Did You Know?
Trivia:
When composer John Williams originally played the score for director Steven Spielberg, Spielberg laughed and said, "That's funny, John, really; but what did you really have in mind for the theme of Jaws (1975)?" Spielberg later stated that without Williams's score, the movie would only have been half as successful and according to Williams, it jumpstarted his career.
According to writer Carl Gottlieb, the line, "You're gonna need a bigger boat," was not scripted, but was ad-libbed by Roy Scheider.
Over 67 million people in the U.S. went to see this film when it was initially released in 1975, making it the first summer "blockbuster."
Director Steven Spielberg named the shark "Bruce" after his lawyer.
Composer John Williams conducted the orchestra during the 1976 Academy Awards, so when it was announced that he won the Oscar for Best Score, he had to run up to the podium to accept his Oscar and then run back to continue conducting the orchestra.
Roy Scheider stated in an interview that in the scene where Lee Fierro (Mrs. Kintner) smacks him in the face, she was actually hitting him. Apparently, the actress could not fake a slap and so the seventeen takes were some of the "most painful" of his (Scheider's) acting career.
Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, was used as Amity Island primarily because even twelve miles out to sea, the sandy bottom was only thirty feet down, allowing the mechanical shark to function. Residents were paid $64 to scream and run across the beach as extras.
Jaws (1975) opened on only four hundred and nine screens. Within seventy-eight days, it had become the highest-grossing film of all time. Even then, however, it was still showing in fewer than a thousand screens.
Director Steven Spielberg said that when he first read the novel, he found himself rooting for the shark because the human characters were so unlikeable.
Originally, Steven Spielberg was not the director of Jaws (1975). The first director was fired after a meeting with producers and studio executives. In the meeting, he said that his opening shot would have the camera come out of the water to show the town, then the whale (instead of the shark) would come out of the water. The producers said that they were not making Moby Dick (1956) and they would not work with someone who did not know the difference between a whale and a shark.
Author Peter Benchley had mentioned that if he had known about the actual behavior of sharks, he would have never written the book.
Director Steven Spielberg's biggest fear other than the appearance/performance of the mechanical shark was that cameras would catch sight of land. The reason Spielberg did not want land to be seen was because he thought the audience could envision the characters having the option of just running back to shore when in danger. He wanted to isolate the audience as much as the characters.
The average summer tourist population of Martha's Vineyard before the film was released was approximately 5,000 people. After it came out, the population skyrocketed to 15,000.
Director Steven Spielberg observed at the first testing screening that the first surprise appearance of the shark got the biggest scream from the audience. However, after he re-shot the scene at Ben Gardner's boat, the surprise appearance of Ben Gardner's head got the biggest scream, while the appearance of the shark received half the reaction it used to. Spielberg said it taught him a lesson that a movie can have only one major scare moment, because afterward the audience will be on guard against the film.
Jaws (1975) is one of only five horror films to be nominated an Oscar for Best Picture. The other films are The Exorcist (1973), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), The Sixth Sense (1999), and Black Swan (2010).
Murray Hamilton was the only star of Steven Spielberg's first choice and the only actor considered for the role of Mayor of Amity.
Jaws (1975) was voted the sixth scariest film of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
Despite the film's mammoth box-office returns, Robert Shaw did not earn a penny out of it. He was facing heat from the IRS for tax evasion, and due to working in countries as diverse as the U.S., Canada and Ireland, he had to forgo his salary to make amends.
Following the release of the film, a sort of hysteria overtook some members of the public, resulting in numerous incidents across the country. In one, a beach in Southern California was cleared by lifeguards due to sharks in the water, which turned out to be dolphins; and in a sadder incident in Florida, an immature pygmy sperm whale that beached itself was beaten to death by bystanders who mistook it for a shark.
Tommy Johnson was the tuba player whose ominous sounds announced the sharks' arrival.
