Jaws 2 (Shark Film Sequel)

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

What does the panel make of this film?

It's an utterly cynical, cash-grabbing exercise, but as far as pointless sequels go it's better than it needs to be. Jaws is a masterpiece, obviously, whereas Jaws 2 is merely a competent film about a massive shark terrorising some kids. Nevertheless, while watching it again recently, I was struck by the fact that it never flags. There's no padding, it's a straightforward deadly shark thriller: a B-Movie with a major studio budget.

Jaws 2 Pros

Roy Scheider didn't want to make the film, but he was under contract and had no choice. He delivers a committed performance, despite knowing that the film he's in is fundamentally stupid. A pro. Hats off to Roy.

The mayor refusing to accept that Amity Island has another shark problem is quite funny. That's probably not intentional, but Vaughn is such a venal character, his actions are plausible within the context of an otherwise utterly implausible film.

I usually roll my eyes at cheap jump-scares, but the bit where Brody wades into the sea to investigate a suspicious piece of driftwood is brilliant.

There's also that bit at the start of the film where the shark hoves into shot without any warning. No John Williams cue, the bastard just suddenly appears. That works a treat.

The generic '70s teenagers are quite well-acted for the most part. They're not rounded characters, but you do feel invested in their fate. The final act, in which the shark is hellbent on eating them all, is suspenseful. And when one of them actually does get eaten, right in front of lil Brody's eyes, well that's a rather brutal moment, isn't it?

"Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go Back in the Water" is the greatest film poster tagline ever.

Jaws 2 Cons

It's a film in which a predatory great white shark terrorises an island community again. The chances of that happening once are far-fetched, but who cares? Spielberg draws you in. The chances of it happening twice, well that's just laughable.

The mayor's actions aren't plausible at all, despite what I said earlier. He only behaves in that way because the film demands it.

It contains a notorious shot in which the shark blatantly bends, like a rubbery finger puppet, when it brushes against the side of a boat. You can also see a metal rod inside its mouth. Boring people wang on about how fake Bruce looks (I don't think he does, for the most part anyway), but there is nothing in Jaws as egregious as that.

Jaws 2 eats a helicopter, but I actually quite like that scene. It's amusing. So maybe that should go in the Pros column.

***

I am bored, yes.

[Shit Good Nose]

I've always said as far as completely pointless and unnecessary sequels go, Jaws 2 is up there - several genuinely decent moments (and a few - like Brody looking at the photo, the watchtower, the burnt body reveal and the chopper moment being nearly as iconic as anything in the first film), and as you say still one of the greatest tag lines of all time.

It's fine.

Whether the original shooting script (Amity as a broken struggling ghost town after the events of the first film) would have made for a better viewing experience is anyone's guess.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

It's a different film. It's a very different film. It's a different shark!

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

"Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go Back in the Water" is the greatest film poster tagline ever.

Better than "In space, no one can hear you scream"?

[Shit Good Nose]

Better than "In space, no one can hear you scream"?

I would say it's equally as good.

I'd also like to nominate Alien Vs. Predator's "Whoever wins, we lose", but Jaws 2 is definitely a MUCH better film than AVP.

[St_Eddie]

Jaws: The Revenge is a more entertaining watch but Jaws 2 is alright enough.  Jaws 3 is the worst.

I wish that they had stuck with the original plan for a followup to Jaws; the prequel about Quint and the U.S.S Indianapolis.  That's just about the only story I can think of which would have actually felt like a justifiable expansion of the first.

It's a film in which a predatory great white shark terrorises an island community again. The chances of that happening once are far-fetched, but who cares? Spielberg draws you in. The chances of it happening twice, well that's just laughable.

"Always two, there are.  A master and an apprentice."

Oh, sorry.  Wrong franchise.

[Bazooka]

The beach goers look at Brody like he is a piece of shit when he sees the blue fish school and clears them out the water, are they forgetting he blew up a near invincible shark a year or so ago.

[St_Eddie]

I'd also like to nominate Alien Vs. Predator's "Whoever wins, we lose"

I hate that tagline almost as much as I hate the movie itself.  Having said that, it is a rather apt tagline if one considers the "we" as meaning the audience.

