Jaws 2 *** (1978, Roy Scheider, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton) – Classic Movie Review 4899

Roy Scheider as Amity police chief Martin Brody, Lorraine Gary as his wife Ellen Brody and Murray Hamilton as wicked mayor Larry Vaughn repeat their roles in director Jeannot Szwarc’s welcome 1978 sequel to, and simply reprise of, Steven Spielberg’s 1975 classic monster movie Jaws.

Written by Carl Gottlieb, Howard Sackler and Dorothy Tristan, the plot is basically the same, in which, four years after the events of the original film, young vacationers in the US West Coast island resort of Amity are enjoying their watersports while a second monstrous hungry shark is looking for his lunch. It is of course again up to the Police Chief to try to save the townsfolk.

A selection of the merchandising from Jaws 2.

Unfortunately there is less bite this time than in the original, there is no sign of Spielberg or his special flair, and the other original co-stars Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss are much missed.

However, Jaws II is still gripping and entertaining in its B-movie horror thriller way, and it builds tension and suspense effectively, and sends out a wave of well-targeted shocks in a decently made movie. There is no doubt that it is certainly the best of the Jaws sequels.

Also in the cast are Joseph Mascolo, Jeffrey Kramer, Collin Wilcox [Paxton], Ann Dusenberry, Mark Gruner, Barry Coe, Susan French, Garry Springer, Donna Wilkes, Gary Dubin, John Dukakis, G Thomas Dunlop, David Elliott, Marc Gilpin, Keith Gordon, Cynthia Grover, Ben Marley, Martha Swatek, Billy Van Zandt, Gigi Vorgan, Jerry M Baxter, Fritzi Jane Courtney, Herb Muller, Coll Red McLean and Cyprian R Dube.

The Jaws 2 film score is again by John Williams.

It is written by Carl Gottlieb, Howard Sackler and Dorothy Tristan, shot by Michael C Butler, David Butler and Michael McGowan, produced by Richard D Zanuck, David Brown and Joe Alves, scored by John Williams and designed by Joe Alves.

Allegedly, Szwarc replaced original director John D Hancock after he allegedly proved to be unsuitable for an action film and, also allegedly, Scheider, who only reprised his role to complete his contract with Universal, was allegedly unhappy during shooting and allegedly had heated exchanges with Szwarc.

A huge earner, Jaws 2 was the highest-grossing sequel until Rocky II was released in 1979. It cost $30 million (Universal’s most expensive film so far) and grossed $208.9 million, though even so it grossed less than half of Jaws. Very much on the plus side for profitability, Jaws 2 kicked up much more merchandising and sponsors than Jaws.

Most of the filming for Jaws 2 was done at Navarre Beach in Florida.

Most of the shooting took place at Navarre Beach in Florida. But Martha’s Vineyard was again used as the location for the town scenes and Emerald Coast was also included. Some locals were not impressed, and ‘Universal Go Home’ T-shirts began appearing on the streets in mid-June 1977.

The film’s advertising line of ‘Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water’ is one of the most famous in film history, more famous than the film really.

Jaws III [Jaws 3D] followed in 1983 with Jaws: The Revenge [Jaws 4] in 1987.

Joseph Mascolo, who plays property developer Peterson in Jaws 2 and played crime lord and patriarch Stefano Dimera on Days of Our Lives starting in 1982, died on 8 December 2016, aged 87, after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 4899

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