Jaws 3 | Through the Shattered Lens

Here Comes Shark Week

This upcoming week is Shark Week. At the risk of making the most obvious recommendation ever, Jaws (1975) is currently on Netflix. I doubt that I need to sell anyone on the film. Jaws is one of those films that everyone accepts is a classic. I’ll just say that every time that I watch Jaws, I’m surprised at how well it has held up over the years. I watched it a few weeks ago while flying to Hawaii and, even when viewed in less than ideal conditions, it still held my attention and made me jump a little. To be honest, I sometimes miss the Spielberg who directed Jaws. It’s such a fun and scary movie, all the more so because it was made by a director who clearly lived for film. Jaws is currently streaming on Netflix.

Jaws 2 (1978) does not get the same respect as the first Jaws, nor does it deserve it. That said, I can’t help but kind of like Jaws 2. If the first Jaws has a timeless quality to it, Jaws 2 is proudly a product of the 1970s. Jaws 2 has some pacing issues but it also features Roy Scheider going totally crazy at the end of the film. After giving a fairly subdued performance in the first Jaws, Scheider went all out for Jaws 2. Just listen to him yell at that shark! Jaws 2 is also on Netflix.

Jaws 3 (1983) is a bit of a guilty pleasure, largely because it was originally filmed in 3-D and the special effects are charmingly bad. Roy Scheider does not return for this one but Dennis Quaid shows up as Chief Brody’s son. This film was shot at SeaWorld Orlando but the main message seems to be, “Stay away from Seaworld!” For the record, I relate to Lea Thompson’s character. It can be viewed on Netflix!

The makers of Jaws: The Revenge (1987) decided to see what would happen if they made a Jaws film that centered on the least interesting character from the first film. With Chief Brody having died of a heart attack and one of her sons having been eaten by a shark, Mrs. Brody heads down to the Caribbean and is apparently followed by a shark. Its dumb but Michael Caine is charming and I’m a completist at heart. If you’re going to watch one this week, you might as well watch all four! Jaws: The Revenge is on Netflix.

Great White (1981) is an Italian film that was also released under the title The Last Shark. Directed by Enzo G. Castelleri, Great White was so similar to Jaws that Universal actually sued the filmmakers in an attempt to keep the film from being released in the States. To me, that’s always seemed like an overreaction. There were hundreds of Jaws rip-offs released after 1975. Great White is actually a pretty entertaining film. James Franciscus and Vic Morrow team up to take on a giant shark. The shark eats a helicopter. This film can currently be viewed on YouTube.

In Praise of Joseph Sargent

Jaws: The Revenge was directed by Joseph Sargent. Sargent would have been a hundred years old on July 22nd. Sargent was a classic, no-nonsense director who could handle many different genres. Here’s a few Sargent films that are not Jaws: The Revenge.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) is probably Sargent’s best film. Four criminals hijack a subway train. The police spend their time negotiating, arguing, and searching. It’s certainly my favorite example of the “New Yorkers Will be Rude To Anyone” genre. Featuring great performances from Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Jerry Stiller, and Martin Balsam, this is one of the great New York heist films. It can be viewed on Tubi.

Maybe I’ll Come Home In The Spring (1972) is a personal favorite of mine, a made-for-television film featuring a young Sally Field as a hippie who returns home and David Carradine as her controlling boyfriend. This is a lowkey but effective look at life in the suburbs and it features an excellent performance from Sally Field. It can be viewed on Tubi.

Tribes (1970) features Jan-Michael Vincent as a peace-loving hippie who is drafted and Darren McGavin as the drill sergeant who tries to turn him into a soldier. Jan-Michael Vincent is absolutely gorgeous in this film. It can be viewed on YouTube.

Odds and Ends

Paul Verhoeven celebrated a birthday a few days ago. The original (and still the best) Robocop (1987) is available on Tubi. Much like Jaws, it’s a film that has stood the test of time and survived countless imitations.

Finally, with the sequel due to be released on the 25th, this week is a great time to amuse yourself with the original Happy Gilmore (1996)! I love this film and I make no apologies for it. Bob Barker beating up Adam Sandler? Seriously, how can you not love this film? Personally, I’ve always felt bad for Shooter McGavin. Making him hit that ball off of Richard Kiel’s foot? Totally unfair! Happy Gilmore is streaming on Netflix.

Click here for last week’s movies!

So, this is a strange one.

