JAWS 2 Appreciation in NY Times

[AndyDursin]

Take that Williams biographer

Nothing we dont already know but nice to see tne younger generation getting it every once in a while...

[Paul MacLean]

Excellent article, and kudos to the author for giving John Williams' score the attention in deserves.

Still, I don't go with this comparison...

"Unlike the first film, which is known for perfectly executing
the slow-burn buildup to its monster reveal, the sequel gives
us the creature immediately after the opening credits, when
it swoops in on two scuba divers photographing a shipwreck."

Has she forgotten that Chrissie gets eaten-up in the first five minutes of Spielberg's original?

In any case, as I've said before, of course the original Jaws is a classic, and you can't deny Jaws 2 is riding on its coattails.

And yet, in some ways, I honestly like Jaws 2 better. It is a "warmer" and more emotionally intense film, rife with touching moments. John Williams' music for the teenage characters is effervescent and evokes a youthful exuberance and innocence -- and is very "classical" in style for what is in many a 70s "teen flick" (Williams' own kids were in that age range when he scored the film, which may have been an inspiration). Jeannot Szwarc had a tough row to hoe following up one of the biggest blockbusters of all time, but he delivered with a superb -- and satisfying -- movie, which if you ask me is at time the equal of Spielberg's original.

[mkaroly]

I didn't like Jaws 2 as much as Jaws, but I did enjoy it (much more so than Jaws 3-D).

Siskel brushes it off as inferior in this review of Jaws:The Revenge.

[Paul MacLean]

^^ Siskel complains that a key shot from the final scene is missing. Well, it's not hard to see what Universal trimmed that sequence...



And can anyone explain why the shark sounds like The Munsters' pet dragon, Spot?

[mkaroly]

OMG...that is awful! Lol!