Richard Dreyfuss JAWS #3 (that's Ben Gardners boat!)

Jaws is a 1975 thriller/horror film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's best-selling novel that was inspired by the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916. The police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a great white shark by closing the beach, only to be overruled by the town council, which wants the beach to remain open to draw a profit from tourists. After several attacks, the police chief enlists the help of a marine biologist and a professional shark hunter. Roy Scheider stars as police chief Martin Brody, Richard Dreyfuss as marine biologist Matt Hooper, Robert Shaw as shark hunter Quint, Lorraine Gary as Brody's wife Ellen and Murray Hamilton as Mayor Vaughn.

Jaws is regarded as a watershed film in motion picture history, the father of the summer blockbuster movie and one of the first "high concept" films.[2][3] Due to the film's success in advance screenings, studio executives decided to distribute it in a much wider release than ever before. The Omen followed suit in the summer of 1976, and then Star Wars one year later in 1977, cementing the notion for movie studios to distribute their big-release action and adventure pictures (commonly referred to as tentpole pictures) during the summer. The film was followed by three sequels, none with the participation of Spielberg or Benchley. Jaws 2 (1978), Jaws 3-D (1983) and Jaws: The Revenge (1987). A video game entitled Jaws Unleashed was later made in 2005.

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[Waqorat]

"Uh, I think that I am familiar with the fact that you are going to ignore this particular problem until it swims up and bites you in the ass."

Greatest quote in movie history...!

[James Burns]

When I was a kid, after watching this scene, I could not sleep for weeks. It's still scary now and I'm 26.

[HeirofGojira91]

Ah yep - the 3 grand prize - I think I saw in a deleted scene where Brody asked Gardiner 'Ben! Ben! You're not going out in the hunt are you?' and Gardiner claimed 'sure he was as 3 thousand bucks is allotta money' (certainly back in those years). And yes at first I thought perhaps Gardiner, like Quint pretty much knew those bozos catch wasn't JAWS so he might have also stayed behind but just I wasn't so sure about that. I might read the novel again - good to make another film-book comparison!

[ThatsMrMoronToYou]

Another thing, almost totally unrelated: I recently read in the comments that someone saw this scene, was frightened, but was over it. No one is ever over it with this movie. Every time dark, deep water is present, be it lake, river, swimming pool, canal, or ocean, this scene will replay in the back of one's mind. It will change your life, as it changed mine. It will make you uncomfortable to be in dark water. It is the premier horror movie because it could happen.

[ThatsMrMoronToYou]

I read the novel 36 years ago. Its circulation quintupled after the movie release. I should reread it...probably still a good yarn. About Ben Gardner and his mate, I imagine they were still out fishing. They probably knew that those "silly bastards" hadn't caught the real one. It's not unheard-of for fishermen to be out for days at a time, and the prospect of a $3000.00($15,000.00 in today's currency)bounty is plenty reason to miss dinner and the late show.

[HeirofGojira91]

What does the mayor mean 'love to prove that wouldn't you? Get your name into the National Geographic?' to Hooper. I still don't understand what he means by that concept...

[HeirofGojira91]

Yep - as I commented earlier - whilst JAWS modus operandi was pretty creepy (targeting his opponents from the rear - legs in the case of his victims) and the scene Quint gets chewed up was pretty disturbing even now - espescially him screaming, struggling and even hacking at the Shark. And have you noticed as JAWS progresses in his battle till the end of the film the look in his eyes and his actions are that of a killer ... not just some shark chewing up people like candy or hot sundaes :(...

[HeirofGojira91]

so perhaps Gardiner something similar? I might be wrong but thats how I see it from the film but yeh no one cares and pretty much only Speilberg and the Jaws novel Author will know what it would have been really like if they were to write out a scene like this...Or perhaps Jaws chews up Gardiner and a lesser animal feeds on the eye or just a sculpting error? Then again perhaps only Speilberg will know this lol haha :P

[HeirofGojira91]

Well if you think of it and noticed - JAWS in the film's modus operandi seems to be to attack his victims from the rear; Chrissie was chewed via her leg/lower abdomen and dragged about, the Kitner kid dragged from behind his raft (his legs), the rowboat guy (dragged from behind - under his legs when he tried to grab onto Mike Brody's boat) and Quint eaten well leg first (Jaws in the boat fight scenes seems to focus near the boat transom so I guess that counts as a 'rear' attack)...

[HeirofGojira91]

O.O Really? Wow! BTW did you read the novel? Its been a while I've read the Ben Gardiner chapter but is it pretty much the same again like the film where they find his boat hull chewed up? And I was wondering when I was watching the scene where the town cheer on the capture of the Tiger Shark - how come Ben Gardiner or his boat helper weren't there? SUrely someone would have checked on them earlier than what was shown in the scene?

[HeirofGojira91]

After Hooper insists the Tiger shark caught is not the culprit of the attacks (and performing a brief autopsy on the shark's cadaver) that convinces the Chief he has to warn the mayor and keep the beaches closed on the 4th o' July. BUT then Hooper insists they get on a boat to go out there to check the shark's latest activities (where they came across Ben's boat). Basically to confirm that JAWS was pretty much still out there despite the Tiger Shark ruled out of the picture. Hope this helps...

[HeirofGojira91]

So just wondering some food for thought; wouldn't they have realized Ben Gardiner was missing from the crowd (after all he had a colorful charcter in his brief screen time) and it wasn't till this scene Brody and Hooper catch up to his boat and notice the nasty work that Jaws did (well it didn't took that chewed up actually). And besides where was Ben Gardiner's boater/assistant? He did have a boating assistant with him when he went 'fishing' for Jaws during the hunt...surely they could have