Cheap Jaws 2 (DVD) (Roy Scheider, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton) (Jeannot Szwarc) Price

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Customer Reviews of Jaws 2

The first and best sequel to my favorite movie of all time.
Jaws 2 is a fun rollercoaster ride of a summer movie, nothing more. It certainly has been maligned by critics and fans for a variety of reasons, but the brilliant background material on this disc clearly shows the quite intelligent reasons why Zanuck/Brown went with the replicate the first movie route instead of breaking new ground. Director Jeannot Szwarc also comes across as a far more intelligent and thoughtful filmmaker than he has been given credit for, that he was able to make a film both stylistcally similiar to Jaws and yet add touches that were uniquely his own (i.e. the ride 'em cowboy POV from the shark's back, etc.) is a perfect example of that. Carl Gottlieb (collaborating screenwriter/script doctor) of the first three films shows a welcome sense of humor about both his work on and the audience reaction to this film. Certainly Jaws 2 suffers from poor creative decisions, a troubled production (the firing of the first director, countless rewrites, and the to be expected mechanical shark problems), and the fact that it was a direct follow up to a wildly succesful movie AND pop culture phenomonom almost doomed it from the start. But the movie is still well made, well acted, and the shark attack scenes are outstanding. A few may grumble that they are telegraphed far too clearly but this was an intentional approach by Szwarc. He felt that the attack scenes were primarily what the audience was there for, to see people get eaten by the shark. The cat and mouse games of the first film would only irritate them, or so he believed at the time.

All in all I think this was the best they could do at the time and the movie is well worth watching. It's frothy summer movie fun that, with the exception of the attack scenes, is almost easy to forget (which makes repeated viewings a lot easier). Jaws 2 is not a great movie, but neither is it a bad one.

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Jaws Sequel
When Jaws was released in 1975, it became an instant box office hit and grew into a cultural phenomenon. It was only a matter of time before the Universal released a sequel. Jaws 2 was released in 1978 and while it predictably did not live up to the original in terms of quality and box office success, taken on its own, it is a great film. Roy Scheider gives a stellar performance as Chief Martin Brody. Still disturbed by the events from the first movie, Chief Brody slowly unravels as the signs of another shark invading Amity start showing up. Again, the powers that be in Amity refuse to believe that they have a shark problem on their hands. Brody reaches a breaking point when he snaps on a crowded beach and starts shooting up the water when he thinks he sees a shark and is fired as a result of the incident. Mr. Scheider perfectly conveys the sense of a man who has finally been beaten by the system. Meanwhile, his two sons, Mike & Sean and a bunch of their friends are out day sailing when the shark hunts them down and starts attacking. There is a good deal of suspense in these scenes leading up to the climatic showdown between Brody and the shark. The sequel is definitely more violent and bloodier than the first one. Jaws 2 is not in the class of Jaws, which is one of the best movies ever made, but it is still a highly entertaining movie.

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Saw It Once and That's It!!!
I was excited at the age of 17 when I heard that a sequel to Jaws was coming out only three years after the first movie. I went, saw it and was not too impressed, however. The Brody boys had aged a bit since the first movie (different actors this time), Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) gets the axe and another aggressive shark prowling off the shores of Amity Island looking for victims, picking up where the deceased shark left off. Some movies that have been a box office smash usually have sequels, and most of these have not been successful. As for this movie, Jaws II did not fit the criteria as the first Jaws movie did and I would not purchase a DVD or a VHS on sequels such as this. Total waste of time!!!