The clones of Bruce the shark
The only scare in this movie is the scuba diving photographer's attack, a scene lifted by John Sayles three years later for 'Alligator.'
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Roy Scheider, Lorraine Gary, and Murray Hamilton reprise their roles as the Brodys and the Mayor of Amity. Screenwriter Carl Gottlieb and the original's uncredited co-screenwriter, Howard Sackler, tackle the script. In the director's chair is Jeannot Szwarc, whose prior film, 'Bug,' starred pyromaniacal killer insects. (They blow up real good!)
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This is the best of the sequels, which isn't saying much. But it has one of the greatest taglines ever slapped on a poster: 'Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.'
In the 'Jaws' canon, this film kicked off the shark's obsession with getting revenge on Chief Brody's family. His adolescent kids Mike and Sean are trapped on a boat while Bruce tries to eat them. They're so obnoxious you'll wish he had.
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Mike Brody (Dennis Quaid) and Calvin Bouchard (Louis Gossett Jr.) deal with a killer shark that invades a crowded marine park in Jaws 3-D.
Universal Pictures
'Jaws 3-D' (1983)
I could still perceive 3-D back in 1983, which was a blessing and a curse. The early 1980s gave us endless characters in 3-D: Jason from 'Friday the 13th,' the 'Amityville Horror' house, and yes, Bruce the Shark. Mike Brody is now played by Dennis Quaid. He works at SeaWorld alongside
This abomination exists solely for the 3-D effects, which look hilarious in 2-D. Bruce attacks SeaWorld at one point, busting through the protective glass tank and sending glass into the audience's lap. In the must-see climax, the shark gets blown up, sending his jaws flying out of the screen. It looks as if Bruce sneezed and his gigantic dentures flew out.
2/2/1987 Edgartown, MA - Jaws: The Revenge films a scene on Martha's Vineyard on February 2, 1987. (David L. Ryan/Globe Staff)
David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
'Jaws: The Revenge' (1987)
Widely considered the worst film in the series (sorry, folks, 'Jaws 3-D' deserves that title), this was the first PG-13 'Jaws' film. Lorraine Gary returns as Mrs. Brody. So does the incarnation of the shark from the original 'Jaws.' It has a vendetta against the Brody clan, and who can blame it? '[W]hat shark wouldn't want revenge against the survivors of the men who killed it?' asked Roger Ebert in his brutally funny
Sean Brody gets his arm ripped off before being devoured. As a result, Mrs. Brody goes out of her way to protect her remaining son, Michael, including shooting at the shark with a pistol.
Another Michael, Michael Caine, infamously couldn't accept his Oscar for 'Hannah and Her Sisters' because he was on Martha's Vineyard filming this movie. Caine cops to never having seen the finished product. 'However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific!' he said.
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The only bright spot here is Mario van Peebles's Rasta character, Jake, who comes complete with a Ja-
fake
-an accent and dreads. Jake was popular enough for the studio to reshoot his final encounter with Bruce. In the movie, he dies; on VHS and DVD, he miraculously survives. Though impaled in the movie version, Bruce gets a far more ignoble demise in the home video version—he simply
explodes for no reason
.
Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.
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