# Jaws and Jurassic Park **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 2, 2005, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815 "2005-07-02T07:25:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Hook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@The\_Hook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hook)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/41 "2005-07-03T04:50:34Z")
I see your point. I concede. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/42 "2005-07-03T05:01:34Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > So given that, why would Hooper want to tag along in a second boat? Given the choice of a rust bucket like Orca and a modern boat stuffed with state of the art equipment, which would you take? > [@Zebra](#): > > I don’t think Hoopers boat had the barrels and the whole you go into the cage/cage goes into the water/sharks in the water/our shark plan didn’t work out so well. > > Also since Quint is a copy of Captain Ahab, I think that, yes, he does have to die. Thematically he had to die, I’m talking about situationally. The barrels were aboard Quint’s boat already but the shark cage and all of the other modern equipment were aboard Hooper’s boat initially. > [@The Hook](#): > > Jaws has an even smaller amount of deaths. Chrissy, the kid, Shaw, and the dog. Not a confirmed kill but he also took off the guy’s leg in the pond. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/43 "2005-07-03T07:15:12Z")
This is turning into too much of a hijack, and I didn’t mean for this to get contentious in any way, so I hope you’re not getting that vibe. > [@Otto](#): > > Given the choice of a rust bucket like Orca and a modern boat stuffed with state of the art equipment, which would you take? I’d take my own boat. Since this was Quint’s show, they took Quint’s boat. Since when does the government contract out a fishing job, then ask the fisherman if he’d like to take a government boat? Or in this case, Hooper’s private oceanographic vessel? Quin’t an old-style seaman, he’s not about to take some whippersnapper’s fiberglass boat out on a shark hunt. > [@](#): > > The barrels were aboard Quint’s boat already but the shark cage and all of the other modern equipment were aboard Hooper’s boat initially. And Quint made it clear that he didn’t care about that stuff. He was an arrogant, half crazy old seaman. I still see absolutely no plot problem with them using Quint’s boat. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/44 "2005-07-03T08:06:16Z")
Well then, there’s no hope for you either. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/45 "2005-07-03T14:56:08Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > And one more thing > **Jaws** has a naked girl. > > **Jurrassic Park**? No naked girls! > > Advatage **Jaws.** The man’s wise beyond his years, people. Wise beyond his years. The character of the naked woman was named Chrissie Watkins. She was played by a young lady named Susan Blacklinie, who according to IMDB started and finished her film career by being Victim # 1 in **Jaws**. Jonathan Filley played the drunken boyfriend who was also seen on the beach with the Chief and his deputy the next morning, puking unromantically over what was left of dear departed Chrissie. …rounding third… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/46 "2005-07-03T15:01:11Z")
Oh, this is too damned good not to pass along !! Here is a quote from one of the two books, regarding the man who played Chrissie’s boyfriend" > [@The Jaws Log](#): > > …As for his charm and good looks, Barbara Bass, the 2nd Assistand Director out of New York, stayed on Martha’s Vineyard as Jonathan’s friend for 4 months after the picture wrapped. According to IMDB, this young man made the most of the opportunity. > **[Jonathan Filley - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0277204/)** > > Jonathan Filley, Actor: Jaws. Jonathan Filley is a producer and production manager, known for Jaws (1975), Inside Man (2006) and War of the Worlds (2005). I think that’s kinda cool. Everyone starts somewhere, this guy started with **Jaws**. ( slid into third, standing, dusting off pants. ) ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/47 "2005-07-03T19:12:53Z")
> [@rexnervous](#): > > OMG! Is Ebert the new Nostradamus? That’s amazingly prescient. The aliens in Speilberg’s _War of the Worlds_ were never shown attacking Manhattan, however. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/48 "2005-07-06T19:23:35Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > ( slid into third, standing, dusting off pants. ) Yeah, but you’d better come up with one I don’t know next time! Or are you planning on stealing home? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/49 "2005-07-06T20:55:08Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Given the choice of a rust bucket like Orca and a modern boat stuffed with state of the art equipment, which would you take? Thematically he had to die, I’m talking about situationally. > > The barrels were aboard Quint’s boat already but the shark cage and all of the other modern equipment were aboard Hooper’s boat initially. > > Not a confirmed kill but he also took off the guy’s leg in the pond. What about the guy in the wrecked boat whose head makes an appearance. I would think that would be considered confirmed. ---
