Interesting observation, Will. I see shark movies as an aquatic subset of the "Nature turns on us" genre. That includes the Jurassic Park franchise, "The Night of the Grizzly", and even "Cujo". In the shark case, we get occasional reminders on the network news when somebody gets bitten surfing off of Nantucket, or wherever. The original movie is probably responsible for this, as there are often references to it in the reporting. There's also a relationship to the "robot rebellion" genre, where humans get some comeuppence from our technological hubris, and the epidemic-themed movies that have become reality with Covid. I guess we keep trying to remind ourselves of our vulnerability, and sometimes our culpability, in messing up our own lives and world, and the fact that sometimes we're what's for dinner. "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water."
“Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into her side, Chief. We was comin’ back from the island of Tinian to Leyte. We’d just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in 12 minutes. Didn’t see the first shark for about a half-hour. Tiger. 13-footer. You know how you know that in the water, Chief? You can tell by lookin’ from the dorsal to the tail. What we didn’t know, was that our bomb mission was so secret, no distress signal had been sent. They didn’t even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, Chief, sharks come cruisin’ by, so we formed ourselves into tight groups. It was sorta like you see in the calendars, you know the infantry squares in the old calendars like the Battle of Waterloo and the idea was the shark come to the nearest man, that man he starts poundin’ and hollerin’ and sometimes that shark he go away… but sometimes he wouldn’t go away. Sometimes that shark looks right at ya. Right into your eyes. And the thing about a shark is he’s got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll’s eyes. When he comes at ya, he doesn’t even seem to be livin’… ’til he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then… ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin’. The ocean turns red, and despite all your poundin’ and your hollerin’ those sharks come in and… they rip you to pieces. You know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men. I don’t know how many sharks there were, maybe a thousand. I do know how many men, they averaged six an hour. Thursday mornin’, Chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Boson’s mate. I thought he was asleep. I reached over to wake him up. He bobbed up, down in the water, he was like a kinda top. Upended. Well, he’d been bitten in half below the waist. At noon on the fifth day, a Lockheed Ventura swung in low and he spotted us, a young pilot, lot younger than Mr. Hooper here, anyway he spotted us and a few hours later a big ol’ fat PBY come down and started to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened. Waitin’ for my turn. I’ll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went into the water. 316 men come out, the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945."
A phenomenal speech delivered brilliantly...the day after Robert Shaw tried to do the speech genuinely drunk. Apparently a disaster. Something I learned listening to the Ringer podcast "The Rewatchables," which was recommended by the author of WDB. The first two episodes I listened to were on "Jaws" and "Midnight Run," and I've been addicted ever since.
Will, Tuesday just sneaks up on one like a shark waiting for you to cut your great toe on a piece of abalone and follows your trail of blood so silently, then WHAM!
(I wrote this on my teeny tiny cellphone & will write more soon.
Always something interesting Will. Jaws was a phenomenon. The first one I, I believe, the first big blockbuster. I remember, in Lawrence Kansas, when I was at college. Lines around the block, literally. A couple of weeks before I had seen 'Night of the Living Dead' and was so creeped out I swore I'd never see another scary movie. Thus I didn't see Jaws. Haven't. Ever. (Except for the clips that have been shown over the years, I still haven't.) (I assume it's scary.) I actually plan to someday, now that I'm a grown-up.
my guy you gotta check out 47 Meters Down and 47 Meters Down: Uncaged; can't vouch for the others in the series but the first one is an awesome tense shark bottle thriller and the second has some of the tightest jump scares I've seen in film
I was part of that first generation of “Jaws” fans who heard the buzz, stood in line and saw it in a dark theater surrounded by hundreds of others. So plausible a threat, so perfectly terrifying, that I didn’t go into the ocean for years and even felt a twinge of irrational fear swimming in a pool at night. Still the undefeated champ of shark movies and up there with “The Exorcist” in my pantheon of scary films.
1. Shark movies ARE THE BEST and Jaws is probably the best it’ll ever get. But the shallows was pretty great too!
2. I just want everyone to know that the first Saw is amazing and not about torture. It does take place in a dingy dark room though.
I’m going to take your word on Saw because I am never going to see it. Ever.
it was good but it seriously bummed me out for a whole night
Jaws really was so good and Saw really was about torture!
