Jaws 3-D

Summary

The third dimension is terror.

As I mentioned in the Jaws 2 review, in 2020, Universal Studios released the three sequels to Jaws in an affordable three movie Blu-ray pack that also featured Digital HD copies of the films. This set collected the three previously released Blu-rays from Universal for a very reasonable price. 

When I was a child, the Jaws movie that I remembered blowing me away the most aside from the original was Jaws 3. It had almost nothing to do with the original two, and a lot to do with Sea World in Orlando… IN 3-D! No actors from the prior films carried over. I remember as a child watching in awe as a great white prepared to bash into an underwater tube filled with unlucky guests. I first saw the movie at a sleepover for my friend Sam Kooistra, and the film was love at first sight. I didn’t even get to see the film in 3-D properly, but my imagination was fully triggered.

One of the joys of revisiting the film with my family was that in 2020 I went a little crazy and tracked down the best possible 3-D television I could find. A word to the wise – the 3-D and 4K televisions only overlapped for about a year, so if you can find a good one cheap – buy it! While my family marveled at this expenditure made seemingly out of the blue, I quickly proved its worth by showing them Avatar and Tron: Legacy. One of the movies that I wanted to see most was Jaws 3-D, but I bided my time until we had watched the other sequels as a family. It was a lot of fun to rewatch the film through my adult gaze.

For the third Jaws entry, genius science fiction and horror author Richard Matheson wrote an outline and a script. That script was changed and Carl Gottlieb was credited with writing on the script, but internet sources say that it was actually the work of script doctors. The stakes had to be higher than on prior films and the budget for the film was $18 million dollars. It was filmed at Sea World in Orlando and in Navarre, Florida. Matheson was unhappy with how the film was directed by Joe Alves who had worked as production designer on the prior two films before directing the third. Matheson also thought that the idea of the characters being Brody’s children was “stupid,” but Universal insisted. Matheson was not wrong on this point, but he had no idea how stupid this insistence on focusing on the Brody’s would become for Jaws: The Revenge. Lead actor Dennis Quaid was quoted as saying that he was high on cocaine for every frame of the film. The film was a critical failure. Despite all of these issues, the film was a box office success and repeatedly played on TBS when I was growing up.

The plot of the film revolves around Mike Brody (Dennis Quaid) – son of Chief Brody from the prior films – who has relocated to Orlando and now works for the Sea World Park as an engineer. He works with his girlfriend Kathryn Morgan (Bess Armstrong) who works with whales, dolphins, and other animals in the park as a caretaker and trainer. The park is surrounded by a lagoon that is surrounded by the ocean. The park is opening a unique underwater exhibit where families can walk through tubes underwater for an museum experience called the Underwater Kingdom. A great white shark makes its way into the park by pushing its way through a gated area from the ocean into the lagoon. At night, two divers sneak into the park to steal some coral, but they are killed by the shark. An employee is also killed by the shark before anyone can take notice. Meanwhile, Sean Brody (John Putch) arrives into town to work alongside his brother. He starts a relationship with Kelly Ann Bukowski (Lea Thompson) who works with a group of skiers to form triangular formations on each other’s shoulders in the lagoon in front of spectators. As the shark makes its presence known in the park, the park’s manager Calvin Brouchard (Louis Gossett Jr.) tries to keep the park calm and limit bad publicity as mayhem breaks out.

Jaws 3-D is not a perfect film. There is certainly a step down in writing quality from the prior sequel in terms of realism, but a leap forward in terms of originality and spectacle. Is the plot fairly ridiculous? Yes. Absolutely. It does not stop me from enjoying it as a fairly mindless popcorn movie that is just incredibly of its time. I like how goofy the film is and love the colorful nature of the picture. It was not going to be an Oscar contender, but it is definitely a fun time. Joe Alves understood production design and it shows in the film, even if his direction itself is not fully convincing.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the film is the likable cast. Lea Thompson is extremely cute in the film. Dennis Quaid is as likable as ever (which is even more impressive considering how high on coke he was.) Louis Gossett Jr. is fun to watch as he sweats his way through the terrible situation for the park. Bess Armstrong is a nice romantic lead and strong heroine. John Hutch, Simon MacCormindale, and P.H. Moriarty are all nicely cast in their roles as well.

The 3-D mania that swept theaters in the early Eighties led to only a few films before it disappeared again and they were mostly horror titles (Amityville 3-D, Friday the 13th Part 3, Jaws 3-D.) The technology was interesting for filming these movies and led to somewhat murky looking films that used polarized 3-D glasses in the theaters. It took until the more recent 3-D television boom for fans like myself to be able to view these films again in 3-D. The effect feels a little bit off due to the technology limitations from that time, but it is still a lot of fun (even if my wife complained it was giving her a headache.) If you plan to watch Jaws 3, I hope that you watch it in 3-D to see the film as it was intended.

I know that this film is not going to please everyone, but my nostalgic tendencies would have me rank this as my second favorite Jaws film (even though Jaws 2 is better made.) I like it and am glad I own it.

Video

Universal has provided Jaws 3-D in both standard and 3-D presentations in 2.39:1 in 1080p. I watched Jaws 3-D on a Sony 4K 3D television which I think allows me to judge the video presentation warts and all as well as possible. This is a pretty difficult video presentation to judge. Like other 3-D filmed presentations from the early Eighties, the film looks a little murky. Fine detail is impacted. Softness invades. That said, when the 3-D works properly it looks really neat. At times, it can also make you feel like your eyes are crossing and gave my wife a headache. Unless they approach this film again and really evaluate how to clean up this image, I think this is the best it will look. As a fan, I was pleased with how things looked, but compared to 3-D presentations of our era, detail is compromised pretty drastically. The 2-D presentation suffers from the softness of being filmed in 3-D, but doesn’t benefit from the effect. If you can watch it in 3-D, that is the preferred way to view the film.

Audio

I listened to the DTS-HD MA 2.0 track on my surround system, and I was impressed. It was much more immersive than I had anticipated. Clarity is excellent and dialogue is easily understood. The score by Alan Parker is great. I had no qualms with this track.

Supplements:

The 3-D version of the film is listed in the extras section. The only other supplement is a trailer for the film.

Overall Scores:

Video – 3.5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 2.5/5

Overall – 4/5

I might be in the minority, but Jaws 3-D is my second favorite Jaws film. While Jaws 2 is a better made film, Jaws 3-D is much more memorable and entertaining. Some will disagree with me on this point, but they probably should buy a 3-D television, pop some popcorn, and revisit the film. With a winning cast and an extremely Eighties feel, Jaws 3-D appeals to my nostalgic sensibilities. I will gladly rewatch this movie whenever anybody wants to watch it with me. The Universal Studios Blu-ray from 2016 is pretty attractive technically (given the filming procedures for 3-D films at the time.) That disc has been included in the Jaws Three Film set which is very affordable and also includes Digital HD copies. That set certainly comes recommended for fans of the first film.