Scripting The Story: JAWS Franchise

Good day Crewmembers, this is "Scripting The Story: JAWS"!

The purpose of "Scripting the Story" is to help you unravel franchises that have taken some weird turns and can be very confusing if you just watch them from beginning to end. Here, we try to guide you as to what movies can make a more or less coherent story line

On the surface, the JAWS Franchise seems pretty straightforward. But, under the surface; "a world of gliding monsters..." Sorry, wrong shark movie. Truthfully though, the franchise really wasn't made to be watched 1->2->3->Revenge and you're about to see how so.

It might seem weird to stop with just the original two, but despite my warm feelings of nostalgia, the second half of the series is widely considered pretty subpar. Therefore, it is perfectly acceptable to watch JAWS and JAWS 2 to get Martin Brody's full story. The other sequels don't really do much to add to Martin's story at all.

JAWS-3D was originally pitched as a National Lampoon spoof called "JAWS 3- People 0," but the studio wouldn't go for it. Instead, they tried to use the popular JAWS name and the resurgence of 3D movies to capitalize on a straight sequel.

The movie focuses on Chief Brody's now adult son Michael, who is later joined by his younger brother Sean. Michael works at SEA WORLD and unfortunately, a new animal wants in as a main attraction. Spoiler: it's a giant great white shark!

Watching this trilogy gives you a complete story as an well and interesting peak into how the two sons deal with the incidents of their youth.

When JAWS: THE REVENGE was originally marketed, it was confusingly labeled as the third movie in the terrifying JAWS Franchise. Reboots and Legacy sequels weren't really a thing yet, so most people didn't (and still don't) realize you are supposed to ignore JAWS-3D when you watch this movie.

Once again we are given a look into the lives of the grown up Brody boys, but this time their mother Ellen Brody (Chief Brody's wife) is more of a focus. Also, whereas JAWS-3D took all the action south, JAWS: THE REVENGE gives us a glimpse of Amity Island life before shifting to new locales.

This trilogy does offer a complete story line and gives us an update on the elder Brody generation that JAWS-3D skips.

It is entirely possible to watch all 4 movies in order and get a complete story. However, it helps if you know what's coming in THE REVENGE in order to fill in the blanks and alleviate some confusing questions. There are spoilers ahead for JAWS-3D, so we can wait if you'd like to watch the first 3 movies before reading more. Go ahead, we'll be here when you're ready!

WELCOME BACK!! Pretty crazy right?! So, aside from knowing different actors are taking up the mantles of Michael and Sean, here are some "head canons*" to help bridge the time jump.

*Head Canon refers to ideas that make sense within the context of the official canon, but aren't explicitly supported or sanctioned by existing media.

• Kelly's attack left her leg so badly injured, she couldn't return to skiing and her new fear of the water helped her decide to move inland and closer to Sean.

• Despite the new attacks, Sean got over his fear. He and Kelly tried to make it work, but his want to move back to Amity Island didn't quite fit her new outlook on life. He eventually quit college and moved back to Amity to follow in his father's footsteps.

• After the Sea World attacks, Mike declined the job in Venezuela. Instead of being content to "build the stuff while [Kay swims] around in it," Michael decided to pursue Marine Biology as well. He left the engineering world to go back to school.

• The Sea World attacks also brought Kay more attention in the field, and she was courted again by the Scripps Institute this time accepting the position. The two decided it was best to separate and go on their own paths.

• During this time jump, Michael also met a new girlfriend whom he married and had a daughter with. You'll meet them shortly.

With those ideas in mind, you should be ready to jump into the most "personal" entry in the franchise. Seriously, it's in the tagline.

For most people, that's where the franchise ends. There have been many rumors of sequels and remakes since THE REVENGE came out in 1987, but as of now; Universal has just been happy to milk the original JAWS every 5 years or so to commemorate a new anniversary with a new release.

BUUUUUT, what about CRUEL JAWS?!

Ah yes, CRUEL JAWS aka THE BEAST which was marketed in many countries as JAWS 5. The story with this film shows the disparity of copyright laws throughout the world. Italy, in particular, seems to have a history of producing some filmmakers that enjoy using other people's work to complete their own. CRUEL JAWS has nothing plot-wise to do with any film in the franchise. In fact, the shark to blame is actually said to be a tiger shark, despite some of the footage used depicting a great white. The only connection this film has to JAWS is that filmmaker Bruno Mattei took footage from all 4 JAWS movies, as well as other shark films, and used them in his own.

For many years, you could find a rough copy on YouTube. Then, somehow, Severin Films was able to release DVD and Blu-Ray versions in 2020. While no longer available at their website, you can find them with a quick Google search. It has also been available on different streaming services, like Tubi, for free!

Including this in your JAWS Franchise viewing does absolutely nothing to add to any story, but it does exist. It definitely does exist....

Maybe someday we'll get that JAWS19 Back To The Future 2 promised us?

~Until then, enjoy the show!