One oft-repeated falsehood about the movie is that the color red is never used in any clothes or any backgrounds as Steven Spielberg wanted it to be only seen as blood; however, a simple viewing of the film shows plenty of red throughout: hats and clothing, American flags, Coca-Cola items, upholstery, sign lettering, coolers, can and jar labels, etc., as well as much of the hull of the Orca itself.
MythBusters (2003) dedicated a special episode to testing whether or not certain things from this film are plausible. Among other things, it revealed that punching a shark in the nose, eyes, or gills will cause it to flee or at least back off briefly.
The first day the model shark was used, it sank to the bottom of the ocean. It needed a great deal of maintenance and didn't appear very terrifying. Spielberg recalled, "I had no choice but to figure out how to tell the story without the shark" and he reasoned that, "It's what we don't see which is truly frightening."
As of 2017, Richard Dreyfuss is the only living member of the hunter trio.
Steven Spielberg always considered Jurassic Park (1993) a sequel to Jaws (1975), but on land. People saw differences though, where the latter focused on character development as much as on its creature, while the former only used the dinosaurs to sell the film, and not the characters.
Following the release of the film, interest in shark fishing soared.
Carl Gottlieb named two science fiction films as as influences on how the shark was depicted, or not: The Thing from Another World (1951), which Gottlieb described as "a great horror film where you only see the monster in the last reel"; and It Came from Outer Space (1953), where "the suspense was built up because the creature was always off-camera".
The actors were frequently seasick.
Lee Fierro, a local non-professional who played the role of Mrs. Kintner, the mother of Alex Kintner, the young boy who was the second victim of the shark, who later confronts and slaps Chief Brody, has stated in a recent documentary on the film that she was often asked by fans of the movie, particularly young men, to slap them to recreate the moment. Fierro said she obliged them for some time, but eventually decided to stop doing it.
On August 19, 2017, 42 years after the movie Jaws (1975) brought the story of USS Indianapolis to light, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen located the wreck of the USS Indianapolis in the Philippine Sea at a depth of over 18,000 feet.
Quint's name comes from the Latin word for "fifth". Quint is the fifth person killed by the shark (after Chrissie Watkins, Alex Kintner, Ben Gardner's disembodied head in boat, and Michael's sailing teacher).
The entire second half of Jaws (1975) takes place on the ocean, with just Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss carrying it between the three of them. No other characters appear except the shark.
After the shark blows up, the groaning sound effects during the shot of the carcass sinking are the same ones the truck makes as it crashes off a cliff in Steven Spielberg's first film, Duel (1971). The sound effect is from the original Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).
In the original novel, Hooper has an affair with Brody's wife, and is killed by the shark in the cage at the end. However, because the relationship between Brody's wife and Hooper was considered by many to be irrelevant to the plot, and arbitrarily included in the novel just to "sex it up", it was omitted from the film script, and Hooper was allowed to survive.
The story that Quint tells about his experiences aboard a sinking cruiser is a fictionalized version of the actual World War II Portland-class cruiser USS Indianapolis. Of the 1,196 crewman aboard only 316 survived while 300 died during the sinking and the other 579 dying from exposure, dehydration, drinking salt water and some from shark attacks. The majority of the dialogue in the film was largely written by Robert Shaw. The most major difference between Quint's account and the actual event was the date of the sinking (mentioned in the film as June 29, 1945), while the ship was actually sunk over a month later on July 30.
The shark has 4 minutes of screen time.
\The licence plate that hooper removes from the sharks body has the number 007 on it. This is a reference to Steven Spielberg always having the desire to direct a James Bond film, being a fan of the James Bond franchise. Also actor Robert Shaw - playing the role of Mr Quint - also plays bond henchmen Red Grant in the James Bond film From Russia With Love.
Goofs:
At the beginning of the film, a cherry tree is seen in full bloom. The film is set in July. Cherry trees bloom in May.
When Chrissie is attacked by the shark, her mouth doesn't match her screams in many shots of her.
After the boat's engine has died and Hooper tells Brody and Quint that he will go into the shark cage, you can see a reflection of the boom mic in the window behind him, moving from left-to-right.
