Jaws 2

Jaws 2
Directed by	Jeannot Szwarc
Written by	Carl Gottlieb, Howard Sackler
Produced by	David Brown Richard D. Zanuck
Starring	Roy Scheider, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Jeffrey Kramer
Distributed by	Universal
Running time	116 min.

Jaws 2 (1978) is the first sequel to Jaws. It is set four years after the events of the original film.

Production

The producers had the idea for a sequel within weeks of the original movie being released. Howard Sackler, who had contributed to the script of the original movie but chose not to seek arbitration, was charged with writing the first draft.

Since Steven Spielberg "wanted to move on to fresher climes", theatre director John Hancock was chosen to helm the picture. Dorothy Tristan, Hancock's wife, was invited to rewrite Sackler's script. Offended, Sackler left the company. Hank Searls' novelization is based upon Tristan's script.

Howard's vision for the film was dark. On a Saturday evening in June 1977, after a meeting with the producers and Universal executives, the director was fired. He had been involved in the film for eighteen months.

Tristan left with her husband. Echoing the production of the first film, Carl Gottlieb was enlisted to further revise the script, adding humour and reducing some of the violence.

At this point, Spielberg considered returning to direct the sequel. Because of his contract for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, however, he would not be able to film for a further year, a gap too long for the producers. Production Designer Joe Alves (who would direct Jaws 3) and Verna Fields (who had been promoted to vice-president at Universal after her acclaimed editing on the original film) proposed that they co-directed it, but the request was declined by the DGA. The reigns were eventually handed to Jeannot Szwarc, best known for the TV movie Bug and Night Gallery.

Roy Scheider reluctantly returned to reprise his role as Martin Brody. Universal agreed to count the film as the remaining two of his contractual obligations. The atmosphere was tense on the set, and he often argued with Szwarc.

Martha's Vineyard was again used as the location for the town scenes. The majority of filming, however, was at Navarre Beach in Florida, because of the warm weather. Cable Crossing Island was a floating set that was towed out from the Shalimar Yacht Basin when needed and could be seen from the Garniers Bayou Bridge tied up at night with its faux beacon still blinking. The interior shots of the teen hang-out where they play pinball were filmed in the original location of the Hog's Breath Saloon on Okaloosa Island. This restaurant has recently relocated to Destin, Florida as its original building was susceptible to hurricane damage. The original building was still vacant and derelict in January 2005. The production company had to seek dredge and fill permits from the the State of Florida's Department of Environmental Regulation to sink the sled that controlled Bruce the shark on the sea bottom.

Plot

Sheriff Martin Brody (Scheider) attempts to convince the local politicians that a recent rash of diver and skier disappearances are the victims of another great white shark attack on the small beach resort of Amity. After he causes a panic on a public beach by mistaking a school of blue fish for a shark, he is fired from his job. A group of teenagers, including Brody's sons and the son of the reluctant mayor (Hamilton), are attacked during a sailing regatta. It even attacks and sinks a rescue helicopter. Brody again encounters a shark face-to-face, electrocuting it with a power cable.

Critical reaction

Although the film was initially met with mixed reviews, many revisionist critics have since experienced a newfound appreciation for the film following its successful release on DVD. Many people agree that John Williams' score is more complex than the original. The film was the highest-grossing sequel in history in 1978 and an all-time top 25 box office champ for more than two decades. Jaws 2 instituted the now common practice of sequels as a film franchise.

The film's tagline has become one of the most famous in film history: "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water..." It has been parodied in numerous films; the most notable being the one for the feature film adaptation of the television series, Flipper, "This summer it's finally safe to go back in the water."

Reference

• Loynd, Ray (1978) The Jaws 2 Log. London: W.H. Allen. ISBN 0426188683

External links

• Jaws 2 at IMDb
• The Original Jaws Fansite Direct link to Jaws 2