[AsparagusTrevor]

If it wasn't for the amazing first film, Jaws 2 would probably be a good standalone movie. However, the references to previous events and the "2" in the title would admittedly be a bit weird.

[Shit Good Nose]

I wish they'd stuck with the original plan for a followup to Jaws; the prequel about Quint and the U.S.S Indianapolis.  That's just about the only story I can think of which would have actually felt like a justifiable expansion of the first.

Universal still have that in their back pocket for a rainy day.


Also, RE Jaws 3 - I'd still take it over The Revenge in pure entertainment terms (although both are still objectively terrible).  If nothing else 3 does have a genuinely - properly genuinely - amazing sound mix.  Seriously, in the (very unlikely) event it ever plays in a cinema again, I HIGHLY recommend giving it a go.  They really did do a serious good job on that like they were working on a decent film.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Whether the original shooting script (Amity as a broken struggling ghost town after the events of the first film) would have made for a better viewing experience is anyone's guess.

Indeed. Based on everything I've read about that shooting script, it sounds like a dour, albeit intriguing, New Hollywood film about a middle-class island community refusing to accept their complicity in the shark shitstorm of July 1975. A cynical, pessimistic film, as was the style at the time.

I'm not surprised that it never got made, as all Universal wanted was a basic cash-in sequel. But the fact that they started shooting a version of that screenplay, albeit for only a couple of weeks, is interesting. The execs weren't happy with the rushes, were they? Too downbeat. Where's the shark? That's my understanding anyway.

I know that one of the few (only?) scenes from the aborted shoot is the shark's fin silently breaking above the waves, while the moneyed residents of Amity Island celebrate themselves. Quite a nice shot, that.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

The beach goers look at Brody like he is a piece of shit when he sees the blue fish school and clears them out the water, are they forgetting he blew up a near invincible shark a year or so ago.

I suppose you could argue that Jaws 2 functions as a despairing, timeless satire. The masses are morons with short memories, they ignore those rare public figures who genuinely want to help them while voting for the cunts who persistently make their lives a misery.

Jaws 2 doesn't actually have a point, but that's one way of looking at it. If you like.

[Shit Good Nose]

Indeed. Based on everything I've read about that shooting script, it sounds like a dour, albeit intriguing, New Hollywood film about a middle-class island community refusing to accept their complicity in the shark shitstorm of July 1975. A cynical, pessimistic film, as was the style at the time.

I'm not surprised that it never got made, as all Universal wanted was a basic cash-in sequel. But the fact that they started shooting a version of that screenplay, albeit for only a couple of weeks, is interesting. The execs weren't happy with the rushes, were they? Too downbeat. Where's the shark? That's my understanding anyway.

I know that one of the few (only?) scenes from the aborted shoot is the shark's fin silently breaking above the waves, while the moneyed residents of Amity Island celebrate themselves. Quite a nice shot, that.

The novelisation includes plot details from the original shooting script (dodgy aldermen dealings ["ROBERT! ROBERT!!!!!"] with the mafia to get a casino built in order to turn around the town's fortunes etc) and also contrives why it's happening again (Jaws 2 is pregnant with Jaws 1's baby).  It has quite a strong following of people who think it's better than the film.  Been a LONG time since I read it, but I certainly preferred it over Benchley's original, which I still think is absolute dog shit.

Genuinely brilliant reading, though, is The Jaws 2 Log, and the story behind that is interesting in itself - written by a journeyman entertainment freelancer, who was originally sent to location to do some basic interviews with lead cast and crew which would have ended up in a number of entertainment magazines.  Ended up staying for the duration of the shoot and recording the highs and lows of the whole production.

[St_Eddie]

Genuinely brilliant reading, though, is The Jaws 2 Log, and the story behind that is interesting in itself...

Some would argue that Jaws 2 itself is the log.  A steaming hot log.

Book sounds interesting though.  I'll likely check that out at some point.  Ta.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Universal still have that in their back pocket for a rainy day.


