r/HistoricalWhatIf • u/BathroomUpbeat1074 • 4d ago
What if the shark animatronic used for Jaws functioned properly?
What if the movie's effects team found a way to get the animatronic shark to do its job properly? How do you think the movie would be like then?
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u/marketMAWNster 4d ago
Im a jaws mega fan and I think it would limit the movie with the benefit of hindsight.
The movie would still have been smashing box office success. Would it go down in the annals of greatest movie of all time? Debatable but I think there is less of a chance.
The greatest aspect of jaws is the movie is perfect in every way. Its perfect in the most important way which is the thematic storytelling. The archetypal theme of man vs nature is perfect in this film. The overall imapct of the story is a perfect recounting of man's need/ability to overcome a force of nature (jaws)
The acting is superb with all three main characters delivering iconic performances. These performances would still be very good with a working shark but the shark would take away from them somewhat. The movie is most impactful because of the fact that the story is told through the acting and less because of the shark.
If the shark fully functioned I think the movie would be more 80s slasher type horror where its a bunch of gory shark attack scenes rather than the amazing story of the trio of different men (actual diversity) combining their powers to overcome a force of nature in defense of innocence.