FAQ for
Jaws (1975) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Jaws can be found here.

Jaws is a 1974 novel by American author Peter Benchley [1940-2006]. The screenplay for Jaws was co-written by Benchley and screenwriter Carl Gottlieb. The success of the movie inspired three sequels: Jaws 2 (1978), Jaws 3-D (1983), and Jaws: The Revenge (1987).

There are a number of differences between the movie and original novel (from which the feature film was adapted and based upon). Though the general idea is the same, both versions of the tale are completely separate in their portrayal of certain events.

-In the movie, Brody and Hooper become friends and work together side-by-side. In the novel, Hooper is a young, obnoxious man who has an affair with Ellen, Brody's wife. The two become enemies and Brody's battle with growing old and his envy of Hooper is a major sub-plot.

- In the novel, Hooper is killed by the shark when he goes underneath the water in the cage. In the film, he survives.

- Quint is not killed by the shark in the same way as he is in the film. In the novel, instead of being eaten by the shark as it leaps aboard the Orca, his foot is caught in a rope attached to the shark, and he is pulled underwater and drowns.

- Brody does not defeat the shark using a rifle and the air tank as he does in the film. In the book, the Orca sinks, and Brody is left helpless in the water. As the shark swims towards him, he can do nothing but accept his fate. But when it is mere inches away from him, the shark dies, from days and days of battle with the men, presumably mostly due to blood loss and exhaustion from the barrels stuck in it. It is a very anti-climactic, yet still poignant ending.

- The novel develops Ellen Brody to a greater degree. She is a former "summer person"--that is, from a wealthier background than Brody who is a native islander. Although basically content with her marriage, she still yearns for her former life and sees Hooper, whose older brother she used to date, as a reminder of that life which leads to a brief affair with Hooper. She also works as a volunteer at the local Amity hospital.

- In the novel, Mayor Vaughn owes money to the Mafia, hence his extreme desire to keep the beaches open. The movie removes the sub-plot.

- The movie sets up Brody and his wife as New Yorkers who have recently moved to Amity. In the novel, Brody is a native, although his wife is a former summer person.

The film gives no reason other than that his greed outweighs his judgement. He tries to justify it by saying the town couldn't possibly survive if the beaches were closed. In the novel, he owed money to some dangerous people and had to keep the beach open in order to stay alive. One could use this plot as his reasoning in the film, though it is never said.

No. The actual line is "You're gonna need a bigger boat." The line was improvised by Scheider on set and it is to this day one of the most famous lines in film history.

With the hope that he can inject a powerful poison into the shark, Hooper lowers himself in the cage and waits. Before long, the shark appears and rams the cage - this results in Hooper dropping the injecting-device and he flees to the seabed to save himself. Meanwhile, Brody and Quint, believing Hooper has been killed, must deal with the shark as it begins to destroy the boat. Suddenly, it crashes onto the deck and Quint, who slips, tumbles into the shark's great jaws and is pulled under the water to his death. Brody, aboard the sinking boat, throws an air tank into the shark's mouth and then manages to get onto the mast. He grabs Quint's rifle and, as the shark approaches, begins to take shots at the air tank. Just before the shark reaches him, Brody hits it and the shark is blown to pieces. The boat sinks beneath the surface and Brody happily laughs to himself. Hooper suddenly comes up from behind him and together, smiling all the way, they begin to kick their way back to the shore. Meanwhile, seagulls begin to flock on the shark's corpse, pecking at the remains of the once great beast.

Scientifically, no. SCUBA tanks are built and designed so that they would not explode when such pressure is applied. Spielberg decided that the ending would be more uplifting if he went against the logic and made the tank explosive (the film ending is very different from the original novel, where Brody's fight against the shark is of a completely different nature). What would the tank do? Go flying off like a rocket if hit dead center at the end. If hit off center or in the side, it would spin in circles as it flew away.