Jaws 2 (1978)

Director:

Jeannot Szwarc

Writers:

Peter Benchley (characters)
Carl Gottlieb (written by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

16 June 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...

Plot:

Police chief Brody must protect the citizens of Amity after a second monstrous shark begins terrorizing the waters.

Plot Keywords:

Shark | Island | Police Chief | Beach | Mayor

Cast

Roy Scheider	...	Police Chief Martin Brody
Lorraine Gary	...	Ellen Brody
Murray Hamilton	...	Mayor Larry Vaughn
Joseph Mascolo	...	Len Peterson
Jeffrey Kramer	...	Deputy Jeff Hendricks
Collin Wilcox Paxton	...	Dr. Lureen Elkins (as Collin Wilcox)
Ann Dusenberry	...	Tina Wilcox
Mark Gruner	...	Michael 'Mike' Brody
Barry Coe	...	Tom Andrews
Susan French	...	Grace Witherspoon - Old Lady
Gary Springer	...	Andy Nicholas
Donna Wilkes	...	Jackie Peters
Gary Dubin	...	Eddie Marchand
John Dukakis	...	Paul 'Polo' Loman
G. Thomas Dunlop	...	Timmy Weldon
David Elliott	...	Larry Vaughn Jr.
Marc Gilpin	...	Sean Brody
Keith Gordon	...	Doug Fetterman
Cindy Grover	...	Lucy (as Cynthia Grover)
Ben Marley	...	Patrick
Martha Swatek	...	Marge
Billy Van Zandt	...	Bob
Gigi Vorgan	...	Brooke Peters
Jerry M. Baxter	...	Helicopter Pilot
Jean Coulter	...	Diane - Ski Boat Driver
Daphne Dibble	...	Swimmer #1
Christine Freeman	...	Terri - Water Skier
April Gilpin	...	Renee
William Griffith	...	Lifeguard
Gregory Harris	...	Diver #2 (as Greg Harris)
Coll Red McLean	...	Red - 'Old Man of the Sea'
Susan O. McMillan	...	Girl Sailor
David Owsley	...	Boy Sailor
Allan L. Paddack	...	Crosby
Oneida Rollins	...	Ambulance Driver
Frank James Sparks	...	Diver #1 (as Frank Sparks)
Thomas A. Stewart	...	Sparky - Assistant Dive Master
David Tintle	...	Swimmer #2
Jim Wilson	...	Swimmer with Child
Kathy Wilson	...	Mrs. Bryant
Herb Muller	...	Phil Fogarty
Fritzi Jane Courtney	...	Mrs. Taft - Select Woman (as Jane Courtney)
Alfred Wilde	...	Harry Wiseman - Select Man #1 (as Al Wilde)
Cyprian R. Dube	...	Mr. Posner - Select Man #2 (as Cyprien 'Phil' Dube)
Mary A. Gaffney	...	Mrs. Silvera
Bill Green	...	Irate 'Dancing' Man (as William 'Bill' Green)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George Buck	...	Irate 'Letterbox' Man (uncredited)

Directed by
Jeannot Szwarc

Writing credits
Peter Benchley		(characters)
Carl Gottlieb		(written by) and
Howard Sackler		(written by)

Produced by
Joe Alves	....	associate producer
David Brown	....	producer
Richard D. Zanuck	....	producer

Original Music by
John Williams

Cinematography by
Michael C. Butler		(director of photography) (as Michael Butler)

Film Editing by
Steve Potter
Arthur Schmidt
Neil Travis

Production Design by
Joe Alves

Art Direction by
W. Stewart Campbell
Gene Johnson

Set Decoration by
Phil Abramson		(as Philip Abramson)

Costume Design by
Bill Jobe

Makeup Department
Robert Jiras	....	makeup artist (as Bob Jiras)
Philip Leto	....	hair stylist (as Phil Leto)
Rick Sharp	....	makeup artist
Ron Snyder	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Bill Badalato	....	unit production manager
Tom Joyner	....	production manager
Tony LaMarca	....	unit production manager: second unit

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Joe Alves	....	second unit director
Katy Emde	....	second assistant director (as Kathy Marie Emde)
Scott Maitland	....	first assistant director
Beau Marks	....	second assistant director
Wilbur Mosier	....	assistant director: second unit
Don Zepfel	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Gary Seybert	....	property master

Sound Department
James R. Alexander	....	sound (as Jim Alexander)
Robert L. Hoyt	....	sound recordist
James Troutman	....	sound effects editor (as Jim Troutman)
George E. Marshall Jr.	....	sound utility (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Roy Arbogast	....	special mechanical effects
Robert A. Mattey	....	special mechanical effects
Kevin Pike	....	special effects foreman (uncredited)
Eddie Surkin	....	special effects crew (uncredited)

Stunts
Ted Grossman	....	stunt coordinator
Gregory J. Barnett	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jean Coulter	....	stunts (uncredited)
Hubie Kerns Jr.	....	stunts (uncredited)
Steven Knowles	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
Greg Le Duc	....	water stunt double (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
John L. Black	....	key grip (as John Black)
David L. Butler	....	camera operator: second unit (as David Butler)
Michael Dugan	....	underwater camera operator
John Fleckenstein	....	camera operator
Michael McGowan	....	camera operator: second unit
Ron Taylor	....	live shark photography
Valerie Taylor	....	live shark photography
Donald M. Wolak	....	gaffer (as Don Wolak)
Pat Campea Jr.	....	second key grip (uncredited)
Joe Kelly	....	best boy grip (uncredited)
Sol Negrin	....	cinematographer: re-shoots (uncredited)

Casting Department
Liz Keigley	....	location casting
Shari Rhodes	....	location casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Laurann Cordero	....	wardrobe: women
Gilbert Loe	....	wardrobe: men (as Gil Loe)