As Brody is making a mayday call on the Orca, he places the mouth piece to his ear.
When Brody is in his office typing a coroner's report, he misspells "coroner" - he types "corner".
As Brody is making a mayday call on the Orca, he places the mouth piece to his ear.
When Chief Brody is talking to Larry Vaughan on the ferry, before he says "I appreciate it, I'm just reacting to what I was told," he calls him "Harry" instead of Larry.
Sheriff Brody learns from his deputy that the boy scouts are doing their "Mile Swim" in the bay for their merit badge. While the Boy Scouts of America do offer a "Mile Swim" patch for those scouts able to swim, non-stop for that distance, there is no merit badge that requires swimming a mile. (An Eagle Scout like Steven Spielberg should have known that.)
As Brody argues with Mayor Vaughan about keeping the beaches closed over the Fourth of July, he states that five people were chewed up in the surf (in New Jersey) in five days, in 1916. In fact, it took place over a twelve-day period, and three of the victims were attacked in a tidal creek.
While killing time on the Orca, Brody is trying to learn to tie a bowline; he is reciting the method incorrectly.
When Quint is telling the Indianapolis story, he says the date of the sinking was June the 29th. Actually, the ship was attacked and sunk just after midnight on July 30th.
The sign for Alex Kitner's reward says he was killed on June 29 but when chief Brody is typing his medical report of the death of the girl, which occurred BEFORE the death of the Kitner boy, he types July 1 as the date of the incident.
When Hooper first meets Quint, Quint asks him to tie a sheep shank. Hooper ties a knot and tosses it to him. However, the knot Hooper ties is actually a trumpet knot, not a sheep shank. They both serve the same purpose (shortening a length or rope) but they are tied differently and have a slight difference in appearance.
After Hooper and Brody necropsy the Tiger Shark, Hooper wants to go out and search for the rogue shark, stating "It's a night feeder." All of the attacks happen either early morning, in the daytime, or at dusk. He almost never attacks at night.
The two sharks mentioned by Hooper during Chrissy Watkins's post-mortem are Carcharhinus longimanus, the Oceanic whitetip shark, which is a pelagic shark and doesn't enter the surf zone where the Watkins character was killed, and Isurus paucus (not "glaucus"), the Longfin mako, and is also not known for coming as close to shore as depicted in the movie.
The police report that Brody is typing for the first victim states that her death occurred at 11:50PM, but the sun was obviously shining when she entered the water. Also, the time of discovery of the body is stated as 10:20PM, but it is obviously the next morning when her body is discovered (Brody had just gotten out of bed when he received the phone call at home).
The word ORCA on the back of the boat continually changes from shot to shot varying from very rusty letters to shiny letters.
When Hooper is measuring the bite radius of the Tiger shark, he puts his measuring tape away more than once.
When the two little kids who pull the fake shark fin around, finally surface, they find themselves surrounded by the Coast Guard's boats and rifles: the kid on the left then takes his mask off and removes his headgear (a diver's cap). But, just a second or two later, when he's being hoisted into one of the surrounding boats, the cap is back on his head, in its original position.
There are five yellow barrels on the Orca. After they get the third barrel in the shark, Quint walks past the barrels with his harpoon gun and there are still three barrels left.
The machete which Quint thrusts into the starboard side of the Orca, disappears and reappears continually throughout the remainder of the movie.
As the camera is zooming in on Quint as he gives his speech at the town meeting, there are two women, one wearing blue and the other black, seated next to each other. When it cuts to the shot of people in the room listening to Quint, the woman in blue is still there, but the one in black has disappeared.
When Jaws attacks Hooper's cage, there is live footage of a real Great White with a rope hanging from its mouth. This shark's mouth is clearly much smaller than Jaws' mouth when it attacks the boat moments later.
When Hooper and Quint are comparing their scars, Hooper shows him a large scar on his left forearm. Later on (climbing down a ladder), when the boat engine has died and Hooper has his sleeves pulled up, the scar is gone.
