Movie Review – Jaws 2 (1978)
“Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water . . .”
. . . another great white shark decided to visit Amity Island and eat some people.
1975′s Jaws was a spectacular and horrific film that scared beach goers and cast great white sharks, the deadliest fish in the oceans, in a new light. That film went on to become one of the greatest horror films of all time. From the characters to the setting to the famous soundtrack conducted by John Williams to the killer shark itself, Jaws was an all-around solid movie.
Naturally, Hollywood asked the question, what if there was a sequel to Jaws?
Directed by Jeannot Szwarc and starring Roy Scheider, Lorraine Gary and Murray Hamilton, Jaws 2 continues the story on Amity Island a couple of years after the infamous great white shark attacks. A series of attacks on Amity’s beaches lead Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) to believe that another great white shark is back in the waters off Amity Island. The problem is that he doesn’t have solid evidence and the town doesn’t believe him. After being relieved of duty, Brody takes it upon himself to rescue his son and his friends after the great white shark attacks their group of sailboats.
Jaws 2 (1978) – (c) Universal Pictures
Jaws 2 begins with two scuba divers swimming in the Atlantic Ocean off Amity Island. We later learn that the sunken boat they explore is the Orca, Quint’s boat from Jaws. Out of nowhere a massive great white shark attacks and kills both divers. One of the divers’ cameras captures photos of the shark attack. On the surface, the divers’ boat drifts aimlessly towards Amity Island.
Meanwhile, on Amity Island, Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) is late to the dedication of a new resort hotel on the island. Mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) gives a short dedication speech and the high school’s band plays more music. We learn that Martin’s wife, Ellen Brody (Lorraine Gary), has a job working at the resort. We’re also introduced to Mike Brody, the teenage son and eldest of the Brody boys, and his teenage friends.
Jaws 2 (1978) – (c) Universal Pictures
Mike Brody and his teenage friends are all avid sailors. There’s not exactly a whole lot to do on Amity Island, especially in the off-season, so many of the residents turn to boating and fishing in one form or another.
That morning, the derelict yacht is discovered and Chief Brody sends deputy Hendricks (Jeffrey Kramer) out to investigate it. He dredges the area and discovers the diver’s underwater camera. Despite the empty yacht and missing divers, the police don’t process the camera’s film until later in the story.
Jaws 2 (1978) – (c) Universal Pictures
Two of the teenagers are making out along the sand dunes near the beach when they hear a speedboat in the water. They see that it’s a girl water-skiing. The girl runs back and tells her boyfriend that she wants to go water-skiing, too, but he tells her they can do it next week.
Out in the water, the great white shark snatches the girl right off her ski. The woman driving the boat notices that the skier is gone, so she turns around and looks for her friend. The shark attacks the boat and catches the woman off guard. Terrified, she throws a can of gasoline at the shark and unintentionally gets some of the flammable fluid on herself as well. She fires a flare gun at the shark and the shark, the boat and herself all catch fire. The shark retreats beneath the waves moments before the boat explodes, killing the woman.
Jaws 2 (1978) – (c) Universal Pictures
The town is baffled by the horrific boating accident close to shore. Martin Brody has Hendricks dredge the area and look for clues, but there’s nothing out there. The next day some teenagers find a dead killer whale washed up on the beach. There are some massive bite wounds on the dead whale, but the data is inconclusive after the animal is examined by a marine biologist. When speaking to the biologist, Brody learns that sharks are also attracted to certain sounds in addition to the sound of splashing.
Jaws 2 (1978) – (c) Universal Pictures
Convinced that another great white shark is in the area, Martin Brody makes himself a set of poisoned-tipped bullets for his handgun. He forbids his son, Mike, from boating with his friends until the shark is killed. Brody also spends his time in a shark tower and keeps an eye on the beach and shallow waters. The mayor and others are convinced that Chief Brody is becoming unhinged as his obsession with protecting the town from a shark continues to grow.
One day Chief Brody is in the shark tower and he spots something large in the water. Convinced the nearby swimmers are in danger, Brody sounds the alarm and makes everybody get on shore. He climbs down the tower and runs to the surf. Brody takes out his revolver and fires several shots at the large item, terrifying the beach goers. A fisherman stops Brody, telling him that it’s just a large school of bluefish.
Jaws 2 (1978) – (c) Universal Pictures
That evening Chief Brody receives the processed photos from the divers’ underwater camera. Sure enough, one of the photos shows what could be a large shark. Chief Brody takes the photo evidence to Mayor Vaughn and the townsmen as they’re holding a meeting. The people look at the photo, but they all determine that the picture doesn’t show anything concrete. You have to use your imagination to see the shark in the photo. The townsmen have a closed-door meeting and vote to dismiss Chief Brody. Deputy Hendricks is promoted to chief of police on Amity Island.
Jaws 2 (1978) – (c) Universal Pictures
The next morning, Mike Brody sneaks out of the house and goes sailing with his friends despite his father’s warning. His younger brother, Sean, blackmails Mike into letting him go sailing with them. They join Mike’s friends and the gang sails to the lighthouse and then into the ocean.
A class of scuba divers descend into the water and begin exploring the seafloor. The shark appears out of nowhere in the murky water and we see that part of its head is burned. The shark tries to attack one of the divers but misses, and the diver panics and scrambles to the surface. The sudden rising and change in water pressure causes an embolism, nearly killing him. He’s pulled out of the water and taken to shore for medical help.
