Called simply Jaws 3 for television and stripped of the one gimmick (3-D) that made it – arguably – acceptable in theatres, this hapless opus stands as a testament to the law of diminishing returns.
Sheriff Brody’s sons – Sean (John Putch) and Mike (a very young Dennis Quaid) – are working at a new marine park owned by controversial entrepreneur Calvin Bouchard (Louis Gossett Jr), where a captive infant great white shark is being groomed as the centre’s latest tourist attraction. However, no one has reckoned on the creature’s vengeful mother.
Joe Alves, the production designer of Steven Spielberg’s great original and, therefore, the man responsible for creating the mechanical shark (“Bruce”) is at the helm here, but it’s quite clear from this effort that he’s no director. The special effects are dire, with a model shark used on several occasions, ‘swimming’ directly at the camera.
Watch out for PH Moriarty (Hatchet Harry from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), but just feel sorry for the likes of jobbing Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett Jr, both miscast and extremely under-directed.
Jaws 3-D is dull, over-long and unceasingly dumb – but the Bess Armstrong romantic bits are quite watchable.
Mike Brody
Dennis Quaid Calvin Bouchard
Louis Gossett Jr Kathryn Morgan
Bess Armstrong Philip FitzRoyce
Simon MacCorkindale Sean Brody
John Putch Kelly Ann Bukowski
Lea Thompson Jack Tate
P H Moriarty Dan
Dan Blasko Liz
Liz Morris Ethel
Lisa Maurer Shelby
Harry Grant Silver Bullet
Andy Hansen
Director
Joe Alves
Video
Related Posts
Suspect (1987) Objection your honour. The defence counsel is presenting herself as a harassed, hard-working public defender and she looks suspiciously like…
Fatal Attraction (1987) Michael Douglas made two films in 1987 that hit a nerve and captured the prevailing respective cultural sentiments of "Greed…
Caveman (1981) "Back when you had to beat it before you could eat it" Nothing too cerebral about that tagline. Well actually,…
An American Tail (1986) Seeking to dethrone Disney as the king of animated features, a young mouse named Fievel roared into cinemas in 1986's An…
Rebel (1985) A 20-year-old US Marine named "Rebel" (Matt Dillon) is on R&R leave in Sydney in 1942, recuperating from wounds suffered…
Jaws: The Revenge (1987) Amity has not suffered a shark attack in years, but the fears of Ellen Brody (Lorraine Gary) - the widow…
Jaws 2 (1978) Three years after those infamous shark attacks, another great white swims into police chief Brody's Amity resort town in this…
Jaws (1975) "You're gonna need a bigger boat!" Summertime in Martha’s Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts: Breaking away from a hippie…
