Jaws 2 (1978) (1 Viewer)

[Oliver Ravencrest]

That's when the shark is coming up behind Marge, just before it chomps her down whole, after she's helped Sean get back on the overturned boat. One of the best creature action scenes in the series, for me. The shot from behind the shark, when you can see the jaws flexing and hear the crunch and screams, sends shivers down my spine every time I see it.

Jaws 3 tried to out do this kill when Simon McCorkindale's character is swallowed whole and we see this happen from within the shark. It's no where near as effective as Marge's death.

The shark doesn't actually jump out of the water in that scene. The helicopter hasn't really even lifted off (well, only an inch or two, if at all), the pilot is just powering up when the shark attacks, grabs the pontoon, and flips it over. There's no "leaping" by this shark, unlike the shark in Jaws the Revenge that spent more time out of the water than in it.

I know the shark doesn't actually leap but it did come out of the water more that it usually did in the movies. Sharks have been scary enough when they are beneath the surface and can't see them, they're even scarier when they breach. I'd like to see that in a movie.

 

[Tony J Case]

On a related note, does anyone know where to find the making of documentary about Jaws 2, other than buying the DVD? I'd like to see it, but I don't know that I want to buy the movie to do so.

Well, seeing that you can find the DVD for a buck 75, it's not exactly a huge drain on the resources. Watch it once, sell it to a used media store and you'll probably be down a buck total.

 

[WillG]

Nice facts! Thanks for posting those, I didn't know a lot of them.

On a related note, does anyone know where to find the making of documentary about Jaws 2, other than buying the DVD? I'd like to see it, but I don't know that I want to buy the movie to do so.

And then there's this:

There's Netflix

 

[EliAmador]

Yeah, I guess Netflix is the easiest option, provided that the copy they send me has the documentary. Sometimes they send barebones rental DVD's that only contain the movie with no special features, but such a version may not exist for this movie considering how old and generally unloved it is.

 

[WillG]

Yeah, I guess Netflix is the easiest option, provided that the copy they send me has the documentary. Sometimes they send barebones rental DVD's that only contain the movie with no special features, but such a version may not exist for this movie considering how old and generally unloved it is.

Yeah, I'd guess that Universal probably didn't go through the trouble of creating a "Rental" disc. Well, I guess it's possible for the Blu-Ray but almost certainly not the DVD

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Yeah, I'd guess that Universal probably didn't go through the trouble of creating a "Rental" disc. Well, I guess it's possible for the Blu-Ray but almost certainly not the DVD

I'd be shocked if they did that for a catalog BD. Netflix doesn't have BDs for "Jaws 2" or any of the sequels - the rental market for titles like that is minuscule...

 

[TonyD]

I have no idea how you could stage this, being that you are watching a movie called "jaws", but I always thought it would have been clever to somehow develop the script so that it looks like Brody was unhinged. The first half of the movie would be "Is there a shark or isn't there?" - don't reveal to the audience the presence of the monster at all - until the back half of the flick. Somehow keep all the boat accidents and incidents in the first half somehow plausible and explainable in a non-shark way.

Tony that is brilliant. And would have made this a great movie in its own right.

Anyway I saw Jaws when I was 10 at Wildwood By The Sea on the Jersey Shore.
Spending summers there every year made seeing Jaws a life changing event.

It scared me out of the Water for weeks.
I lived in the water.

I had no ideas about directors or script or whatever. I knew this was the sequel to the great first movie and after seeing Jaws 2 I knew it was great too.
It scared me out of the Water again. It had legit scares.
Plus that great tag line. I loved it. It did what it was supposed to do and was what it was supposed to be.

I'm sure I saw it a dozen times that summer.

 

[Stan]

Yeah, That's what I liked about the scene but he went in.



I still think they should have taken precautions after the events of the first movie, even if Brody's evidence was circumstantial. What you say makes sense though.

Wow, that is the longest post I've ever seen in my life, I'll finish reading it tomorrow

Slightly off-topic, but just now watching "Jaws", Quinn is being eaten by "Bruce, the shark". Pretty well done considering the technology available at the time. Looking forward to Jaws 2, I'll have to rent it or somehow find it. I recall it was a decent sequel, 3 & 4 were some of the worst movies ever made. Kind of like "Alien", Loved 1 & 2, but everything after was awful.

 

[Bryan^H]

I have only ever seen the film on network TV so watching it on dvd, and Blu Ray I always feel cheated that 2 scenes are excluded that were in the TV broadcasts.

Brody in the courthouse after his fate is determined by the council, and the helicopter pilot being terrorized by the shark under water( this is one of the scariest scenes ever...I had nightmares about it).


And by the way the tag line for the Jaws the Revenge trailer "This Time its personal" is awesome. I have heard that referenced so many times but never knew the actual film it was attatched to.

 

[TravisR]

I have only ever seen the film on network TV so watching it on dvd, and Blu Ray I always feel cheated that 2 scenes are excluded that were in the TV broadcasts.

