Mind-Blowing Facts From The 'Jaws @ 50' Doc

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5 days ago

Fifty years ago, THE summer blockbuster and horrifying thriller Jaws broke the surface and was released to the world. This month, National Geographic released the documentary special Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story, giving us an inside look at the film's plagued production that nearly sank the whole project.
Here are 23 incredible facts I learned while watching Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story:
Director Steven Spielberg thought Jaws would end his career because he was running behind schedule, and he believed no one would ever want to hire him again.
Speilberg had no idea what Peter Benchley's "Jaws" was, but when he read it, he fell in love with it, calling the story about the "Leviathan of the sea."
Author Peter Benchley caught sharks in Nantucket, which helped inspire the story. But the real question that got his gears turning was asking himself, "What would it be like if a shark stayed in one place?"
It took months for Benchley to come up with a title for the book, which included "Terror of the Deep," "Great White," "Leviathan Rising," and many more. Everyone involved was pleased with the word "Jaws," which ultimately became the title.
Carl Gottlieb plays the role of reporter "Harry" Meadows in Jaws, and Gottlieb is actually one of the co-writers for the film's screenplay.
Joe Alves, who designed the shark, created full-size drawings that had varying sizes of the shark, including a 32-foot shark. Spielberg believed the 32-foot design was pushing it to the point of being too unrealistic and borderline science fiction, so he opted for the 26-foot size, as it was intimidating enough yet also realistic.
Speilberg started calling the mechanical shark "Bruce" after his attorney Bruce M. Reimer, but soon after, people working on the shark started calling it "Bruce." It spread like wildfire, and soon the whole world named the great beast "Bruce."
Real great white footage was used in the film by intercutting the real footage with the mechanical shark. Spielberg basically asked them to capture what they could from the wild animal, and he would work around it.
George Lucas told Spielberg Jaws would be the most successful movie ever made and that it was "obviously" going to be a big hit after he saw the construction of the shark.
The original script featured the shark in the opening scene, but the mechanical shark was getting repaired at the time, so Spielberg believed the unseen was much scarier. The effect was also used via ropes jerking her around, making her look like the shark is dragging her, powerless in the water.
Only eight people from Hollywood are part of the cast. Meaning a lot of the actors outside of the core are locals from Martha's Vineyard. This gives the movie a more "real" feel, and less like actors on a set.
During the death of the little boy Alex Kitner, played by Jeffrey Voorhees, two guys are lifting Voorhees up and down in the water while a blood "cannon" is going off to emulate the shark attack.
Benchley's favorite review of Jaws was from Fidel Castro, who said Jaws ("Tiburon" in Spanish) was a "marvelous metaphor about the corruption of capitalism."
During the filming of one of the beach panic scenes, a real shark was spotted nearby. Although far enough away, it still shows the legitimate dangers of the waters and...sh..sha...shark...sharks.
There was a cut sequence where the man attacked by the shark drags Michael Brody while the "mid-eaten" man is in the shark's mouth. Spielberg cut it and other sequences that felt a little over-the-top, particularly in terms of shark attacks.
About 80% of the time, the shark didn't work, due to saltwater messing with the hydraulics. It even came out the wrong way the first time, tail first.
Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw sparred a lot on set, much like their characters, and although it worked for the playful banter in the final product, the two men legitimately didn't get along.
The night scene in the boat's cabin is Spielberg's favorite scene, and he says he could, objectively, "watch it over and over again."
Mention of the USS Indianapolis incident was not included in the book and was added by screenwriter Howard Sackler to motivate the character of Quint. Spielberg had never heard of the incident, but luckily for Sackler's Naval background, the very real story helped build the monologue. Shaw revised the speech slightly to make it more engaging.
The "cage attack" scene was shot entirely in a water tank at MGM. Other moments with the mechanical shark, which filmmakers used as inserts, were also filmed in a Hollywood tank, such as the bullets going through the water as the shark passes.
Composer John Williams sought a relentless score to characterize the shark and its relentless drive.
If you wanted to see the real Bruce up close, the last remaining full-scale mechanical shark can be found on display at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.
And lastly, Spielberg admits he, too, would have voted for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest over Jaws for Best Picture. in 1975.
Watch Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story on Hulu.
What is your favorite Jaws moment? Comment below!