In the summer of 1975,blockbuster filmmaking was changed forever with the release of Steven Spielberg’sJaws. Based onPeter Benchley’s novelof the same name, the film, in which a killer shark attacks the residents of the fictional Amity Island, was a massive hit, becomingthe highest grossing movie of its timeand leading to the creation of an entire franchise.
One of the defining traits of the original movie was its graphic depiction of its shark attacks.Theshocking violence stuck with audiences, giving some viewers a fear of either the ocean, sharks, or both, partially contributing to its staying power within the zeitgeist. Like many other horror franchises, includingHalloweenandFriday the 13th,asJawssaw more releases, it resorted to using violence as a primary selling point in the hopes of drawing in fans of the genrewho wanted to see a thrilling shark movie. It’s generally accepted thateachJawsfilm is worsethan the one before it in terms of pure quality, butwhen it comes to violence, this isn’t necessarily always the case. Here’s how each entry of theJawsfranchise stacks up in terms of how much violence they contain.
4’Jaws: The Revenge' (1987)
Directed by Joseph Sargent
Generally viewed as both the worst in the franchise and one of theworst shark movies of all time,Jaws: The Revenge, also the series' final entry, contains its weakest violence. The film focuses on Ellen Brody (Lorraine Gary), who goes to the Bahamas with her son, Michael (Lance Guest),after becoming convinced that a shark has a vendetta against her entire familywhen her youngest son, Sean (Mitchell Anderson), is killed in an attack.
The story is completely absurd, but it also spends a lot of time developing Ellen’s new romantic connection with pilot Hoagie Newcombe (Michael Caine).There’s little time for particularly memorable or chilling shark attacks during the film’s runtime, and when the killer fish does show up, it hardly ever manages to sink its teeth into anyone. Overall, the film isacompletely forgettable mess that fails to entertainwith its violence, despite being a horror movie.
Jaws: The Revenge
3’Jaws 2' (1978)
Directed by Jeannot Szwarc
Jaws 2is the franchise’s best sequel, particularly because of the returning presence ofRoy Scheideras police chief Martin Brody. In this film,Brody is forced to face off against a new killer shark who begins to patrol Amity’s shores. At the same time, Brody is also given more depth, as he is clearly battling the trauma left behind from the events of the first film.Jaws 2may not be an excellent piece of cinema, but it does have some interesting ideas for a sequel to a major blockbuster.
Unfortunately, that’s about all it has going for it. Scattered throughout the film are a number ofunderwhelming shark attacks, many of them nearly bloodless, with the shark typically opting to plow into boats before gobbling down their occupants in the water without much fanfare. Its shark attacks are shot better than the other sequels, butits level of violence is lacking when compared toJawsandJaws 3-D.
Jaws 2is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
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2’Jaws 3-D' (1983)
Directed by Joe Alves
Jaws 3-D, which was later completely struck from canon byThe Revenge, wasa conceptual breath of fresh air for the franchise, moving the aquatic action from Amity Island to a newly opened SeaWorld where an older Michael Brody (Dennis Quaid) just so happens to work. Unfortunately,3-Dalmost completely squanders this conceptwith poor pacing, tacky dialogue and distractingly bad visuals due to both sloppy effects work andthe film’s original 3-D format.
The only redeeming quality ofJaws 3-Dis its last thirty minutes, where it actually has some fun with itself. At this point, Michael and girlfriend Kay (Bess Armstrong) discover that there’s a larger shark loose in the park and chaos breaks out. The massive great white attacks guests and employees alike as it pursues water skiers, demolishes docks, flips bumper boats and takes limbs in the series' most over-the-top attack sequence to date. As a film,Jaws 3-Dis a complete mess, but this violent attack actually makes it memorableas a cheesy ’80s horror film.
Jaws 3-Dis available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
1’Jaws' (1975)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Spielberg’s 1975 original stands as one ofthe director’s best worksto this day. Combining stellar performances from Scheider,Robert ShawandRichard Dreyfusswith masterful direction that brilliantly utilizes the power of suggestion in order to avoid ruining the effect of its monstrous shark,Jawsis a nearly perfect film. It’s also, surprisingly,the series' most violent release, in spite of later entries' attempts to cash in on the slasher trendof the late ’70s and ’80s.
From its opening scene where Chrissie Watkins (Susan Backlinie) is dragged beneath the waves by the unseen killer shark,Jawsestablishes itself as a film with brutal and unforgiving violence. Each attack from that point forward is escalated with more blood, increasingly frantic direction and glimpses of the shark that are brief enough to still maintain an air of mystery around the creature. This is true until the film’s final moments when, supported by a film full of vicious attacks,Spielberg allows the shark to be fully seen, culminating in the franchise’s most violent moment when it chomps down on Quint(Shaw). Moments like this makeJawsstick out as a particularly effective example of filmmaking, whilesolidifying the original film as the franchise’s most violent entry.
