Overview
The original Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg is based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. It tells the story of Police Chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), in his quest to protect beachgoers from a great white shark by closing the beach. This is overruled by the town council, headed by the Mayor (Murray Hamilton) that wants the beach to remain open in order to sustain the local tourist economy. After several attacks, the police chief enlists the help of a marine biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and a professional shark hunter Quint (Robert Shaw). The three voyage out onto the ocean in Quint's boat Orca. The shark kills the fisherman, but Brody manages to destroy the shark by shooting at the highly pressurized air tank that he has wedged in its mouth.
The first sequel, Jaws 2, depicts the same town four years after the events of the original film, when another great white shark arrives on the shores of fictional seaside resort of Amity Island. Directed by Jeannot Szwarc and starring Roy Scheider as Police Chief Martin Brody, who, after a series of deaths and disappearances, suspects that the culprit is another shark. However, he has trouble convincing the town's selectmen. He has to act alone to save the group of teenagers, including his two sons, who encounter the shark whilst out sailing.
The plot of Jaws 3-D moves away from Amity Island to SeaWorld in Florida, a water theme-park with underwater tunnels and lagoons. As the park prepares to open, it is infiltrated by a baby great white shark which attacks and kills water-skiers and park employees. Once the baby shark is captured, it becomes apparent that a much larger shark, the mother, is present. The characters of Martin's sons from the first two films are developed in this film: Michael Brody (Dennis Quaid) is the chief engineer, and his younger brother Sean (John Putch) arrives at the resort to visit. The events of the earlier films are implied through Sean's dislike of the water because of "something that happened when he was a kid". The events and character development from Jaws 3-D is independent from the rest of the series. No mention is made in the fourth film of Michael's girlfriend, Katherine Morgan (Bess Armstrong), or his career change from engineer at SeaWorld to a marine biologist. Even one of the Universal Studios press releases for Jaws: The Revenge omits Jaws 3-D by referring to Jaws: The Revenge as the "third film of the remarkable Jaws trilogy."
The story line returns to Amity Island in the final film, Jaws: The Revenge. By the start of the film, Martin Brody had died of a heart attack, although his wife, Ellen Brody (Lorraine Gary), claims that he died through fear of the shark. Her youngest son Sean (Mitchell Anderson), now working as a police deputy in Amity, is dispatched to clear a log from a buoy. As he does so, he is attacked and killed by a shark. Ellen becomes convinced that a shark is deliberately victimizing her family for the deaths of the first two sharks. Michael (Lance Guest) convinces her to spend some time with his family in The Bahamas. However, as his job involves a lot of time on and in the sea, Ellen fears that he will be the shark's next victim. When her granddaughter, Thea (Judith Barsi), narrowly avoids being attacked by a shark, Ellen takes a boat in order to kill her family's alleged stalker. Hoagie (Michael Caine), Michael and his friend Jake (Mario Van Peebles) find Ellen, and then proceedes to electrocute the shark, driving it out of the water and impaling it on the prow of Ellen's boat.
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