THE REWATCHABLES · July 7, 2025
A 1978 horror / thriller movie directed by Jeannot Szwarc—and decision no. 63 in the Hanks–Cruise tape.
ON THIS EPISODE
FROM THE CONVERSATION
WHY IT WORKS
WHAT DID NOT WORK
SCENES THEY KEPT COMING BACK TO
The happy beach-kid setup with John Williams music before the danger starts.
About 24 minA standout attack sequence that escalates the movie into full shark-horror mode.
About 32 minA surreal and beloved sequence where a panicked woman douses herself in gasoline and blows up the boat.
About 32 minBrody’s increasingly unhinged proof-making is played for both drama and comedy.
About 32 minA key Brody credibility scene where he tries to convince the town the shark is real.
About 32 minEddie is yanked overboard and eaten in one of the movie’s signature kills.
About 32 minThe boat attack leaves Mike out cold while the rest of the group scrambles.
About 32 minBrody uses the power line to kill the shark in a climactic, setup-dependent finale.
About 40 minWHERE THEY DISAGREED
Bill SimmonsIt is a genuinely great movie, especially in the back half.
Chris RyanIt is fun but not special and structurally slow early on.
Bill SimmonsNo, Brody should have moved on and made a post-shark career.
Sean FennesseyHis staying near the water is absurd but central to the movie.
Bill SimmonsMayor Vaughn Jr. / the mayor’s family should have taken the hit.
Sean FennesseyThe movie benefits from not having to show that political fallout.
Bill SimmonsCruise would make a fun, more chaotic Brody.
Sean FennesseyHanks is the more obvious Brody type.
Calls it a movie he loves despite a rough first hour.
Opening minutesArgues the shark attacks are the movie’s best material and likens the shark to a slasher villain.
Opening minutesTreats Scheider as a great hang and one of the film’s core pleasures.
About 8 minUses the film to argue that sequels were becoming a defining feature of the movie business.
About 8 minFinds the opening sluggish and suggests it only really becomes great late.
Opening minutesFinds the mayor’s denial and political maneuvering fascinating enough to support a whole movie about him.
Opening minutesTreats Eddie being dragged and sucked down as a top-tier rewatchable death.
About 32 minLoves the absurdity of the boat explosion sequence and wants it clipped forever.
About 32 minSees it as a good but less special sequel whose success helped shift Hollywood toward franchise filmmaking.
About 16 minLikes Brody’s paranoid tower scenes and his attempt to prove a shark threat to the town.
About 32 minArgues Brody is a great hang and a compelling damaged hero, even if his choices make no sense.
Opening minutesQuestions whether Brody’s shark heroics should have turned him into a celebrity rather than a local cop.
Opening minutesDefends the actor’s dead-eyed mayor performance as a weirdly perfect fit for the production circumstances.
About 48 minSees the final cable-and-shark payoff as ingenious and satisfying once the setup clicks.
About 40 minLikes the beach-kid cruising culture and the social texture of the 1970s teen environment.
About 24 minThe hosts use Jaws 2 to map the rise of sequel culture from the late 1970s into the 1980s.
About 8 minMayor Vaughn is discussed as a politician who keeps denying obvious danger while protecting the town’s image and real-estate interests.
Opening minutesThe movie is framed as a time capsule of 1970s summer hanging out, sailing, drinking, and flirting.
About 24 minBrody is treated as a damaged survivor who should arguably have left the water behind, but instead returns to the same danger.
Opening minutesThe shark is treated as an unstoppable creature killing teenagers in creatively gruesome ways, like a slasher villain.
Opening minutesJaws 2 was made on a $20 million budget and grossed about $208 million.
About 24 minBill says he owns Jaws 2 on 4K Blu-ray.
Opening minutesRoy Scheider reportedly did not want to be in the movie and was surly during filming.
About 8 minThe movie went through a director change after John D. Hancock’s version was deemed too dark / not action-ready.
About 16 minThe film’s final shark was reportedly a new build after the original sharks had deteriorated.
About 56 minRoger Ebert refused to review the movie and called it pure trash.
About 24 minThe Eddie actor, Gary Dubin, reportedly could not swim and had to be taught quickly.
About 32 minOne of the producers / production accounts suggested the movie’s script had to honor the original while reworking the ending during production turmoil.
About 16 minThe film’s abandoned/original sequel idea was a Quint/USS Indianapolis prequel.
About 24 minLorraine Gary was married to the head of Universal, which the hosts note while discussing her casting across the franchise.
About 16 minUsed as a mashup comparison for the movie’s first 80 minutes and last 45 minutes.
Opening minutesThe shark is compared to Myers as a slasher-style killer.
Opening minutesBill jokes that the mayor’s behavior feels like a proto-West Wing political portrait.
Opening minutesUsed as a reference point for the teen hangout atmosphere in the background of the shark movie.
Opening minutesReferenced while discussing Roy Scheider’s 1970s run and his other great roles.
About 8 minUsed in the same Roy Scheider career discussion and as a separate casting what-if comparison.
About 8 minDiscussed as the role Scheider nearly played instead of De Niro.
About 56 minConstant point of comparison for the sequel, the characters, and the idea of the shark franchise.
Opening minutesUsed for a long side conversation about the franchise’s later entries and family continuity.
About 16 minCompared as another sequel with a killer returning after surviving absurd damage.
About 24 minUsed as an example of a later sequel that has a cult following.
About 24 minCited as one of the bad 1983 sequels in Bill’s year-by-year rundown.
About 24 minUsed generally to discuss how sequel culture changed Hollywood.
About 16 min · medium confidenceReferenced as a current shark movie in theaters with a similar predatory vibe.
About 16 minReferenced in a later discussion about nightlife, stranger interaction, and New York chaos.
About 56 minThe hosts keep joking that Martin Brody made baffling life choices by staying in a shark town after surviving Jaws.
Opening minutesThey repeatedly riff on the mayor’s survival, his real-estate ties, and whether he should be in jail.
Opening minutesThe shark is repeatedly treated like Michael Myers or another horror-movie killer with creative kill logic.
Opening minutesBill goes on long year-by-year sequel tangents to show how franchise filmmaking took over Hollywood.
About 8 minThe hosts joke that the teen group is so large and similarly named that it is hard to keep track of them.
About 40 minThe woman who douses herself in gasoline becomes a running favorite image for the hosts.
About 32 minThey repeatedly note that the adults keep forgetting or abandoning the younger Brody kids, especially Sean.
About 32 min“The shark kills are fucking awesome”Opening minutes
“I love this movie”Opening minutes
“It’s basically Myers.”Opening minutes
“The legend continues.”Opening minutes
“I don’t intend to go through that hell again”Opening minutes
MAKE IT A MOVIE NIGHT
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
Three movies to watch before Jaws 2, and three to watch next.
ON THE MIC
Bill Simmons125 tracked appearances · 56 H / 64 C / 5 ties
Chris Ryan77 tracked appearances · 36 H / 38 C / 3 ties
Sean Fennessey35 tracked appearances · 15 H / 17 C / 3 tiesCATEGORY CONTEXT
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