When Quint is hauling in the rope from the first barrel and the shark appears suddenly, he jerks back in surprise and still has the rope in one hand only. The next shot shows the rope flying out of both hands, which are cut by the force.
When Brody stabs at the shark with his lance, his last stab hits the shark on top of the head but in the cutaway, when the shark pulls away, the lance is clearly in his mouth.
When Hooper visits Brody's home, he brings two bottles of wine. Brody pours himself a large measure, and then gives his wife and Hooper some. If you look at the bottle, firstly it seems rather full for the amount he's just poured, and secondly the level changes from shot to shot. Sometimes it's above the label, sometimes below.
When Chief Brody and Hooper tie the ropes to the stern cleats, Quint shoots a harpoon under the shark's mouth. When Hooper is in the shark cage, look at the shark's mouth when it passes by. There is no harpoon there.
During Quint's speech at the town meeting during which he offers to kill the shark, there is an obvious shift after he warns them they could be on Wellfare. When the camera cuts back to him as he begins, "I don't want no volunteers," his hair and sideburns are longer, his shirt collar is disheveled, the audio has a slight echo, the chalkboard has moved about a foot to the right and its drawing has slightly changed, the room behind him is completely different; the furniture and papers posted on the wall are different, and Quint's own shadow and the shadow of a citizen on the left wall are different, indicating that the lighting has shifted. This last line was clearly shot at a different time and edited back in.
In the "beach panic" sequence, many of the people running out of the water and past Chief Brody are obviously completely dry, despite having just run out of the water.
The sea frequently goes from choppy to calm, and the skies from sunny to hazy, as we cut back and forth between characters on the Orca.
Brody, Hooper, and Quint get soaked when the shark is pulling the boat backwards, but in the next shot, with Quint still wielding the machete above his head (after having cut the ropes), they appear dry. When the shot returns to a close-up of the three men, they're wet again.
When Brody is doing the chum line for the second time you see that his cigarette has been lit for some time, yet when he has just seen Jaws for the first time and tells Quint, "... you're gonna need a bigger boat..." he is clearly smoking a freshly lit, full length cigarette.
When Brody, Quint, and Hooper are building the anti-shark cage, in one shot Brody has his shirt on, in the next he has it off, and in the next he has it on again.
The action in "Jaws" is supposed to take place during Fourth of July Weekend in New England. At that time of year the temperature in New England, during the day, usually ranges from the mid-70s to the mid-90s (Fahrenheit)...yet, with very few exceptions, the cast -including the extras-are wearing long pants, long-sleeved shirts, heavy jackets, wool hats, etc. They appear to be dressed for autumn weather, not summer weather.
In the opening attack scene, the position of the sun/lighting changes from shot to shot.
The sun's position over the water, and subsequently the lighting, often changes from shot to shot - very noticeably when the kid surfaces with his fake shark fin, and in several scenes aboard the Orca.
When Brody, Hooper and Quint encounter the shark for the first time, the direction which the shark approaches from is inaccurate. When Brody and Quint walk out on deck, they along with Hooper look towards the port side, like the shark is approaching from that direction. In the next shot from behind Brody and Quint, the shark is approaching from the starboard side, then the three men are all looking towards port side again, before the shark swims past the stern coming from starboard side again.
The dried bloody stains around the tiger shark's mouth, as it hangs on the dock, change and/or disappear, depending on the shot.
During the beach panic, the position of many of the adults and children change between shots.
When the engine of the Orca explodes and the shark swims away, Brody is standing on the bridge, then when the camera pans down to Hooper standing below him, the iron ladder, used to climb on and off the bridge, has disappeared. When Quint comes out and hands Brody and Hooper a life jacket, the ladder has returned.
When the shark leaps onto the boat at the end, a silver machine can be seen inside one of the gills.
As Brody walks through Amity, the trees are bare, despite its being July.
Like Quint said, "Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, he doesn't even seem to be livin'... 'til he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then..." So for all those scenes where we see Jaws attack someone, like Quint or the guy in the pond, his eyes should have rolled back as a way to protect them.
