Jaws 3-D (1983)

The sons of police chief Brody must protect civilians at a Sea World theme park after a gigantic 35-foot shark becomes trapped in the park.

Director:

Joe Alves

Writers:

Peter Benchley (suggested by the novel "Jaws"), Richard Matheson (screenplay),

Stars:

Dennis Quaid, Bess Armstrong, Simon MacCorkindale

5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dennis Quaid	...	Mike Brody
Bess Armstrong	...	Dr. Kathryn 'Kay' Morgan
Simon MacCorkindale	...	Philip FitzRoyce
Louis Gossett Jr.	...	Calvin Bouchard
John Putch	...	Sean Brody
Lea Thompson	...	Kelly Ann Bukowski
P.H. Moriarty	...	Jack Tate
Dan Blasko	...	Dan
Liz Morris	...	Liz
Lisa Maurer	...	Ethel
Harry Grant	...	Shelby Overman
Andy Hansen	...	Silver Bullet
P.T. Horn	...	Tunnel Guide
John Edson	...	Bob Woodbury (as John Edson Jr.)
Kaye Stevens	...	Mrs. Kallender

Storyline

Michael Brody and Sean Brody, the sons of former Amity police chief Martin Brody, work at Florida's Sea World, a seaside park run by Calvin Bouchard. Sean befriends Kelly Ann Bukowski, and Michael's girlfriend Kathryn Morgan is Sea World's head scientist who always works with Sea World's dolphins Cindy and Sandy. In its man-made lagoon, about 40 feet under the water, Sea World opens the Undersea Kingdom, a new set of underwater glass tunnels that have their own control room, and Calvin's friend Philip FitzRoyce is there to do some filming. When Sea World diver Shelby Overman vanishes, everyone is worried. Michael and Kathryn head into the water, where they find a baby great white shark and decide to bring it to Sea World to put it on display, but at Sea World, the baby shark dies. When Overman's body is found, Michael vomits when he sees it. Kathryn looks at the body and knows that the baby shark could not have been the shark that killed Overman, because the baby shark's bite radius ...

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Plot Keywords:

shark | sea | sea world | florida | theme park | 

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Taglines:

A deadly new attraction.

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Genres:

Action | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 July 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jaws 3

Filming Locations:

Orlando, Florida, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,500,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$42,200,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Alan Landsburg Productions, MCA Theatricals

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Actor Louis Gossett Jr. previously co-starred in Peter Benchley's The Deep. Gossett's appearance in Jaws 3-D, the second sequel to Benchley's Jaws, gave Gossett two star appearances in Benchley related movies.

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Goofs

Different voice actors dubbed Dan's voice throughout the film.

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Quotes

Mike Brody: I see my brother nailed you, eh?
Kelly Ann Bukowski: Your brother?
Mike Brody: Yeah, believe it or not.
Kathryn Morgan: If he wouldn't have pulled that old crotch trick, he never would have won.
Mike Brody: Yeah. That's his best move.
Kathryn Morgan: It runs in the family.

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Crazy Credits

In the original 3D version, the Universal Pictures Logo is in 3D. Plus the title "Jaws 3D" comes "toward" the viewer, clamping together as if it was like a shark's mouth.

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Connections

Referenced in Urusei yatsura: Pool Spooks! Burning with Forbidden Love (1984)

User Reviews

Would've been fine with an imposing monster

"Jaws III" is nowhere near as bad as it's been lead to believe it is.

**SPOILERS**

As Sea World is about to open a new attraction, Sean Brody, (John Putch) arrives to visit brother Michael Brody, (Dennis Quaid) and girlfriend Kathryn Morgan, (Bess Armstrong) when park owner Calvin Bouchard, (Louis Gossett Jr.) welcomes Phillip FitzRoyce, (Simon MacCorkindale) to the park. With strange accidents in the park becoming a routine occurrence, they dive into a lagoon on the grounds and find a shark in it. After capturing the shark and putting it on display, it dies in it's first show. Unsure of how to carry on, they find the shark's mother still living inside the park and attacking the facilities. Working against the possible disasters, they race to stop the fix the attractions and shark before it destroys the park.

The Good News: This one wasn't that bad and was actually pretty decent. The film's greatest factor is that the characterization scenes aren't all that aggravating to sit through. The bar scenes and the few shown with the couples on the job are decently done, giving off a nice sense that a normal couple could be involved in these types of affairs without being forced into them. This sticks out mostly from the uncharacteristic nature of them, and are handled quite nicely, and while they do go on a little bit long for some, they're not a complete time-waster and that's a nice thing to know. The action does come along at the end in all the right installments, featuring a lot of big action set-pieces that come off really well. The discovery of the mother promotes all this, and the film starts in earnest at the time when it crashes into the complex and floods it. The sight of the shark appearing out of nowhere in front of a panicked crowd of tourists and crashes into their structure has delightful possibilities, and they are somewhat played nicely here. It also has a neat shock, as the disembodied head of a victim floats on-screen in front of an unsuspecting child. It's a classic shock that never fails. The race to fix the problem of the stranded visitors is a nice suspense-builder, coming off in a very elegant manner and allowing for some really nail-biting scenes. The chase through the underwater ship is pretty nicely done, and comes off with a great air of urgency about it. The shark in here also looks the closest to a real shark, giving off a realistic shape that is really close to a great white rather than a demonic face with a shark's body. It also displays a realistic touch by moving it's upper lip to attack, something that none of the other sharks did. This wasn't all that terrible.

The Bad News: There actually isn't that much to really dislike in this one. Most of what's wrong with the film is that the effects are pretty abysmal. The 3-D effect isn't employed beyond poking objects into the camera for no reason, stopping the film cold to show those effects. Needless scenes, as having a needle make sure it'll eject properly or having a dolphin emerge out of the water in our faces being prime examples. The green-screen photography present also doesn't help matters, often times making them look worse. The miniature tub is the greatest example, although the young, lifeless shark comes really close. There's no believability at all in hardly anything in the film, and this really hurts the film. It's nearly impossible to have any fear or tension in a film where the main threat isn't imposing, and it's on display nearly every time there's a shark on-screen here. The stupidity inherent in so many situations is a major crime, especially in the first shark's capture and display to the public being quite obvious. The reasons why won't be revealed, but upon thinking of the circumstances surrounding it are mind-numbing and wouldn't play out in real life. The measure of taking out the creature also applies, as it really defies logic that it would be so, and in a scene full of nonsensical things, it's hard to pick one thing about the ending that really works. Just about everything, from the really bad 3-D effects to the shark effects and the eventual outcome all having some manner of involvement together really make it underwhelming. The shark itself deserves mention, as the body count in here is really unacceptable. For a giant shark to cause as much damage and mischief as it does, to be around as many thrashing bodies in the water as it always manages to be around, and the fact that it sneaks up on the victims isn't going to be left out. There should've been more kills in here, and with so many missed opportunities, it's a real shame. The number of times it manages to sneak up on the water-skies without managing so much as to nick them on the leg is a major misgiving, and it really does nothing to help inspire fear in the shark, and with it's appearance and failure to get at so many of it's potential victims, this really fails as a compelling killer shark. These are the main things involved with this that really bring it down.

The Final Verdict: While it's not a complete, utter and total catastrophe like others in the series, there is some fun in this being a total camp-fest. It's a fun, cheesy affair that doesn't really do anything other than be great at that, and that's not that bad for a film to be. If this appeals to you, take a shot, if not, stick to the first two of the sequels.

Rated PG: Graphic Violence and some mild Language