Jaws 2 (1978) – (c) Universal Pictures
Out at sea, a small sailboat with two teenagers becomes separated from the group. They’re about to make out in the boat when the shark attacks, knocking the boy into the water. He’s attacked and pulled through the water before the shark releases him. He tries to climb back into the boat when the shark grabs him again and pulls him underwater for good. Terrified at seeing her boyfriend get eaten by the shark, the girl huddles in the small sailboat and waits for help.
Chief Brody and Ellen are driving through town when the spot an ambulance heading towards the shore. They follow the ambulance and learn about the scuba diver’s shark attack. Hendricks informs Brody that a group of teenagers, including Mike, went out sailing to the lighthouse. Martin and Ellen climb into the police boat and Hendricks joins them.
Jaws 2 (1978) – (c) Universal Pictures
The three of them sail towards the lighthouse and spot a lone boat out at sea. Sure enough, it’s one of the teenagers. The girl is terrified as Ellen tries to comfort her. When asked what happened, she’s only able to say that it was a shark. Chief Brody gets the attention of a passing boat to take Ellen, Hendricks and the girl back to shore while he speeds off in search of the teenagers.
Jaws 2 (1978) – (c) Universal Pictures
Out at sea, the teenagers are having a great time until the great white shark wants to join their fun. Several boats are damaged and Mike Brody is injured. His friends pull him from the water just before the shark can grab him. Mike’s friends sail him back towards shore as the rest of the teenagers use rope to lash together their damaged boats.
Jaws 2 (1978) – (c) Universal Pictures
The harbor patrol helicopter spots the damaged sailboats out at sea. The pilot radios Martin Brody their location and then lands by the boats in the water. The pilot tosses the gang a rope and tells them he’ll use his helicopter to pull them to nearby Cable Junction (a small rocky island housing electrical equipment for Amity Island). Unfortunately for him, the great white shark isn’t going to allow this plan to happen. The shark attacks the helicopter, causing it to crash into the water and kill the pilot. The helicopter’s broken rotor blades fly into and cause even more damage to the sailboats.
Jaws 2 (1978) – (c) Universal Pictures
Martin Brody finds the sailboat carrying his son and his friends. Mike is okay, but Martin is angry when he learns that Sean is still out there with the others. He has Mike sail back to shore as he drives off in search of the teenagers. Meanwhile, the disabled boats drift closer to Cable Junction, but a cross-current is going to make them miss the island. Some of them try to paddle the boat and steer it until they’re reminded that the shark is still out there.
Jaws 2 (1978) – (c) Universal Pictures
Brody finally arrives and everybody is thrilled to see him. He tries to toss them a line and tow them to Cable Junction, but the shark attacks. Brody panics and jams the boat’s throttle, making it speed around the area. His boat crashes on Cable Junction, but Brody is uninjured.
Brody wants to use the boat’s winch to pull the teenagers to the small island. The teenagers try to pull the grappling hooks across the rocky bottom, but they get stuck on something. Brody reverses the winch’s engine when the shark attacks the disabled sailboats again, knocking the teenagers into the water. Some of them swim to the island while one of the girls is attacked by the shark but she survives.
Jaws 2 (1978) – (c) Universal Pictures
Martin notices that the winch has pulled a massive power cable up from the ocean floor, and he gets an idea. Brody uses an inflatable raft and positions himself next to the power cable. He then uses a paddle to smack the cable and get the shark’s attention. It works. The shark swims to Martin Brody and attempts to eat him. Brody jumps out of the way and the great white shark instead bites into the power cable, electrocuting itself.
Jaws 2 ends with Martin Brody taking the last few kids to Cable Junction where they wait for rescue.
FINAL THOUGHTS
So is Jaws 2 any good?
As a whole, Jaws 2 is a decent sequel and does a pretty good job continuing the story involving the residents of Amity Island. This film isn’t nearly as scary as the first one, nor does it have the charm or originality of Jaws, but Jaws 2 has some pretty good moments with the shark and Chief Brody’s obsession with it.
It’s Chief Brody’s obsession with the shark that drives most of the story on Amity Island. Everything else that happens on the island, particularly with the new resort, is a bore. One would have to wonder why the film made a point of involving the new resort and its owner in the beginning of the film only to have what could have been an interesting storyline basically disappear. I guess it shows that nothing on the island is really that important.
It’s a shame that it seems like nobody on the island likes Chief Brody or wants to take him seriously. Nobody listened to his shark warnings back in ’75, and nobody wanted to listen to him again in ’78, even during the island’s off-season. It would have been fitting if Mayor Vaughn was on a yacht and attacked by the shark this time. Alas, the mayor acts like a politician and nothing bad happens to him.
The shark in Jaws 2 looks great except for the scene when it tries to snatch Mike Brody as his friends are pulling him into the boat. The shark’s mouth looks really fake for that moment. But for the rest of the film, most of the shots involving the shark look pretty convincing. It would have been great to have seen more of the shark, but that’s just me.
The ending in Jaws 2 helped inspire the ending to the former Jaws ride at Universal Studios Florida. The ride simulates a trip around Amity Island on Captain Jake’s Amity Tours, and riders are attacked by the shark several times. The ride ended with the shark swimming up and biting onto a power cable right by the boat. After that the charred shark tried to attack one last time before being killed by the boat driver’s grenade launcher. The “Jaws” ride and Amity section of Universal Studios Florida closed for good on January 2, 2012.
Jaws 2 (1978) – movie trailer
As far as Jaws 2, the film is a decent sequel to the original Jaws movie. Roy Scheider, Lorraine Gary and Murray Hamilton all return to reprise their roles from the first film, and John Williams returns to create the soundtrack. As it was previously stated, the shark in this film looks good and has some great scenes.
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!”