Quint was in the Navy, but yet he wears an Army issued field jacket with his name on it.
In the movie Quint says the Indianapolis was sunk on June 29, 1945. In reality it was sunk on July 29.
Real great white sharks do not behave in the manner depicted in this film. In fact, unprovoked shark attacks are very rare, with only a handful of them being fatal and two out of three people survive a great white shark attack. However, this is a thriller/horror movie and many things are intentionally exaggerated to fit the genre.
When Brody is on the beach during Alex Kitner's death, an island local approaches Brody and asks him to do a favor and the film crew is reflected in Brody's glasses.
Quotes:
Brody: You're gonna need a bigger boat.
[the three men are comparing their scars]
Brody: What's that one?
Quint: What?
Brody: That one, there, on your arm.
Quint: Oh, uh, that's a tattoo, I got that removed.
Hooper: Don't tell me, don't tell me..."Mother."
[he roars with laughter]
Hooper: What is it -
[Quint solemnly clamps a hand on Hooper's arm]
Quint: Mr. Hooper, that's the USS Indianapolis.
[Hooper immediately stops laughing]
Hooper: You were on the Indianapolis?
Brody: What happened?
Brody: Smile, you son of a BITCH!
[shoots at the air tank; the shark explodes]
Quint: [Quint first scratches the chalk board to get everyone's attention] Y'all know me. Know how I earn a livin'. I'll catch this bird for you, but it ain't gonna be easy. Bad fish. Not like going down the pond chasin' bluegills and tommycods. This shark, swallow you whole. Little shakin', little tenderizin', an' down you go. And we gotta do it quick, that'll bring back your tourists, put all your businesses on a payin' basis. But it's not gonna be pleasant. I value my neck a lot more than three thousand bucks, chief. I'll find him for three, but I'll catch him, and kill him, for ten. But you've gotta make up your minds. If you want to stay alive, then ante up. If you want to play it cheap, be on welfare the whole winter. I don't want no volunteers, I don't want no mates, there's just too many captains on this island. $10,000 for me by myself. For that you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing.
Quint: Here lies the body of Mary Lee; died at the age of a hundred and three. For fifteen years she kept her virginity; not a bad record for this vicinity.
Mrs. Kintner: Chief Brody?
Brody: Yes?
[Mrs. Kintner slaps Brody and sobs]
Mrs. Kintner: I just found out, that a girl got killed here last week, and you knew it! You knew there was a shark out there! You knew it was dangerous! But you let people go swimming anyway? You knew all those things! But still my boy is dead now. And there's nothing you can do about it. My boy is dead. I wanted you to know that.
[Mrs. Kintner walks away]
Mayor Vaughn: I'm sorry, Martin. She's wrong.
Brody: No, she's not.
Quint: [singing] Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies. Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain. For we've received orders for to sail back to Boston. And so never more shall we see you again.
Mayor Vaughn: Martin, it's all psychological. You yell barracuda, everybody says, "Huh? What?" You yell shark, we've got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July.
Brody: Is it true that most people get attacked by sharks in three feet of water about ten feet from the beach?
Hooper: Yeah.
Brody: And that... and that before people started to swim for recreation - I mean before sharks knew what they were missing - that a lot of these attacks weren't reported?
Hooper: That's right.
Mayor Vaughn: Fellows, let's be reasonable, huh? This is not the time or the place to perform some kind of a half-assed autopsy on a fish... And I'm not going to stand here and see that thing cut open and see that little Kintner boy spill out all over the dock.
Mayor Vaughn: Any special questions?
Denherder: Uh, is that $3000 bounty on the shark in cash or check?
[the townspeople laugh]
Hooper: [points to a scar on chest] Mary Ellen Moffat. She broke my heart.
[Hooper, Brody and Quint all laugh]
Quint: Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him.
Ellen Brody: You see the kids?
Brody: [looking out the window] They must be in the back yard.
Ellen Brody: In Amity, you say "yahd".
Brody: [starting out of the bedroom, speaking with a bad New-England accent] They're in the "yahd", not too "fah" from the "cah".
