The film that kickstarted the concept of the “summer blockbuster”, the 1975 smash hit Jaws, was Steven Spielberg’s second full-length feature. Its runaway success gave the director the latitude to direct more or less whatever he wanted in the years and decades to come.
In a time when sequels were nowhere near as ubiquitous as they are today, Spielberg chose to step away from the Jaws franchise, which eventually ran to four movies. While it’s fair to say that none of the sequels quite measures up to the original, fans will find something to watch in each — one way or another! Here’s how to watch.
Jaws (1975)
The adaptation of Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel famously suffered from all kinds of troubles during production. These included non-functioning prop sharks, members of the cast and crew getting seasick (Spielberg insisted on shooting on the ocean), and personality clashes between two of the principals, Robert Shaw (Quint) and Richard Dreyfuss (Hooper).
Despite these problems, Jaws turned out to be box office gold. An excellently paced film with shocks and suspense aplenty, critics loved it, and it propelled Academy Award nominee Roy Scheider (Police Chief Brody) to a whole new level of superstardom. The film eventually spent over three months at the number-one spot in the United States.
It is currently available to stream on Netflix.
Jaws 2 (1978)
Like its predecessor, Jaws 2 had a troubled genesis. Its initial director, John D. Hancock, had never directed a blockbuster before, and bowed out midway through filming. He was then replaced by Jeannot Szwarc, who promptly fell out with Roy Scheider. He doubted the movie’s quality and only participated due to contractual obligations.
Alongside fellow returnees Lorraine Gary and Murray Hamilton, Scheider delivers a good performance. Revered film critic Roger Ebert detested it, but box office returns in excess of $200 million guaranteed a further sequel.
Jaws 2 is currently available to stream on Netflix.
Jaws 3-D (1983)
The wheels began to fall off with the third entry of the series. With no actors from either of the first two films deigning to appear, the pick of the new cast was Dennis Quaid as the son of Police Chief Brody; Quaid’s career would take off months later, through his appearance in the critically acclaimed astronaut drama The Right Stuff.
A preposterous plot involving a great white shark on the loose in an amusement park is not helped by shoddy production values and the clunkiest of scripts. At $88 million, the box office take was noticeably down on Jaws 3-D’s predecessor, but the film nevertheless did well enough to guarantee one more installment.
Jaws 3-D is currently available to stream on Netflix.
Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
“This time, it’s personal.” For Jaws: The Revenge, Lorraine Gary was coaxed out of retirement to reprise her role as Ellen, now the widow of Police Chief Brody, and the makers also somehow managed to entice Academy Award winner Michael Caine onboard as Hoagie, a seaplane pilot. The storyline ignored the events of the previous film and featured a great whiteout for revenge on Ellen and her family.
With such a loopy premise, and the now familiar troubles with props, the weather, and the script, the film struggled to turn a profit, posting just over $50 million in box office receipts. Caine, however, had the last laugh. As he mentioned in a subsequent interview:
“I have never seen [the movie]… by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific.”
Jaws: The Revenge is currently available to stream on Netflix.
