Jaws: The Revenge (1987)

User Rating:

2.6/10   

Director:

Joseph Sargent

Writers:

Peter Benchley (characters)
Michael De Guzman (written by)

Release Date:

17 July 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

This time... It's personal.

Plot:

Ellen Brody still lives in the island resort town of Amity, and her sons Sean and Michael don't work at Sea World anymore...

Plot Keywords:

Shark | Boat | Sea | Marine Biologist | Bahamas

Awards:

1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

Lorraine Gary	...	Ellen Brody
Lance Guest	...	Michael Brody
Mario Van Peebles	...	Jake
Michael Caine	...	Hoagie Newcombe
Karen Young	...	Carla Brody
Judith Barsi	...	Thea Brody
Lynn Whitfield	...	Louisa
Mitchell Anderson	...	Sean Brody
Jay Mello	...	Young Sean Brody (archive footage)
Cedric Scott	...	Clarence
Charles Bowleg	...	William
Melvin Van Peebles	...	Mr. Witherspoon
Mary Smith	...	Tiffany
Edna Billotto	...	Polly
Fritzi Jane Courtney	...	Mrs. Taft

Also Known As:

Jaws 4 (USA) (working title)
Jaws the Return (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

89 min | Sweden:91 min (video version) | USA:91 min (video version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Iceland:16 | Sweden:15 | Netherlands:12 | Australia:M | UK:12 (DVD rating) (2001) (uncut) | UK:15 (video rating) (1988) (cut) | UK:PG (original rating) (cut) | USA:PG-13 (Certificate #28688) | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Bahamas

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

According to this film, the events that occurred in Jaws 3-D (1983) never took place.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the shark lifts its head out of the water to attack Sean at the beginning, the froth around its head is already bloody although it hasn't taken a bite yet.

Quotes:

Michael Brody: [when shark's chasing him through tunnels] JESUS CHRIST!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Angry Video Game Nerd: Chronologically Confused About Sequel Titles (#1.15)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

You Got It All

Dumb… Dumb... Dumb-dumb-dumb-dumb!

On the island Amity during the Christmas break, Mrs. Ellen Brody's younger son Deputy Sean is taken by a great white shark one night after being called out to move a piece of wood tangled up with a buoy. After this happens Michael who lives in the Bahamas with his wife and daughter studying sea snails, visits his mother and asks her to come down there with him and the family. Ellen wants Michael to not go near the water, but he convinces her that it's all fine, since great whites don't like the warm water. But hold on as the shark that killed Sean is now stalking the family and has only one thing on mind - to wipe out the Brody family.

Leave those Brody's alone! Err, what crud… yeah reading the outline above you'll be just rolling your eyes at how ridiculous this film does get. The last sequel "Jaws 3" was a bad film, but I actually enjoyed it to some degree, but here the personal agenda format was just rubbish and the special connection between the Brody's and the shark was just plain risible. I just found this clunker quite lacklustre with it's melodramatic, soap opera of a story and it's lack of thrills and suspense. It was quite a drag and it did have that cheap TV feel about it, despite it's more than capable cast. The only thing that I thought was decent was the terrifyingly, bloody and macabre opening death. Although, few of the performances ( mainly Lance Guest in the key role of Michael Brody and Michael Caine's happy- go-lucky pilot character Hoagie ) made sure that the film didn't sink too fast. While, the rest were simply one-note and Mario Van Peebles' Jamaican accent was just so dodgy. But what was in need of a life-jacket was the dire script that threw out many awful lines of dialogues. "I've always wanted to make love to an angry welder. I've dreamed of nothing else since I was a small boy." What?! The repetitively, diluted story is full of crock with many implausible situations and it doesn't leave too much up to the imagination. Was the writer and the director drinking sea water on this project? Maybe so, because Michael's wife's supposed piece of art resembled… what? I just don't see it. Well, the sprawling beach lines and crystal blue waters were a nice sight. Too bad that the mechanical, but crooked plastic shark slowly got in the way. The ramshackle design looked dreadful, but the makers didn't seem to notice because they constantly kept showing the abomination in it's full glory. I even got the feeling that the shark just couldn't stop grinning. The (few) shark attacks are rather furious and quite graphic, but I found the latter ones to be laughable because of the execution. Really, it goes all out to outdo itself, but this puddle turns out to be simply inept in mostly every single department. Overall, a fatally disastrous novel production that never should have seen open waters and you won't be laughing too much, but you'll be a daze of bemusement to how this franchise fell apart.

It's definitely as bad as its reputation. This is one shark that just won't let go!