JAWS 2 - Deleted Scenes, Books, Appreciation Thread!

[AndyDursin]

I saw a post on the FSM board about this, and it's fascinating, because it contains some deleted footage from JAWS 2 literally not in any other version. Not the TV version, not the deleted scenes on the DVD, nowhere!

Sadly it's all in Portuguese, but it's interesting still. Amongst the "never seen it before moments" are at the 4:30 mark as Hendricks and "the old man" send divers down and retrieve the missing camera the deceased photographers left at the Orca wreck.

[Monterey Jack]

What I wouldn't give to see the week's worth of footage that original director John Hancock did before getting fired and replaced by Jeannot Szwarc. I know that the only shot retained from his tenure was the effectively eerie moment where you see the shark's fin emerging from Amity harbor at dusk.

[AndyDursin]

It would definitely be exciting to see that material, but I wonder if it all went out in the Universal fire. At least you can get an indication from Hank Searls' novelization (plus the Marvel Comics adaptation) what the original film may have been like, as they were both based off the Hancock/Dorothy Tristan version. Sounded like it was too dark, literally AND figuratively -- but what a fascinating contrast it probably would've been.

In the end, though, I think the changes were for the better, and Jeannot Swarzc did a wonderful job making a very strong sequel that gets unfairly dumped on, mostly by people who haven't seen it (or just compare it to the original). Most of the casting changes were also for the better too...bringing back Jeffrey Kramer as Hendricks was a big plus...Dana Elcar would've been terrible as a town council/quasi-romantic rival to Brody...and somehow I can't see Ricky Schroder (even though he was from Brooklyn) as little Sean.

[Monterey Jack]

It would definitely be exciting to see that material, but I wonder if it all went out in the Universal fire. At least you can get an indication from Hank Searls' novelization (plus the Marvel Comics adaptation) what the original film may have been like, as they were both based off the Hancock/Dorothy Tristan version. Sounded like it was too dark, literally AND figuratively!

I remember the novelization, and remember being bored about all the Mafia subplot stuff and just wanting more of the shark. Then again, I was probably twelve the last time I read that.

In the end, though, I think the changes were for the better, and Jeannot Swarzc did a wonderful job making a very strong sequel that gets unfairly dumped on, mostly by people who haven't seen it (or just compare it to the original). Most of the casting changes were also for the better too...bringing back Jeffrey Kramer as Hendricks was a big plus...Dana Elcar would've been terrible as a town council/quasi-romantic rival to Brody...and somehow I can't see Ricky Schroder (even though he was from Brooklyn) as little Sean.

Oh, agreed...Jaws 2 turned out to be FAR better than it should have been, both due to the behind-the-scenes turmoil and in being a sequel to one of the biggest and most beloved blockbusters of all time (not to mention the terrible rep of the genuinely awful third and fourth movies). It's proof that sometimes a studio stepping in and micro-managing the production actually can lead to a better product. I recently showed Little Shop Of Horrors to my nephew (I haven't seen the film since VHS in the early 90's), and after the film we watched the infamous original ending, and we both agreed that, elaborate and expensive as it was, it was just the wrong way to end the film, leaving the viewer on a sour, downbeat, over-produced note. I mean, it was fascinating to watch, and the visual effects were top-notch and filled with great gags (I loved one of the Godzilla-sized Audrey IIs blowing into the smokestack of a factory, causing all of the windows to explode outwards ), but I can't imagine sitting through the whole movie with that alternate ending put on there in the director's cut. Maybe the truncated, "happy" ending wasn't what the filmmakers intended, but it made for a movie that's far more satisfying on a whole (and we still get a hint of it seeing a freshly-budded Audrey II in the garden of Seymour and Audrey's dream house, giving the audience a smirk). It'd actually be kind of interesting to compile a list of movies with heavy reshoots that actually turned out to be good (like the reshot "S-Mart" ending of Army Of Darkness, which is far more enjoyable than the downbeat "apocalypse" ending of Sam Raimi's original cut).

[Paul MacLean]

I remember some of these scenes -- like Brody writing the parking ticket, and the town council voting to remove him -- being in the TV cut. I don't recall these scene with the divers retrieving the camera though.

Clearly the scene with with the divers wasn't in the version John Williams scored, as it just re-tracks the main title over the footage.

[AndyDursin]

It'd actually be kind of interesting to compile a list of movies with heavy reshoots that actually turned out to be good (like the reshot "S-Mart" ending of Army Of Darkness, which is far more enjoyable than the downbeat "apocalypse" ending of Sam Raimi's original cut).

