle eccentricities, makes sure of that. Over the course of the film, he even evolves into an unlikely action hero. Brody’s love of family and community is the heart that powers “Jaws.”

The second part of the movie’s power trio is Matt Hooper. Hooper is young, brass, and comes from a wealthy family. He also knows what he’s talking about. He’s properly terrified of the shark. When performing an autopsy on the girl, he grows sick. Because of what he’s seeing but also because anyone who dare suggest this was anything but a shark attack. Richard Dreyfuss’ brings a jangling, nervous quality to his performance. When dissecting a dead shark, his anxiety is evident in his voice. When yelling at the mayor, he trembles with indignation. Despite these qualities, Hooper is never unlikable. In fact, he’s incredibly funny and charming. Part of this is due to Dreyfuss’ unique presence as a star but also because the part is so well suited to his abilities.

The final corner of the film’s triangle is the mysterious Quint. Quint is introduced in a deliberately off-putting manner, dragging his nails across a chalkboard. He is not a man who compromises or plays nice. This is further established when Quint is introduced to Hooper. He hazes the boy, squeezing his hands, all while making demands of the sheriff. The man is unstable yet fascinating. Robert Shaw’s immediately iconic performance makes Quint a man of mystery, misanthropic but undeniably cool. He remains calm when the boat is floating, when lamps are smashing to the wooden floor. He’s also unhinged enough to smash a phone with an axe, preventing contact with the outside world. This is because the fight with the shark is personal for him. There’s no reason to delve deeper into Shaw’s famous Indianapolis speech. It’s a powerful moment of filmmaking, focusing solely on the actor’s face and his words. Though written as an indistinct Ahab figure, Quint becomes something deeper, more likable and intriguing.

However, it can’t be forgotten that “Jaws” is a horror movie. The film begins with a moment that wouldn’t be entirely out of place in the slasher films of the next decade. A pair of teenage lovers run off from the pack. The girl strips down and leaps in the water, the intoxicated guy passing out. What follows is a moment of stark terror. As the shark pulls her down, the girl shivers in shock. She’s thrash back and forth, screaming in agony, before disappearing beneath the wave. The silence of the ocean resumes, the calm seaside ambiance in place once again. Real life has been suddenly interrupted by horror and death before the motion of the world continues.

The shark attacking the little boy is even more intense. A happy day at the beach collapses into terror. We see the child thrash in the water, huge fins spiraling around him, blood pooling into the ocean. The camera focuses on Brody’s panicked face, in an iconic dolly zoom that perfectly captures how shocked and disoriented he feels in that moment. A mother helplessly cries for her lost child. Throughout it all, we never see the shark. Instead, the creature is left off-screen. Though intended as a budget-saving measure, this choice instead turns the shark into more than just an animal. He is a phantom of death, a symbol of the random cruelness of the universe that can strike at any minute.

In time, the shark is revealed. We get a brief glimpse as it slinks under the water, attacking a boater, dropping a severed leg to the seabed. The shark’s true reveal comes during the rightly iconic “bigger boat” moment. That scene establishes how huge the shark is and how much of a problem this will be. We get an even closer look at the creature when it yanks of the ropes cast into the water, pulling barrels along with ease. The slow reveal of the shark builds suspense, while making the animal even more mysterious. There have been complaints over the years that the shark, brought to life through an elaborate and frequently malfunctioning mechanical rig, doesn’t look real. Of course it doesn’t look real. King Kong didn’t look real either. Why should the shark look real anyway? It’s not an ordinary animal. It’s a giant, nearly supernatural beast, far more intelligent then any normal sea-life. The shark’s black eyes reveal its true nature: A ghost, a killing machine, a predator at the top of the food chain, unphased by man’s supposed dominance and determined to undermine it.

The soundtrack for “Jaws” is as well-known as the movie. It is impossible to separate the film from John Williams’ famous music. The deep, foreboding strings suggests the shark’s presence even when its off-screen. It also ramps up the tension, keeping the audience in suspense of what’s to come. The music also suggests the multiple moods of “Jaws.” The score suggests the mysteries of the deep with its wandering, forlorn brass. The maritime bugle powers the adventures on the high sea. Williams’ music does exactly what a score is supposed to: Reinforce everything good about the film while also being a beautiful piece of music on its own.

“Jaws” is primarily a thriller for its first third. As soon as the boys hit the seas, it becomes something else too: An old-fashion, maritime adventure flick. The men grapple with life on the seas. There’s excitement, as the three rush around whirling fishing wires and tightening ropes. There’s humor, when Hooper tries to get a picture of the shark, telling Brody to get into the foreground. There’s thrills, as the barrels tumble into the ocean, suggesting how powerful the shark is. There’s also, unexpectedly, male bounding. All a little liquored up, the three men compare battle scars, thumping legs up on tables, rolling up sleeves and extending arms. They sing sea shanties together. Though they frequently disagree in the heat of battle, these three guys rely on each other. They are, in an odd way, friends. This makes “Jaws” a classic entry into the “dudes bonding” subgenre.

It’s difficult not to see parallels between “Jaws” and Spielberg’s first attempt at a horror film, “Duel.” In both, earthly concepts become objects of supernatural terror. Just as the truck seemingly knew wherever Dennis Weaver would be, the shark is far more intelligent then any ordinary fish. Both films build towards duels between the everyman heroes and the terrible threats. The attempt to pin the shark with even more barrels feels like a literal duel, as do the attempts to drive the creature inland. When Hooper goes down in the cage, a moment of visceral terror, it's almost as if the shark lured him down there. The beginning of the film suggests the shark as more movie monster then normal animal. The last half-hour confirms it.

Befitting a character that great, Quint gets an awesome death scene. Now a pure force of nature, the shark leaps up onto the boat, dragging it down, pulling Quint into its snapping, thrashing jaws of death. Spurting blood and screaming like a madman, Quint goes down fighting. Left on a sinking boat, Brody fully evolves into a superhero of sorts. He faces off against the terrifying leviathan, going eye-to-eye with the killer beast. The ending sounds ludicrous on paper. An exploding oxygen tank taking out the shark is not exactly plausible and neither is Brody’s incredible aim. However, it’s a perfect ending. A force as monstrous as the shark deserves an epic death scene. As the bloody corpse sinks through the wave, one last roar is heard echoing through the waves, befitting a fallen leviathan. 

“Jaws'” influence was immediate. It changed the way movies were distributed, creating the modern distribution model for big studio releases. It's record-breaking success would birth the age of the summer blockbuster, where spectacle-filled genre films are expected to pack houses all around the globe. It also led to a laundry list of vastly inferior animal attack movies, both in the sea and on land, including a few ill-conceived sequels. Despite this, the film has lost none of its power to shock, excite, and impress. Steven Spielberg would go on to make some other great movies but its hard to top the perfection of “Jaws.” Rewatching it, I feel the same effects that I did watching it for the first time as a little boy. Filmmaking this powerful never washes out to sea. [Grade: A+]

Bangers n' Mash 63: The Jaws Series

It's getting close to summer so Mr. Mash and I decided to (metaphorically) head to the beach and talk about the Jaws series! That original is really a great movie, one of my all-time favorites, and those sequels are... Not so good. But it makes for a brief, fun episode of podcasting!



Schwarzenegger Sweeps will continue tomorrow and another Bangers n' Mash episode will becoming soon. Promise!