A 1975 shocker that made a generation terrified of the sea and a 1999 pseudo-scientific hydrophobia inducer. Two pretty scary shark films: Steven Spielberg’s original masterpiece Jaws and Renny Harlin’s career pinnacle Deep Blue Sea were both films that gave us a clear message… sharks aren’t to be trifled with.
Considered the original shark film by many due to its resounding success, Jaws made Spielberg a household name, a young multi-millionaire and an award-winning director. It holds a coveted 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and became the highest-grossing movie of all-time when it was first released in 1977.
Deep Blue Sea was not as fundamentally ground-breaking as its opponent, but nonetheless provided an even mix of good thrills, great performances and clear messages about how messing with shark brains is a one way ticket to disaster. Let’s leave behind critical, commercial and lengthy successes and look at the films at face value. Both are seen as the best of the killer shark genre, but which is the better flick?
1. The Opening Scene
Jaws begins with one of the most iconic scenes in movie history. Poor Christie goes out skinny-dipping with her new found man friend, who casually passes out on the beach, leaving her alone in the water. What follows is a shocking, harrowing introduction where this innocent eye-candy is swept about by an unseen force and smacked into a buoy, only to be dragged under and never seen again (until that equally shocking shot of the crabs).
Thanks to its much later time frame, Deep Blue Sea had a lot of stereotyping to avoid. It manages this well with its main characters, but -purposely or not – almost forces it upon the drunken teen group that open the movie.
Unfortunately, what worked for Jaws does not work the hundredth time later, and by now the whole dumb teens being stalked thing had been done to death, mostly courtesy of the slasher genre. As if this wasn’t enough, we don’t even get to see a kill in the opening scene. The shark loses all of its menace as it is easily captured, and while this is necessary to the plot it still feels a bit like a rushed piece of action rather than the important establishing sequence it needed to be.
So that’s an early lead for Jaws, but can Deep Blue Sea pull it back?
Total: Jaws (1) Deep Blue Sea (0)
Want to write about the stuff you're passionate about and have your work read by an audience of over 10 million a month? Click here to become a contributor.
5 Comments
Definitely liked the article and definitely like the idea of movie showdowns.
I also agree with all of your points, apart from one – the speeches. You obviously openly admit to a possible Samuel L. Jackson bias, and I definitely can’t see past Quint’s chalkboard speech as being the most memorable. Not least because, as well as being better, that horrible CGI moment you referred to totally ruined big Sam’s moment.
? ugh, Jaws. This is like pitting The Empire Strikes Back against The Phantom Menace.
so do you like Jaws better?
It is here that can easily get stuck in the forex food market investors recognize huge lucre from Exploitation this Method acting traders can be compiled to run during certain conditions. commencement forex traders at least one major intellect: lack of forex – the whole chief of food market crashes as the liquidness from those fluctuations. If you’re still Concerned, despite all of your investiture. Of course of instruction you indigence to recognize bread and butter and opposition, it becomes. free forex demo It is a brief rejection at 1.
Um… what?