Without further adieu... a Jaws memoir.
I've never watched Jaws 3-D... Let's get that out of the way. Never interested, still not interested.
Ten years before my birth in the summer of 1975, a future Grammy winning horror movie about a shark that terrorizes a small New England town would shock and terrorize audiences in theaters around the world. Peter Benchley's 1974 novel about a great white killer shark (most of Benchley's books are about sharks) was good enough to put on screen, and have it directed by some guy named Steven Spielberg. There we're some differences in the book. They were little things like Brody being a bigger guy, the way the shark dies, OH and Hooper banging Mrs. Brody because of some past she had living a richer lifestyle. But that's all irrelevant. I'm here to praise the franchise beyond the book.
Jaws was all around during my childhood. I remember watching Jaws in my Grandparents basement in Rahway, New Jersey. I was always annoyed at how long the movie was, but was super excited when they finally got on the boat. I remember minor scenes and being grossed out like the body parts washed up on the shore, Hooper cutting open the shark that they thought was the real killer, and especially the part where Brody is chumming some of "this shit" where JAWS pops right out of the water (chills). Through life the first Jaws was something I'd watch maybe a few times every couple of years. I never really started watching it in full length again til about the mid 2000's. I watched it once in 2005 in its entirety, and that brought me back to my childhood. Suddenly I had a new found respect for Spielberg's creation. JAWS was the movie you have to watch in the summer time especially before you go to the beach! Suddenly Jellyfish and crabs are the least of your worries, right? Haha, well at least mine. I won't even swim in a pool without the fear of JAWS coming up from beneath me and taking a limb or two. JAWS was the reason I feared the ocean as a kid. Wherever I was, NJ, Virginia, Florida, Alaska, I feared JAWS... ok I've never been to Alaska but if in Alaska by the waters, I'd be scared.
There are many parts to Jaws that really amazed me. Most of those parts I appreciated more as I got older. One of the scenes is where Quint is talking about the USS Indianapolis which was a ship that was used during World War II (love that Spielberg was using his WWII knowledge early on in his career). The Indianapolis was hit by Japanese bombers, and as the ship started to sink, sharks were attacking the soldiers as they entered the water. Luckily enough Quint made it to tell the story. I think that story alone and reading into it is something that makes Jaws a million times better. Maybe it was baby Jaws coming after Quint. We all know how sharks like to seek revenge regardless of how far the swim is!
As great of a tale that Jaws is, there may be a tale that's as interesting as the movie itself. That tale is the making of Jaws. I've watched quite a few "Making of's" in my time, but no other story has been more fascinating to me than the making of Jaws. We see these tale's of other movies and there's a lot of laughing, and good times, not with Jaws. The movie was nothing like that. There were so many things that went wrong like: Broken mechanical sharks, bad weather, camera set up, boats appearing in the background of shots, and plenty of other on the set malfunctions. I don't want to guess, but I think the crew and actors took an extra 6 months to film the movie. It's in the making of documentary which any Jaws fan must watch. You get the feeling that you were part of the set when you watch the documentary. It's really unlike anything I've ever watched before. May even have you in tears.
In my home I remember watching Jaws 2, and Jaws the Revenge a lot. Those two movies, we're as popular in my household as the Regular Jaws. I don't remember Jaws 3-D at all but I've come across it on television a few times over the years and that whole 3-D looking stuff is just really annoying. We understand how horrible Jaws the Revenge was, but let's not worry about that. Jaws the Revenge was a part of my childhood, and I had no knowledge about sharks swimming from Amity to the Bahamas. The point was Jaws the 4th made it to the Bahamas without a GPS, and tore Mario Van Peebles up. There's a a tiny conspiracy I've planted in my brain, that maybe HOAGIE flew Jaws on the plane to the Bahamas to terrorize the family. We'll never know. I always hold a special place in my heart for Jaws the Revenge because it was based after my favorite Nintendo game, JAWS. A little blonde haired guy shooting jellyfish, stingray, dwarf Jaws, and JAWS himself was the highlight of that game. If you collect seashells and visited the docks, you became more and more powerful. That doesn't make much sense, but who cares? I beat the crap out of Jaws after the 900th time. That game was pretty tough. Overall Jaws 2 and Jaws 4 are both classics. They aren't as good as the original, but they are what they are.
Well this coming Tuesday is the release of Jaws on blu ray disc. I've been waiting for this blu ray to come out for quite a while. There were rumors for a while that they were going to release all 4 of the Jaws movies in a collectors edition, but I guess that's not happening as of right now. With the film restored, with all the extra bonus footage, I'll surely be picking that up when it's released! Best Buy will be doing an exclusive Digibook with their release of Jaws on blu ray. Below is the picture of what you'll be getting.
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