JAWS 2 was my favourite JAWS movie, then I watched the original...

Steven Spielberg has been my favorite filmmaker as long as I can remember. In my opinion, the original Jaws film is his all time masterpiece. Certainly not taking anything away from E.T., Indiana Jones or countless others, but for me, Jaws will always be his best and my favorite. I am one of millions of fans, but my fondness for Spielberg’s classic had an unusual start.

I cannot recall a time when I did not love the movies. It was a Saturday night some time around 1981 or 1982 and my older sister, older brother and I were with a babysitter at our house while our parents had an adult night out with some close friends. I remember being excited, because on Saturday nights there was always a movie making its broadcast television premiere on one of the big three networks of ABC, CBS or NBC.

Tonight it was Jaws 2!! This was long before Netflix, Hulu and even before the movie rental boom of the 80’s. If you missed a movie in theaters, it usually took several years before it was ever broadcast on television, unlike today when movies seem to be everywhere all at once. I was 6 or 7 years old and I was excited that our babysitter was in agreement with letting us watch Jaws 2.

At this point, I had never seen or even heard of the first film, but I knew I shouldn’t be watching it and that made me want to see it that much more. I saw a commercial on TV that showed the shark taking down a helicopter and I knew I had to see it.

To say the least, Jaws 2 was the scariest movie I had ever seen at the time. Once the movie was over and my hands were pried off the armrests of our couch, I could not get the movie and certain images out of my head. The most harrowing and most effective scene in the movie involves Sean (Marc Gilpin) a young boy around my age, and Marge (Martha Swatek) a teenage girl.

Sean is in the water after being thrown out of a boat and Marge is trying desperately to get him out of the water to safety. She succeeds in saving his life, but as she pulls on a rope to get back on the capsized boat, you can hear the terror in her voice as she screams, “ I can’t get up!” and then the great white is races up behind her and Sean watches as she is swallowed whole. I could have been Sean!

When my parents arrived home, I had yet to take a bath because I was scared the shark could be in my tub!! My parents acquiesced and allowed me to skip the tub that night but I knew eventually I was going to have to face the tub of possible death the next day. As I cried myself to sleep, I could hear my parents scolding the babysitter for allowing us to watch the sequel. The next morning, I quickly recovered and took a bath without any assistance. While getting ready for church, my dad asked me if I liked the movie. I told him I did not. He looked at me and said, “ The first one’s better.” At that point I had no interest in ever seeing another movie with the word “Jaws” in the title.

In 1987, two maligned sequels debuted within a week of each other. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Jaws The Revenge, both debuted in July of that year. It was rare that our entire family of 5 went to the movies, but I remember going to the local theater, which wasn’t too local considering the closest one was 30 miles away, to see a matinee of the new Superman movie.

When we arrived at the theater my older siblings immediately begged my dad to buy them tickets for Jaws The Revenge because they had no desire to see the Man of Steel make world peace. My dad bought tickets for them to see the shark movie and the rest of us saw Christopher Reeve dawn the cape one last time. I still had no desire to see a shark eat people for an hour and a half.

Around 1989, at age 14, I really discovered movies. I mean I always enjoyed going to the movies and at that point renting movies, but I had really discovered cinema. We finally had cable and on many occasions, I would set our VCR to record older movies that were showing late at night and watch them the next day. My favorite at the time being 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde. It was also 1989 and I was, like everyone else, obsessed with Tim Burton’s Batman.

It wasn’t until one Sunday afternoon that I walked through the den and sat on the couch with my dad to watch the latest “vinyl siding movie” that I finally discovered Spielberg’s classic great white tale. On Sunday afternoons in the ‘80s, I watched many “vinyl siding movies’ with my dad. These were typically westerns, action movies and sometimes horror films that were shown Sunday afternoons with long stretches for commercial breaks specifically geared toward selling vinyl siding to the “man” of the house.

A typical 90 minute movie would be stretched to 3 hours for extra advertising time so the viewer could be convinced to call the 1-800 number to get a free estimate for the indestructible material to be nailed onto the side of your house. Today’s movie was the original Jaws.

I wasn’t excited about watching Jaws, but at this point I was a big Spielberg fan and this one of his films I had yet to see. It was also an opportunity to spend time with my dad. After the opening sequence, I was hooked. This was not a movie about a shark, but a movie about three men with little in common, that worked together to slay this great white dragon and it was glorious.

As great as the shark sequences were, I enjoyed the interaction between the 3 main characters even more. The three of them have never been better. While Scheider, Dreyfus and Shaw were well known by my dad, they were unknowns to me. My favorite was Chief Brody. He was the audience. He was the ordinary man in an extraordinary circumstance and everything he said, we as audience members were thinking. I will not forget the 3 and a half hours spent watching this movie for the first time. Anytime after, even to this day, if I ever catch it on television, no matter what part, I stop and watch it until the end. That day was time well spent with my dad.

Now, at 47 years old, I appreciate Jaws even more. We are the same age, as we were both “born” in 1975. As a parent, I have enjoyed introducing my two boys to movies. I was most excited to show them Jaws. My youngest is 13 years old and seems to have a similar passion for movies. He loves “monster” movies and Jaws certainly fits that bill. My oldest had a “meh” reaction the first time, but I hope that will change as he gets older. His generation loves anime and while it is not my taste, I have given it a try just so we can spend time together.

I watch Jaws at least once a year and in 2022 I finally had an opportunity to see it in theaters for the first time. It will never match sitting on the couch with my dad on a lazy Sunday afternoon and watching it on 13 inch Zenith, but it helped me remember why I love movies in the first place.

Words by Brian Denny

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