Stephen Spielberg’s masterpiece, Jaws, turns 50 this month. It’s an important benchmark in film history and made its way onto our list of the 100 greatest movies of all time. We’re celebrating Bruce the Shark’s birthday by ranking the entire franchise. This is unquestionably the easiest ranking I’ve ever taken on. There’s no denying which film will be first, and it’s fairly obvious which one will be last.
4. Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
Directed by Joseph Sargent
The original Jaws was a film that didn’t require a sequel, it was a perfect standalone story of man vs. beast with a satisfying ending. But it really didn’t need this sequel. Jaws: The Revenge is not only the worst movie in the franchise, but it’s also one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. The plot is lunacy. Featuring Ellen Brody, Chief Brody’s wife, as the only returning character from the earlier films, the story involves a shark that follows the widow to a new home to enact revenge for her family’s killing of sharks in the first three entries. Michael Caine, who co-stars in the film, famously said, “I have never seen it (Jaws: The Revenge) but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built and it is terrific.”
3. Jaws 3-D
Directed by Joe Alves
Except for Jaws: The Revenge, the sequels in the franchise at least offer a bit of entertaining silliness. The third entry launched the shark into the third dimension, latching on to the 3D craze of the early 80s. It’s the first movie not to feature Roy Scheider, instead starring a young Dennis Quaid as Michael Brody (Chief Brody’s fully grown son). It’s an interesting concept, setting the action inside a SeaWorld-inspired park. Unfortunately, the special effects are laughably bad, and the story is flimsy.
2. Jaws 2 (1978)
Directed by Jeannot Szwarc
The arguably unnecessary, but surprisingly entertaining, follow-up to Spielberg’s masterpiece hit cinemas three years later. Richard Dreyfuss‘ Matt Hooper didn’t return for the sequel, but Roy Scheider’s Chief Brody did. The film shifts its focus to a group of young teens, including Brody’s son, Mike, as they embark on a day of unsupervised fun on the water. It lacks the subtlety of the original and aims for a bigger execution that mostly misses the mark. But you can’t say they didn’t try, I mean, the shark takes down a helicopter. That’s pretty cool.
1. Jaws (1975)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Of course, we knew this is where we’d end up. The one that started it all. Steven Spielberg’s perfectly crafted masterpiece is regarded as the first summer blockbuster and is responsible for changing audience’s relationship with the ocean forever. It announced Steven Spielberg as a skilled new voice and is a rare example of a film adaptation outshining its source material. With a troubled production, a mechanical shark that wouldn’t work, and a budget that continued to balloon, the film should have been a disaster, but against all odds, it treaded water long enough to get its bearings and surprise us all.
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