20 Things You Somehow Missed In Jaws

In 2003, MythBusters did a whole episode on the physics/science of the movie and whether it is possible or not. Amongst their tests and research, they discovered many flaws in the film’s logic.

If a pressurised scuba tank is shot, it will not explode but will decompress quickly, causing it to fly around like a blow-up balloon with no knot. Apparently, the strength of a great white shark is greatly exaggerated – it cannot hold barrels underwater for too long, nor can it pull a boat backwards with enough speed that waves break over the rear end. Furthermore, the ending is unrealistic because only the shark’s head would have blown up and not the entire body.

With all that said, the special edition episode did confirm certain aspects of the film were plausible, such as a shark being strong enough to destroy an underwater cage and how a great white can swim away if simply punched on the nose.