Back in 1975, when Steven Spielberg released Jaws, he had no idea that his aquatic monster movie would become the first ever summer blockbuster, let alone be turned into a money-grabbing horror franchise that would go well into the next decade. The ground-breaking original film was followed up just three years later in 1978, with Jaws 2, keeping much of the same cast and characters.
In 1983, during an onslaught of films experimenting with 3D technology, came Jaws 3-D, a film that followed the adult Brody children to SeaWorld for its shark attacks. Finally, in 1987, 35 years ago this month, came the fourth and final installment of the Jaws franchise. A film unlike any of the others, Jaws: The Revenge took everything amazing about the original film, turned it upside-down, shrugged its shoulders, and said “meh, who cares?” And somehow, even though Jaws is my favorite movie of all time, I still love Jaws: The Revenge.
Jaws: The Revenge essentially takes everything shown in Jaws 3-D, and hucks it off the side of the boat like chum. Disregarding the Brody boys’ jobs at SeaWorld completely, the oldest, Michael, is now a marine biologist in the tropics, and Sean, the cute little boy who sang “Do you know the Muffin Man?” in the original, is now a police deputy in Amity. By this time, Roy Scheider stated that “Satan himself could not get me to do Jaws part 4”, and his character of Martin Brody was killed off-screen by a heart attack. The series sends off its greatest protagonist with a couple of throw-away lines and a portrait on the wall of the police station.
A few days before Christmas, Sean takes a nighttime stroll in his boat to dislodge a floating pier piling, and while doing so, gets munched by moonlight. The attack is chalked up to a boating accident, and after the funeral, the widowed Ellen Brody (Sean’s mother) decides to travel with Michael and his family back to the Bahamas. Little did they know, a familiar great white shark would soon be in tow, making the 1,247-mile journey to exact its revenge. As the tagline for the film says, ”This time… It’s personal”.
As Lorraine Gary (in her final acting role) is the only cast member from the original two movies to return, she is joined by Lance Guest as Michael, Mario Van Peebles as Jake, Michael’s charismatic co-worker, and weirdly enough, Oscar-winning actor, Michael Caine as a local Cessna pilot. Caine actually won his first Oscar (Hannah and Her Sisters) while shooting Jaws: The Revenge, as the director, Joseph Sargent, couldn’t spare him leaving for the ceremony.
Caine was paid $1.5 million for his role, and though he claims he’s never actually seen the film, he is happy that it paid for one of his houses. If you’d like an idea of how Caine’s performance is in this film, just imagine his monologue in The Dark Knight about the Joker… over and over and over again.
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If the absurdity of the shark following the Brody family to the other side of the Earth isn’t enough for you, perhaps Ellen’s PTSD-like sepia-tone flashbacks of the end of the first film (of scenes she wasn’t even in) may wet your whistle. The prior sequels would lead the viewer to believe these are all different and probably unrelated sharks, but in Jaws: The Revenge, we’re assuming this is the same shark from the first film, or otherwise a very angry relative, hellbent on exacting vengeance.
Jaws: The Revenge doesn’t just not have the amazing acting, story, camera work, music, memorable characters, and lasting power of the original, but the shark looks bad too! Gone are the days of hiding a barely working mechanical shark to create intensity. The big, clunky, foam rubber Carcharadon is in often in full view, revealing tears, zippers, wrinkles, creases, and even the mechanical platform, as it rises from the deep and roars. That’s right… this shark is so rare and special that it developed something no other sharks have… vocal cords!
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I could sit here and go hard on Jaws: The Revenge all day, but in truth, the film is kind of charming and endearing, completely solidifying its “so-bad-it’s-good” status. It’s absolutely more fun than any of the other sequels, and it’s probably the Jaws movie I am the most familiar with, outside of the original.
Honestly, there are some memorable moments in the film, including the opening scene, where the shark kills off a recurring character on-screen. We’re also treated to one of those multi-rider floats being attacked (which I’m reminded of every time I see them at the beach), and the shark taking down Michael Caine’s plane. There’s also a great callback to the first film, with Michael and his son imitating one another at the dinner table.
Though critically and publicly panned, Jaws: The Revenge, like the other Jaws films, more than doubled its budget. It wasn’t until comedians and comic shows were focusing their bits on the movie’s premise, that Universal ultimately pulled the plug on the franchise. The series went out with a bang, as the last time we got to see the shark on screen, was when a toy-sized model fully explodes after being rammed into with the bow of a boat, captained by Ellen Brody.
Jaws: The Revenge’s “we’re here for a good time, not a long time” attitude always rang loud, though, after three decades, I’m still having a good time.