Editorial Department
Freeman A. Davies	....	assistant film editor (as Freeman Davies Jr.)
Michael T. Elias	....	assistant film editor
Robert Hernandez	....	assistant film editor
Sherrie Sanet Jacobson	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Stephen A. Hope	....	music editor
John Neal	....	music scoring mixer

Transportation Department
Phillip Martin	....	boat driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Al Ebner	....	unit publicist
Bob Forrest	....	script supervisor
Philip Kingry	....	marine coordinator
Donald MacDonald	....	production assistant
Esther Vivante	....	script supervisor: second unit
Fred Zendar	....	technical advisor (as Manfred Zendar)
Raechel Donahue	....	voice talent (uncredited)
Gene Starzenski	....	set paramedic (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1978) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1978) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1981) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• MCA Home Video (1984) (USA) (VHS)
• AXN (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (199?) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Universal Title  titles and opticals

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (2001) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Norway:15 (DVD) | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | Netherlands:12 (original rating) | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:15 (DVD rating) | Australia:M | USA:PG (certificate #25237) | UK:PG | Singapore:PG | UK:A (original rating) | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Chappaquiddick Island, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Many scenes had to be shot in the fall/winter months. As such, the actors had to suck ice cubes prior to takes to avoid having their breath seen on camera.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Red and Hendricks first pull up the power line, Hendricks says that he will untangle it from the hooks. The next scene shows the line going back in the water, still clearly tangled in the hooks.

Quotes:

Martin Brody: But I'm telling you, and I'm telling everybody at this table that that's a shark! And I know what a shark looks like, because I've seen one up close. And you'd better do something about this one, because I don't intend to go through that hell again!

Movie Connections:

Edited into Cruel Jaws (1995) (TV)

This Time it's Kind of Personal!

A film like "Jaws 2" proves that we can, indeed, get too much of a good thing. Action and shark over substance and character development. Somewhere along the way "Jaws" went from being about deep, intelligent characters in intense situations to shallow teenagers in B-monster-movie moments.

"Jaws 2," or "Jaws2" (no space in between "s" and "2"), takes place four years after the horrid events in Amity, seen in the first film. Police Chief Brody (Roy Scheider, commonly mistaken for Rob Schneider with today's audience) is a veteran of a shark attack, of course. And like most sequels involving characters who once battled a beast of some sort and survived, Brody is now the official expert on sharks. When a boat blows up off shore, Brody suspects a shark. When a killer whale is found dead with chomp marks, Brody suspects a shark. Heck, you could blow up the state of Arkansas and Brody would probably think it's a shark.

Soon Brody loses his job because the town mayor (Murray Hamilton, reprising his role shortly in this film because he had to stop filming to attend to his sick wife) doesn't like poor Brody, even after the events of the first film. Then Brody's seventeen-year-old son goes out on a sail boat and before you can go, "Duh-duh-duh-duh" JAWS is coming at him and his friends. Brody goes, tries to save them, and you can guess what the outcome is.

Okay, here are some things I noticed that hindered this film:

1. The first thing that hits you over the head here is how this film is painfully a copy in every way of the first film, only about ten times worse. There is no suspense--they show the shark from the beginning on. In a documentary made just for the "Jaws2" DVD, the director says that "The shark has already been seen, so there's no suspense--you might as well show it." Well, this is a bit true--I hate when horror sequels wait till the end to show the creature ("Predator 2") even though we've seen them in the first. But the way they do it here is painfully un-suspenseful. The film really contains no sense of suspense.

2. You'd think that everyone in the town would have learned their lesson last time: Brody was right about a shark, and he saved the day. Here we see everyone turning back to their old ways and ignoring Brody. You could give excuses for this, but the fact of the matter remains: It's just another retread of the first film, done on a much lesser scale.

3. The shark here is shown too much--he looks like a rubber ducky in a bathtub. Kids scream as it attacks boats and helicopters--yes, helicopters (that looks strange on paper)--and the shark comes out of the water head first to swim forward. Now, unlike the first film where the shark was never shown very well--because of mechanical problems or not, they still didn't show it--they show the shark many, many times here. And unlike the first when they DID show the shark, in "Jaws2" they make the shark look utterly unrealistic. In the first the rubber shark swam like a shark--this thing swims like a giant piece of rubber in an ocean.

4. The director obviously went for action over story: Steven Spielberg masterfully crafted an instense and scary film, yet at the same time provided a very interesting character study. Here, we just see blood, guts, and big rubber sharks--something that might look good in a B-horror-movie, but not in a "Jaws" film.

5. What are the remote chances that another 25-foot Great White Shark (capitalized for effect) would be off the coast off the small town Amity twice? Perhaps this will answer that question:

After finding a killer whale, Brody asks a marine biologist (filling in Richard Dreyfuss' most-missed shoes), "You don't think if one shark dies, another shark could come and"--he gets cut off by the marine biologist, who says, "Sharks don't take things personally, Mr. Brody." Well, that's funny, according to the tagline for the forth film they do. Perhaps that is one of the confusing elements of this film. Is the shark attacking because Brody killed the other one four years ago? Or is it just an odd coincidence? We may never know.

Steven Spielberg had the smarts to move on after the first project, as did Richard Dreyfuss, and Roy Scheider should have said "no," too, because you can't flog a dead fish and expect people to jump. (Did that make sense? Sorry, I had a good catch-phrase in my head but it didn't come out right.)

The first film should have been a stand alone, but in the case that they should make a sequel to one of the most cherished films of all time, for heaven's sake, make it good!

So now I come back to my original question. What should my header be for this review? And then I got it:

"This time it's kind of personal!"

2.5/5 stars -

John Ulmer