I wish there was a thumbs down button
hehehe
Interesting observation, Will. I see shark movies as an aquatic subset of the "Nature turns on us" genre. That includes the Jurassic Park franchise, "The Night of the Grizzly", and even "Cujo". In the shark case, we get occasional reminders on the network news when somebody gets bitten surfing off of Nantucket, or wherever. The original movie is probably responsible for this, as there are often references to it in the reporting. There's also a relationship to the "robot rebellion" genre, where humans get some comeuppence from our technological hubris, and the epidemic-themed movies that have become reality with Covid. I guess we keep trying to remind ourselves of our vulnerability, and sometimes our culpability, in messing up our own lives and world, and the fact that sometimes we're what's for dinner. "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water."
ahhh I like this take! Makes sense why I enjoy zombie movies too
Oh yeah, and Michael Jackson's dancing too.
“Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into her side, Chief. We was comin’ back from the island of Tinian to Leyte. We’d just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in 12 minutes. Didn’t see the first shark for about a half-hour. Tiger. 13-footer. You know how you know that in the water, Chief? You can tell by lookin’ from the dorsal to the tail. What we didn’t know, was that our bomb mission was so secret, no distress signal had been sent. They didn’t even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, Chief, sharks come cruisin’ by, so we formed ourselves into tight groups. It was sorta like you see in the calendars, you know the infantry squares in the old calendars like the Battle of Waterloo and the idea was the shark come to the nearest man, that man he starts poundin’ and hollerin’ and sometimes that shark he go away… but sometimes he wouldn’t go away. Sometimes that shark looks right at ya. Right into your eyes. And the thing about a shark is he’s got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll’s eyes. When he comes at ya, he doesn’t even seem to be livin’… ’til he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then… ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin’. The ocean turns red, and despite all your poundin’ and your hollerin’ those sharks come in and… they rip you to pieces. You know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men. I don’t know how many sharks there were, maybe a thousand. I do know how many men, they averaged six an hour. Thursday mornin’, Chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Boson’s mate. I thought he was asleep. I reached over to wake him up. He bobbed up, down in the water, he was like a kinda top. Upended. Well, he’d been bitten in half below the waist. At noon on the fifth day, a Lockheed Ventura swung in low and he spotted us, a young pilot, lot younger than Mr. Hooper here, anyway he spotted us and a few hours later a big ol’ fat PBY come down and started to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened. Waitin’ for my turn. I’ll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went into the water. 316 men come out, the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945."
"I'll find him for three, but I'll catch 'im and kill 'im for 10."
A phenomenal speech delivered brilliantly...the day after Robert Shaw tried to do the speech genuinely drunk. Apparently a disaster. Something I learned listening to the Ringer podcast "The Rewatchables," which was recommended by the author of WDB. The first two episodes I listened to were on "Jaws" and "Midnight Run," and I've been addicted ever since.
Will, Tuesday just sneaks up on one like a shark waiting for you to cut your great toe on a piece of abalone and follows your trail of blood so silently, then WHAM!
(I wrote this on my teeny tiny cellphone & will write more soon.
So true, clearly what makes it the worst (and deadliest) day of the week
Once I realize it's Tuesday and your "dumb brain" calls, it brightens my day & I'm delighted it's Toozedee!
DA DUM, DA DUM
Insane how iconic that sound is that I can hear it perfectly just from reading those 4 words.
I will never watch scary movies, and that includes not ever planning to see Jaws. But I have watched Shark Week now and then.
I don't blame you, the world's scary enough as is!
Great thing about being an adult. You don’t have to eat foods or movies you don’t like!
Always something interesting Will. Jaws was a phenomenon. The first one I, I believe, the first big blockbuster. I remember, in Lawrence Kansas, when I was at college. Lines around the block, literally. A couple of weeks before I had seen 'Night of the Living Dead' and was so creeped out I swore I'd never see another scary movie. Thus I didn't see Jaws. Haven't. Ever. (Except for the clips that have been shown over the years, I still haven't.) (I assume it's scary.) I actually plan to someday, now that I'm a grown-up.
You gotta! Just make sure there's some space between when you watch it and your next beach trip! It's so good.
my guy you gotta check out 47 Meters Down and 47 Meters Down: Uncaged; can't vouch for the others in the series but the first one is an awesome tense shark bottle thriller and the second has some of the tightest jump scares I've seen in film
A tempting suggestion
this is a high-quality recommendation and I'm putting it on the top of my to-watch list
I was part of that first generation of “Jaws” fans who heard the buzz, stood in line and saw it in a dark theater surrounded by hundreds of others. So plausible a threat, so perfectly terrifying, that I didn’t go into the ocean for years and even felt a twinge of irrational fear swimming in a pool at night. Still the undefeated champ of shark movies and up there with “The Exorcist” in my pantheon of scary films.
yup, it really holds up