RICHARD DREYFUSS SHARES ROBERT SHAW STORY WITH DEVOTED JAWS FAN

Tell us about your love for Jaws.

My love for Jaws started when I was 6 years old. Back in 2008 when I was hanging out at my Grandpa's house, I came out the hallway into the living room and saw my mom watching Jaws. It was the scene of Quint being eaten. I was scared at first, but to this day it became my most favorite scene in the film. Everything changed since that day. I started collecting various Jaws merchandise over the years, watched the movie billions of times, and watched documentary after documentary. I even started building my own Bruce's! One was a cardboard/taped up shark that was 7ft long, and I made 2 sharks in 7th grade that were 6 and 10ft long. I also made various Orca boats. Most of them were lost in time. I sadly don't have any photos of them. I dedicate everything I've done to the movie and the people who made it. I love Jaws so much, that I really dislike Universal Orlando as a whole for replacing the Jaws ride with Harry Potter. I even dislike Harry Potter as a whole as well.

Who is your favourite character and why?

The main three guys are just as legendary, but I'd say My favorite character is Quint. Robert Shaw is very enjoyable on screen and in some behind the scenes stuff. I watched a snippet of an interview of Robert Shaw dressed up as Quint and I loved listening to his funny stories. Quint as a character is in my opinion the most beautifully written. And I think it was a genius decision to make the Indianapolis disaster the reason why he has an Ahab-like vendetta towards sharks. If I were to make a book accurate Jaws movie, Quint would be just a regular shark fisherman. He'd been long time partners with Ben Gardner and upon hearing of his death, he would have had a reason to hate the shark. Quint's death is still the best scene in the whole film and it was really executed well.

What is your favourite moment in Jaws?

Quint being eaten of course! The whole scene was done so beautifully. And I'm still hunting for more behind the scenes pictures of that particular scene. Bruce smashing onto the stern, Shaw sliding into the mouth, the close ups of Bruce biting into the blood filled harness that Robert Shaw was wearing, him spitting up blood in the end, it's still an epic scene hands down.

What do you think of the sequels?

Honestly Jaws 2 is the best sequel. And that's where it should have stopped. I find Brucette to be quite comical. Compared to Bruce, she doesn't look as realistic as he does. The scar on her face was great but I just wished they had done more maintenance on the head because I literally can't get over how the tip of her upper jaw just FOLDS INWARD as she tries to get one of the teens. You can also see the hydraulic tubes. But it still felt like a proper Jaws movie. You had Brody, you had Amity, you even had some subtle references to Quint and Hooper which was very touching. Jaws 3 was so garbage in terms of editing, acting, and writing. I still laugh at the horrible "3D" effects and the way Simon McCorkindale's character dies. At least it predicted Jurassic Park. Jaws 4 was utter TRASH. In terms of design, I love the look of Vengeance the Shark, but the way they used it in the film was just downright awful. What makes the shark work in ANY Jaws film is the camera work. The people who made Jaws 4 forgot about it somehow. In some shots you can see the MECHANICS of the Shark!!! I even saw the platform that the crane arm was attached to!

What was it like meeting Richard Dreyfuss and Jeffrey Hendricks?

Meeting Richard Dreyfuss and Jeffrey Kramer at Pensacon was the greatest thing ever! I shook Mr. Dreyfuss's hand and told him how much I loved Jaws and his work on the film. When I met him at his booth after I did a photo op with him, I heard him tell a Robert Shaw story to someone next to me! He realized I was listening too so he included me in! He told of the story where he attended one of Robert Shaw's plays and he recited a line he said at the end of the play. When it was my turn, I surprised him with all the info I already knew and told him how I knew about when Shaw challenged him to jump off the Orca's mast for $100. I even got him to sign my Jaws shirt!

What did you talk to them about?

I met Mr. Kramer shortly before I ended my trip at Pensacon. He was the nicest man and I once again explained how much I loved his work on Jaws and how much I loved the movie in general. When I did a photo op with the two of them for the Jaws Duo photo op, I held up my Jaws shirt and said, "Here's to swimmin with bow legged women!!"

I even told them both about my contributions to the Jaws WeMake. Jeffrey Kramer said that he loves the work that you guys (The Daily Jaws) do and you guys are the best!

Words and images by Cisco The Inkling

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