Yeah agreed! And not only does the LITTLE SHOP original ending not work because it's so downbeat, but it's just so jarring watching this little intimate musical, with only a handful of characters, turn into this gargantuan FX spectacle for the final 10 minutes! It didn't work on a number of levels. And that ARMY OF DARKNESS reshoot was much better too...I remember at first Bruce Campbell said he didn't like it, but it's clear it was an improvement (and tied right into that Starz series too). There are times reshoots DO work, even if they're more often than not obvious band-aids to something that didn't.

Going back to JAWS 2, the one scene I wish they retained (most of them were understandably cut for time) was Mayor Vaughn voting NOT to fire Brody. That showed character growth and was a nice moment for Murray Hamilton too -- they should've kept it in, especially considering all the health issues Hamilton and his wife had at the time of shooting.

[Monterey Jack]

Going back to JAWS 2, the one scene I wish they retained (most of them were understandably cut for time) was Mayor Vaughn voting NOT to fire Brody. That showed character growth and was a nice moment for Murray Hamilton too -- they should've kept it in, especially considering all the health issues Hamilton and his wife had at the time of shooting.

Yeah, that was a glaring omission, especially since it would have added, what, a MINUTE to the overall running time? The final cut of the movie was under two hours, so why they couldn't have retained that is strange to me. Again, since Hamilton died shortly after Jaws 2 came out, it seems especially ill-advised, considering how Mayor Vaughn became kind of the genesis of all "greedy, heartless corporate stooge" characters who would flood multiplexes for the rest of the 70's and 80's and even up until today.

[Eric Paddon]

Hamilton didn't die until late 1986. But yes, the scene should have been included since it showed that he had as a person changed just a bit from what he had been in the original movie.

[Monterey Jack]

Hamilton didn't die until late 1986. But yes, the scene should have been included since it showed that he had as a person changed just a bit from what he had been in the original movie.

Huh...the making-of on the Blu made it sound like he died shortly after the film came out.

[Eric Paddon]

Bad goof on their part. His last role was in the 86 TV-movie "Last Days Of Patton" which aired about a week or two before he died I think (and he knew his condition was terminal when he did that).

[AndyDursin]

Hamilton's wife was gravely ill during shooting and he had to leave to tend to her. I think she died shortly thereafter. They moved his scenes up to accommodate him according to what David Brown says in the DVD documentary.

[AndyDursin]

Dug this thread up again to comment on the JAWS 2 "revised" Making Of book, which is comprised of the same basic book, then with a lot of additional interviews and photos -- nice to have, though not essential -- tagged on to the end.

One thing that the authors verify -- the 2 shots of in the movie that are Hancock's are the shark fin rising in the harbor, AND the water kite sequence. Those Vineyard-shot bits are the only scenes Hancock directed in the finished version.

There are also no remaining bits of footage remaining in the Universal vaults from the Hancock version (sadly). Apparently one of the then-teen actresses tried specifically to see if footage she shot existed, and the authors also obtained the breakdown of what was left in the Universal vault for JAWS 2. Outside of test footage of the shark, that's it -- it's all gone.

That test footage can be found here at least --

http://footage.framepool.com/en/search/ ... s=JAWS%202

Here are some additional stock footage shots worth seeing from JAWS:

http://footage.framepool.com/en/search/ ... =JAWS+1975

...and JAWS THE REVENGE:

http://footage.framepool.com/en/search/ ... rds=JAWS+4

[Eric Paddon]

Somewhat unintentionally I had ordered the first version of the book. If the new one doesn't have a whole lot of essential new stuff, I guess I can pass on that.

[KevinEK]

Is this the expanded "Jaws 2: The Making of the Hollywood Sequel" by Pisano and Smith from Bear Manor Media in 2015?

There's a lot of interesting interview material in that one, including the infamous fistfight on the set between Scheider and the director...

[AndyDursin]

Yeah this is a revised edition that has quite a lot of additional photos and interviews. Came out a few weeks ago.

I need to go through it more but it may be worth it. Theres at least one good shot of Ricky Schroeder in character thats new. I had picked it up for $33 during an Ebay sale and sold my old copy off. Can you return the 1st edition Eric?

"Originally published in 2015, Michael A. Smith and Louis R. Pisano gave readers an in depth look at the sequel to the movie that started the summer blockbuster. They interviewed so many people behind the film, both ones that worked on the original version and those that were in the picture that was finally released. They give you one fascination story and sheds so much light on this film. We reviewed this version on our site when it came out and just loved it.

But now, they have a newer expanded edition, giving us even more information. The original release was 363 pages and this new edition is 530, giving us close to 200 more pages! We get more interviews, almost 200 new photos, many which have never been seen before. While we hate double-dipping for these kind of newer editions, I loved the first book so much that I think I’m going to have to go right back into the water for a second swim."

http://www.bearmanormedia.com/jaws-2-ma ... earch=Jaws