,,,and the helicopter pilot being terrorized by the shark under water( this is one of the scariest scenes ever...I had nightmares about it).

I had seen the Jaws movies a million times on VHS and cable so I wasn't familiar with the TV scenes. However, I saw the Jaws 2 'TV cut' on TBS in the early 1990's and was amazed by the underwater helicopter scene. Unfortunately, it seems like an incomplete scene to me because I want to see a second half to the scene showing the shark get the pilot. It feels like they couldn't get it to work right so they gave up during production (sorta like the wampas in the rebel base scenes in The Empire Strikes Back) and that's why it was dropped from the theatrical cut.

 

[WillG]

I had seen the Jaws movies a million times on VHS and cable so I wasn't familiar with the TV scenes. However, I saw the Jaws 2 'TV cut' on TBS in the early 1990's and was amazed by the underwater helicopter scene. Unfortunately, it seems like an incomplete scene to me because I want to see a second half to the scene showing the shark get the pilot. It feels like they couldn't get it to work right so they gave up during production (sorta like the wampas in the rebel base scenes in The Empire Strikes Back) and that's why it was dropped from the theatrical cut.

I think the helicopter pilot underwater attack was excised to avoid a "R" rating. I don't remember for sure, but I think it was confirmed in the DVD documentary. Of course, it makes it all the more ironic that it appeared in the network television broadcasts.

 

[Bob_S.]

I really felt that scene where the council votes should have stayed in. I think it was very important to show that Vaughn was the only one who was against firing Brody, otherwise you're lead to believe that it was unanimous.

 

[Bob_S.]

I know the shark doesn't actually leap but it did come out of the water more that it usually did in the movies. Sharks have been scary enough when they are beneath the surface and can't see them, they're even scarier when they breach. I'd like to see that in a movie.

That happens in "The Shallows". It's in the trailer.

 

[WillG]

I really felt that scene where the council votes should have stayed in. I think it was very important to show that Vaughn was the only one who was against firing Brody, otherwise you're lead to believe that it was unanimous.

It's a nice moment for Vaughn, but it seems unlikely that a person in his position would elect to keep a police chief that, to a person not watching a movie named "Jaws 2", is acting paranoid and in an unstable/agitated manner.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I haven't seen this in decades, but it was on on the fourth and I watched the part at the end near the cable station. It was enjoyable enough, but not enough for me to judge whether I would like the movie or not. I'm not the best judge because I found IV enjoyable once you got past the stupidity of it all (and the book was worse, with the shark being drawn by instinct to follow the ship the Brodys were taking to Jamaica--and it was written by Benchley!).

Incidentally, they're rebooting Jaws with Paul Feig to direct, and it'll feature four sharks this time. Since they're all female, I refuse to watch.

 

[Tino]

Actually Jaws 4 the book was NOT written by Peter Benchley. It was written Hank Searls based on the screenplay by Michael DeGuzman inspired by Peter Benchleys Jaws.

 

[Bryan^H]

I think the helicopter pilot underwater attack was excised to avoid a "R" rating. I don't remember for sure, but I think it was confirmed in the DVD documentary. Of course, it makes it all the more ironic that it appeared in the network television broadcasts.

The thing that makes that scene so scary is that either:
A: the guy drowns
B: The Shark Eats him
C: The shark takes a hunk out of him and he still drowns while being eaten alive.
Not a pleasant way to go, and that is why that scene is one of the most memorable when I think of Jaws 2. My mind was too young to comprehend such terror when I saw it(I think I was 7) on TV.

 

[TravisR]

Incidentally, they're rebooting Jaws with Paul Feig to direct, and it'll feature four sharks this time. Since they're all female, I refuse to watch.

The second shark in Jaws 3 was a girl so Hollywood is just starting to catch up to the Jaws cinematic universe.

Actually, I could be wrong but I think the novelization of Jaws 2 (which is so hugely different from the movie that you shouldn't assume that anything in one relates to the other) says that the shark in Jaws 2 is female as well.

 

[Tony J Case]

Actually, yeah - the reason (such as it is in the book) that the second shark comes acallin' on Amity is that her mate was blown up. The exact details elude me, seeing that it's been 20 years since I read then novelization, but that's the general thrust of it.

 

[Jason_V]

Actually, yeah - the reason (such as it is in the book) that the second shark comes acallin' on Amity is that her mate was blown up. The exact details elude me, seeing that it's been 20 years since I read then novelization, but that's the general thrust of it.

I always had a vague idea the sharks were connected in some way, though it's never specified in the movies, IIRC. Never read the book, so that info must have gotten to me from somewhere else.

So if the sharks in 1 and 2 are mates...then the baby in 3 is their baby...and the second one in 3 is the babysitter shark...then 4 is...what? The grandfather?

(Yes, I'm kinda sorta kidding. That makes as much sense as anything in the final two movies...)