How to survive a Jaws movie

Since the release of Jaws back in 1975, the popularity and knowledge of sharks has exploded. We can proactively work to reduce our chances of a negative shark encounter.

However, the sharks that terrorise the Brody family are no ordinary sharks so it’s essential to know what to do should you find yourself coming face-to-face with a Jaws shark. The obvious answer is to stay out of the water (this is Jaws not Sharknado) but fear not, here is our guide on how to survive a Jaws movie.

Avoid swimming alone or at night

As Matt Hooper tells Chief Brody ‘…he’s a night feeder” and this is especially true for the Jaws universe. The first victim of the Jaws saga is Chrissie Watkins, a lone swimmer who goes out a little far and encounters a giant shark. The next time we see her, Chrissie is a pile of remainswaseed up on the shore. Another night time encounter happens when two locals try catching the shark using a holiday roast, ending with a destroyed jetty and one of the locals narrowly avoiding becoming a meal. Shelby Overman of Jaws 3D wasn’t so lucky when he went for his evening dip either.

Beware the color yellow

Colors have used to symbolise things in movies - In The Sixth Sense, a recurring symbol is the color red. The color red symbolizes a closeness between this world and the next. In the first Jaws movie, the color yellow symbolises the presence of the shark - the yellow barrels, Mrs Kinter’s hat are just two examples of sixteen we’ve spotted Steven Spielberg’s original movie!

Have a means of communicating with the mainland

In today’s age of technology, it’s almost impossible to not be able to communicate. Radar, sonar and electric toothbrushes have been superseded by smart phones/watches, tablets and Wifi pretty much anywhere. And you’ll need to be able to communicate if you’re in a Jaws movie. Look at what happened when Quint smashed the radio when Brody tried to make a Mayday call. Back in 75, the radio was the only way to communicate with the mainland and coastguard. Once that was gone, Brody became more dependent on his crew pulling together - and that didn’t go well.

Never be friends with, date or work with any member of the Brody family

Knowing a Brody is a dangerous business. These people attract sharks like Quint to a case of apricot brandy. Michael and his friends get attacked in the original as do they friends do again in Jaws 2. Sean's girlfriend gets bitten in Jaws 3-D and Mike's work colleagues and Jaaaaaake in Jaws The Revenge.

However if you need a monster shark killed, find a Brody

The Jaws movies centre aound the Brody family made up of Amity Island Police Chief Martin (Jaws, Jaws 2), Ellen Brody (Jaws, Jaws 2 and Jaws The Revenge), and brothers Michael and Sean who appear in all four Jaws movies.

Each of the killer sharks meet their fate at the hands of a Brody. Chief of Police Martin blows up and electrocutes the first two fish respectively. Eldest son Michael pulls the pin of a grenade in the third shark’s jaws that explodes and the fourth shark is impaled by the pulpit of Neptune’s Folly by Ellen Brody.

Get a shark tower

Shark towers are observational platforms that provide a wide ranging views of the shoreline, allowing sharks to be spotted and swimmers to be alerted and evacuated from the water quickly, reducing the occurrence of a shark / human encounter.

Brody saw a photo of a shark tower while reading up on sharks in the original Jaws with one being installed on Amity State beach by Jaws 2. Granted, this lead to Brody causing a mass panic when he mistook a large school of bluefish for a giant shark, but we say better to be safe than fish food.

Pay attention - foreshadowing

The fate of shark in Steven Spielberg’s original Jaws was arguably foreshadowed more than once. The photo of the shark chomping on the pressure sensor, Hooper describing the dead Tiger shark as a garbage can that will “…eat anything” and when on the Orca, Hooper points out to Brody that his air tanks could “…blow up.”

This tradition of foreshadowing the shark’s fate is carried through in the next two Jaws sequels. In Jaws 2, Hendricks pulls up the power cable while out searching for evidence / remains of the missing water skiier. Entrepreneur Calvin Bouchard specially tells Philip Fitzroyce and Jack Tate “No grenades.” when they are about to try and catch the trapped baby Great White. The 35ft long “damn shark’s mother…” is killed by a grenade held in the hand of a part digested Philip Fitzroyce.

Keep quiet

Sharks are attracted to noise and irregular vibrations in the water so screaming and panicked swimming are a dangerous combination When Jackie screams as the shark in Jaws 2 is circling, the only reason the shark stops is because of a louder noise being made by Chief Brody banging a paddle on the power cable that eventually kills the beast. .

Keep still

If you find yourself in the water with a shark from the Jaws series, keeping still appears to lower the chances of being attacked. In the final cut of the estuary attack, Michael Brody (Chris Rebello) is frozen in shock and the shark swims by.

Lucy (Cynthia Grover) doesn't get attacked by the shark in Jaws 2 as she is barely moving in the water as the shark approaches her. The shark passesl close enough to graze her mid-section with it’s sand paper like skin but did not go in for the kill.

There may one slight exception to this rule though. When Michael Brody is knocked unconscious in Jaws 2, the shark appears to target him despite not moving. This could be for 2 reasons - he is a lone target (possibly bleeding) so the only choice the shark has or this is the first hint of the ‘revenge’ angle of the franchise as it has suggested that the shark in Jaws 2 was the mate of the shark in the original Jaws. .

Know your sharks or recruit an expert

Brody looked through the books to try and educate himself about sharks and learn as much about his foe as possible, however he didn’t have enough time to learn everything he needed to know so requested support from the oceanographic institute. 

Hooper was invaluable, confirming that Amity had a shark problem but becoming Brody’s first true ally. Hooper also named the species of shark and pressed the Mayor to do the right thing. Dr Elkins in Jaws 2 was pretty dismissive of Brody’s Shark theory when inspecting the washed up killer whale however, she acknowledged the possibility of another shark problem. 

Invest in an adequately sized boat

If Jaws proved anything worth getting it’s name into NatGeo for, it’s that having the correct sized boat to hunt a giant killer shark is essential. Not only was the Orca almost totally unfit for hunting this particular shark (weak wooden hulls and an old engine), it’s underwhelming size meant the hunters quickly became the hunted.

And finally…. Listen for the music

Before we even see the shark in a Jaws movie, we hear it. The iconic two-note motif crafted by master composer John Williams usually lets us know when the shark is near. However this can’t always be relied on as sometimes the shark appears without warning - musical or otherwise (see ‘bigger boat’ moment).

So we plead, if you happen to find yourself in a Jaws movie, not one single rule will save you. You must apply all the rules as well as you can and we hope you make it through to the end credits!


Words by Ross Williams

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