[looks back at Ellen]
Brody: How's that?
Ellen Brody: Like you're from New York.
Mayor Vaughn: I'm only trying to say that Amity is a summer town. We need summer dollars. Now, if the people can't swim here, they'll be glad to swim at the beaches of Cape Cod, the Hamptons, Long Island...
Brody: That doesn't mean we have to serve them up as smörgåsbord!
Brody: [Drunk] I'm tellin' ya, the crime rate in New York'll kill you. There's so many problems, you never feel like you're accomplishing anything. Violence, rip-offs, muggings... kids can't leave the house - you gotta walk them to school. But in Amity one man can make a difference. In twenty-five years, there's never been a shooting or a murder in this town.
Brody: What are you doing out there? These are your people - go and talk to them.
Hendricks: Those aren't my people. They're from all over the place. Did you see all the license plates out in the parking lot? Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey... I'm all by myself out there.
Credits:
The producers gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of The National Geographical Society and Mr. L.J.V. Compagno of the Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University.
Soundtracks:
Jaws Theme and background music for various scenes Written by John Williams
Untitled Improvised Campfire Guitar Music (uncredited) Performed by Mike Haydn Soundtrack Credits Show Me The Way To Go Home (uncredited) Written by Irving King Performed by Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss
Spanish Ladies (uncredited) Traditional English shanty Performed by Robert Shaw
I Honestly Love You (uncredited) Composed by Peter Allen Lyrics by Jeff Barry Performed by Olivia Newton-John
(You're) Having My Baby Written by Paul Anka Performed by Paul Anka with Odia Coates
In the Good Old Summer Time (uncredited) Music by George Evans Played in the score
Jaws (1975) Nominations And Awards:
ACADEMY AWARDS, USA 1976
Won Oscar Best Sound Robert L. Hoyt Roger Heman Jr. Earl Madery John R. Carter
Best Film Editing Verna Fields
Best Music, Original Dramatic Score John Williams
Nominated Oscar Best Picture Richard D. Zanuck David Brown
GOLDEN GLOBES, USA 1976
Won Best Original Score - Motion Picture John Williams
Nominated Best Motion Picture - Drama Best Screenplay - Motion Picture Peter Benchley Carl Gottlieb
Best Director - Motion Picture Steven Spielberg
BAFTA AWARDS 1976
Won Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music John Williams For The Towering Inferno
Nominated Best Actor Richard Dreyfuss
Best Direction Steven Spielberg
Best Film
Best Film Editing Verna Fields
Best Screenplay Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb
Best Sound Track John R. Carter, Robert L. Hoyt
ACADEMY OF SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY & HORROR FILMS, USA 2015
Nominated Saturn Award Best DVD/Blu-Ray Collection For Duel , The Sugarland Express , 1941 , E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , Always , Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park -As part of the "Steven Spielberg Director's Collection".
ACADEMY OF SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY & HORROR FILMS, USA 2013
Nominated Saturn Award Best DVD/Blu-Ray Special Edition Release
For the "100th Anniversary Edition" release.
ACADEMY OF SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY & HORROR FILMS, USA 1976
Won Golden Scroll Best Advertising Clark Ramsey
Won Outstanding Film Award - Outstanding Film of 1975
AMERICAN CINEMA EDITORS, USA 1976
Won Eddie Best Edited Feature Film Verna Fields
DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA, USA 1976
Nominated DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures Steven Spielberg
DVD EXCLUSIVE AWARDS 2006
Nominated DVDX Award Overall DVD, Classic Film Universal Studios For "Jaws 30th Anniversary Edition"
GOLDEN SCHMOES AWARDS 2012
Nominated Golden Schmoes Best DVD of the Year
GOLDEN SCREEN, GERMANY 1976
Won Golden Screen
GRAMMY AWARDS 1976
Won Grammy Album of Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special John Williams
INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS AWARD (IFMCA) 2015
Nominated IFMCA Award Best Archival Release of an Existing Score - Re-Release John Williams (music composed by) Michael Matessino (album produced by) Joe Sikoryak (album art direction by) liner notes by Scott Bettencourt
NATIONAL FILM PRESERVATION BOARD, USA 2001
Won National Film Registry
ONLINE FILM & TELEVISION ASSOCIATION 2005
Won OFTA Film Hall of Fame Motion Picture
PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS, USA 1976
Won People's Choice Award Favorite Motion Picture
SATELLITE AWARDS 2005
Nominated Satellite Award Outstanding Overall DVD (Widescreen 30th Anniversary Collection).
WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA, USA 1976
Nominated WGA Award (Screen) Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium Peter Benchley Carl Gottlieb
PARENTS GUIDE FOR JAWS (1975)
SEX AND NUDITY:
A teenage girl goes skinny dipping. It is at night, but the silhouette of her bare breast is briefly seen.
A woman asks her husband if he 'wants to get drunk and fool around,' implying sex.
Violence & Gore:
A man slides into Jaws' mouth. Jaws chomps down on his waist and blood fills the water. There is a close up of him being chomped repeatedly as blood fills the water and wounds open up on his body. Blood erupts from his mouth and he is fully consumed by the shark. A large pool of blood is left in the water, and the shark's mouth is covered in blood.
A teenage girl's hand, missing one finger, turns up on the beach. There is no blood.
A man is dragged out of a rowboat by a shark. He is partially seen in its mouth as it bites down. This is somewhat obscured by the bubbles and water. His bloody severed leg is then seen sinking to the bottom of the ocean. Plenty of blood clouds the water.
A boy is attacked while swimming. Blood spurts and bubbles everywhere, clouding the water in red.
A man investigates a corpse. He gives a graphic description of how she was killed by the shark.
A man shoots at the shark. Many bloody bullet holes are seen in the shark as blood trails in the water.
A shark is killed. It has blood all over its mouth. Later, its stomach is cut open and lots of white fluid spills out. A man pulls fish, a licence plate, and other items out as well.
A man looks at pictures of shark victims that have chunks of flesh missing. The skin is healed up around the wounds in one picture, but it is still rather gruesome.
A man digs a hook into a piece of fish. Many bloody pieces of fish are thrown into the water.
A man tells some disturbing and violent stories about people who were killed by sharks. He speaks of them being ripped in half and torn to pieces.
A shark's head is blown up. It is full of blood and chunks of flesh. The shark's head is blown to bits, and pieces of it fly everywhere and, along with its mangled corpse, float to the bottom of the ocean.
PROFANITY:
5 uses of "ass",
5 uses of "bitch"
3 uses of "bastard"
2 uses of "shit"
5 uses of "damn"
4 uses of "Goddamn"
7 uses of "hell".
ALCOHOL, DRUGS AND SMOKING:
A group of teenagers pass around a marijuana joint and drink while on a beach.
People are shown drinking.
People are shown smoking.
Three men sit around in a boat drinking and begin to appear drunk.
FRIGHTENING AND INTENSE SCENES:
There are several scenes of surprising fright - for example, a diver is examining a damaged boat and while looking into an underwater hole in the hull, a severed head appears.
The scenes with the shark are usually very intense and disturbing; the shark may appear frightening to some viewers.
A man's dog goes missing, as he is playing with him on a crowded beach that is being monitored by beach patrol for a possible shark in the area. The man calls the dog repeatedly, only to see the stick the dog was playing fetch with, bobbing in the waves. It is assumed that the dog was consumed by the shark. This may be disturbing for some viewers.
Recommended Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic content including disturbing images and descriptions, scary shark attacks and violence, and for some suggestive material and references, substance use and language - involving teens and children
To download the Indianapolis Speech CLICK HERE
Read about Jaws On the Internet Movie Data Base
To see a real incident of a rogue shark which inspired Jaws CLICK HERE
The Teeth Of Jaws: Making Of The Movie CLICK HERE
Documentary: The Truth About Sharks CLICK HERE