Also, RE Jaws 3 - I'd still take it over The Revenge in pure entertainment terms (although both are still objectively terrible).  If nothing else 3 does have a genuinely - properly genuinely - amazing sound mix.  Seriously, in the (very unlikely) event it ever plays in a cinema again, I HIGHLY recommend giving it a go.  They really did do a serious good job on that like they were working on a decent film.

Interesting. I'd love to see it in the cinema, for those sound mix reasons alone. I was nine when Jaws: This Time It's Sea World hit the screens like a 3-D battering ram, so I wasn't allowed. You can imagine my excitement upon receiving the free 3-D glasses given away with the TV Times when it received its UK TV premiere a few years later.

I have to disagree, though, I think Jaws: The Revenge is one of the very few So Bad It's Good films. I find it entertaining. Jaws 3 is a bore.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Genuinely brilliant reading, though, is The Jaws 2 Log, and the story behind that is interesting in itself - written by a journeyman entertainment freelancer, who was originally sent to location to do some basic interviews with lead cast and crew which would have ended up in a number of entertainment magazines.  Ended up staying for the duration of the shoot and recording the highs and lows of the whole production.

Oh my, I've never heard of this! Ta, I must track it down. I love Gottlieb's Jaws Log, it captures the day-to-day reality of making an 'accidental masterpiece' more than any of the Jaws documentaries I've watched, but a similar book about the making of Jaws 2 sounds so enticing: How We Made A Disappointing Sequel.

EDIT: That last bit sounds sarcastic. I wasn't being sarcastic.

[St_Eddie]

I think Jaws: The Revenge is one of the very few So Bad It's Good films. I find it entertaining. Jaws 3 is a bore.

I 100% agree.  Jaws: The Revenge is a hoot; top entertainment value.  Jaws 3 is a snoozefest with one good scene; the shark eating the diver in the tunnel and him ending up frantically flailing around alive, fully inside its mouth; logically absurd but also effectively unnerving, much like a nightmare captured on film.

[Shit Good Nose]

I'm sorry, but The Revenge doesn't have Shelby Overman.

Case closed.

Oh my, I've never heard of this! Ta, I must track it down.

Every bit as good as Carl Gottlieb's The Jaws Log. 

[St_Eddie]

Every bit as good as Carl Gottlieb's The Jaws Log.

Now I'm imagining Jaws sat onboard a starship, making an audio record of his thoughts.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I 100% agree.  Jaws: The Revenge is a hoot; top entertainment value.  Jaws 3 is a snoozefest with one good scene; the shark eating the diver in the tunnel and him ending up frantically flailing around alive, fully inside its mouth; logically absurd but also effectively unnerving, much like a nightmare captured on film.

Apart from the notorious shot of an immobile Jaws bath toy drifting towards the undersea HQ, that's the only scene anyone ever remembers from Jaws 3. I agree, it's nightmarish.

Quint being bitten in half by Bruce is horrific because it's realistic. That bloke inside Jaws 3's mouth exists in another realm of horror.

[Shit Good Nose]

MMMM AHHHH MMMMM AHHHH MMMMMM AHHHHH

etc

[AsparagusTrevor]

Jaws 3 is worthless unless it's in its headache-inducing 3D version. From the era of throwing/poking as much out of the screen as possible, at all costs, even if it means turning the entire audience permanently cross-eyed.

[St_Eddie]

Jaws 3 is worthless unless it's in its headache-inducing 3D version. From the era of throwing/poking as much out of the screen as possible, at all costs, even if it means turning the entire audience permanently cross-eyed.

Yet another poor unfortunate victim, among a generation of people who watched Jaws 3D as a kid.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Should have not gone to Specsavers and joined Carl Reiner's class action lawsuit.

[Brundle-Fly]

Which is the one with Razors from The Long Good Friday?

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Which is the one with Razors from The Long Good Friday?

Jaws 3-D.

[Shit Good Nose]

Guv.

[Replies From View]

I didn't know Jaws 2 was already out

[Shit Good Nose]

I didn't know Jaws 2 was already out

One of the few films that's had a cinema release in the last 9 months.

[Bazooka]

I didn't know Jaws 2 was already out

C'mon mate you must have remembered this shot from the trailer that was on every ad break.