As the title states, this 1983 film is the third sequel to the Jaws. As I pointed out in my reviews of the first film and Jaws 2, the first two films all starred Roy Scheider and took place on Amity Island. In fact, it can be argued that Amity Island was almost as important to the success of the first two films as the shark. When Martin Brody conquered his fears and got out on the water, it wasn’t just to destroy a shark. It was also to protect a community under siege.

Well, there’s no such community like Amity Island in Jaws 3. And there’s no Roy Scheider either. Instead, our hero is Martin Brody’s son, Mike. Mike is all grown up and working as the senior marine biologist at SeaWorld Orlando. Mike is now played by a very young and very bearded Dennis Quaid. This leads to an interesting situation where Mike — who grew up in New England and whose father was a former New York City cop — has a very pronounced Texas accent. That’s not a complaint, of course. I’m from Texas so I’m always happy to see (and hear) a fellow Texan in a movie. Plus, Dennis Quaid’s a likable actor. Still, it somehow seems appropriate that the third installment of the Jaws franchise would feature a New Yorker growing up to be a Texan. I mean, if we’re going to accept that the same outlandish event can keep happening to the members of the same family then I guess anything’s possible.

The other Brody son, Sean, is also featured in the film. Sean is now played by John Putch and, when he first shows up to visit Mike, he’s dressed like he just got off work at the rodeo. You have to kind of wonder if maybe the trauma of nearly getting killed in Jaws 2 led to both of the Brody boys rejecting their New England roots and embracing the ways of the west. Say what you will about Texas and all the states in between El Paso and Los Angeles, we’re pretty much shark free.

Anyway, this is a Jaws films so you can guess what happens. A big shark ends up getting loose in SeaWorld and Mike tries to close the park down, just to be overruled by the park’s manger, Calvin Bouchard (Lou Gossett, Jr.). Meanwhile, a hunter named Philip Fitzroyce (Simon MacCorkindale) announces that he will personally track down and kill the shark. As you might guess just from the fact that his last name is Fitzroyce, Philip is arrogant and speaks with a posh accent. Mike takes an immediate dislike to him but I was happy whenever Philip showed up, mostly because Simon MacCorkindale gave a performance that was so over-the-top that it was fun to watch. Whenever MacCorkindale and Gossett got together in the same scene, the film stopped being about the shark and instead became a contest to see who could overenunciate their dialogue with the most style.

(In the end, MacCorkindale won, but only narrowly. A few years after Jaws 3, Gossett would co-star in The Principal and would go on to secure his spot in the Overenunciation Hall Of Fame by pronouncing the word “drugs” in such a way that I first thought he was talking about druids.)

One of the reasons why Jaws 3 seems odd when watched today is because it was originally released in 3-D. (In fact, the film’s original title was Jaws 3-D.) As a result, there’s a lot of scenes of people either walking towards or pointing directly at the camera. Whenever anyone holds up a pole or a harpoon or anything similar, you know that they’re going to end up pointing the end of it straight at the viewer. At the start of the film, when the shark bites a fish in half, the fish’s head ominously floats closer and closer to the camera. There’s a lot of scenes that were obviously designed to make audiences says, “Oh my God! I feel like I could reach out and touch it!” but, in the non-3D version, those scenes are just weirdly paced and slightly out-of-focus. (At one point during the film, the picture was so blurry that I actually checked to make sure I had my contacts in.)

Add to that, there’s more than few scenes where it’s obvious that the shark has been superimposed into the action. If the first two Jaws films featured big sharks, Jaws 3 often seems to feature a cartoon shark. In short, what may have been impressive in a theater in 1983 to an audience wearing special glasses is far less impressive when you’re watching the movie at 3 in the morning on AMC.

The other weird thing about this film is that it was actually filmed at SeaWorld Orlando. I’m going to guess that the film was supposed to serve as a 99-minute advertisement and a lot of time is devoted to people talking about how much they love SeaWorld. At the same time, this film also features the park’s manager refusing to shut down the park and basically putting everyone’s life in danger. If anything, the film’s main message seems to be, “If you go to SeaWorld, you’ll die.” You have to wonder if some executive lost his job after Jaws 3 came out.

Anyway, Jaws 3 is a silly movie that never quite comes to life in the way that both Jaws and, to a lesser extent, Jaws 2 did. Yes, the shark’s ruthless and we get to hear the familiar music and there’s some cute dolphins but otherwise, the movie itself is just kind of bland. Rumor has it that Jaws 3 was originally going to be a comedy called Jaws 3 People 0. That probably would have made for a more memorable movie but, at the same time, I got some good laughs out of the scene where the tourists in an underwater tunnel realized that a shark was watching them so, in the end, everything worked out for the best.