**Author:** ![parthenokinesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/cc9497/32.png) [@parthenokinesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parthenokinesis)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/50 "2005-07-06T22:16:44Z")
At this point I think a much more intriguing question is which is a better film, _Jurassic Park III_ or _Jaws 3D_? he-he-he Jack ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/51 "2005-07-06T22:35:41Z")
> [@Snakescatlady](#): > > [small hijack] I have always wanted to see Jaws in a movie theater with a balcony. With a warm can of some sort of chunky soup. I am so sick. [/small hijack] Heh. I did that many moons ago, when I was about 13 or so. Except I used a can of applesauce. Got the same results, though. Yelled over the balcony “Oh, God, I’m gonna be sick…UUURRRPPPP!” and poured the applesauce on the folks below. Chain reaction vomiting all over the main floor. The Alabama Theater has been a bookstore for nearly 20 years, but I think I’m still banned from there. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/52 "2005-07-06T22:46:36Z")
> [@parthenokinesis](#): > > At this point I think a much more intriguing question is which is a better film, _Jurassic Park III_ or _Jaws 3D_? > > he-he-he > > Jack [No contest](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=4892364&postcount=42). ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/53 "2005-07-06T22:57:09Z")
Jaws is the better movie even leaving aside that they’re two completely different kinds of film. But I’d like to put in a few plugs for JP anyway. When I walked out of JP, it actually seemed possible that there might be dinosaurs walking around. I’d never seen, and have still never seen, effects so convincing. Jaws didn’t need to be all that convincing, since sharks are still around. I’ll take a movie with Wayne Knight over one with Richard Dreyfuss any day. [That said, it’s the worst use of Samuel L. Jackson until Lucas got his hands on him.] The line “At least we’re out of the tree” is damn near as good as “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/54 "2005-07-06T23:11:50Z")
First of all, I hope we can all agree that **Jurassic Park** , while perhaps not a perfect triumph of film-making, is WAY better than any of dozens of other high-budget action SF CGI spectaculars, such as **Armageddon**. Anyhow, I’m 31, and I first saw **Jaws** 2 or 3 years ago, and, quite frankly, I wasn’t very impressed. I think it’s one of those things where it established a genre, and once you’ve seen enough moves in the genre, the original leaves you cold. I had the same reaction to **Fast Times at Ridgemont High**. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/55 "2005-07-07T00:40:31Z")
The reasons for preferring one film or the other have already been enumerated. I fall on the _Jaws_-is-the-better-film side. The main reason I was underwhelmed by _Jurassic Park_ is that I’d read the book. When the film was released, I eagerly looked forward to seeing it. I was disappointed. One of the major plot points in the book – skip the rest of this paragraph if you haven’t read it yet but want to – is how they discover that the dinosaurs are breeding and some have escaped. They expectged 300 dinosaurs, and every day the computer counted them there were 300 dinosaurs. Except that computers are subject to GIGO. Poor programming meant that the computer counted 300 dinosaurs and then stopped counting! The build-up to that, and the realisation, were great. They didn’t do it in the film – even though it was a pivotal point. I also agree that Jeff Goldblum did not match the image I had of the character. And Laura Dern didn’t get naked. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/56 "2005-07-07T00:50:06Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > [That said, it’s the worst use of Samuel L. Jackson until Lucas got his hands on him.] Oh, I don’t know. I though his work in the smart shark movie was pretty bad. But his _last_ scene was hysterical! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/57 "2005-07-07T03:00:18Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > Yeah, but you’d better come up with one I don’t know next time! > > Or are you planning on stealing home? 😉 Never steal what might otherwise be gladly offered. What kind of a gentleman do you take me for ??? Here ya go : One week before the start of principal photography, the role of Matt Hooper had still not been cast. Richard Dreyfuss was convinced to hightail up to Boston. He was touring the USA, promoting his latest starmaking turn in " The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz". During a story and character-developing session that concluded with Dreyfuss agreeing to play Hooper, they ordered room service. When it arrived, they came up with one of the biggest belly laughs in the movie. The scene where Quint crushes the beercan vertically against his forehead- and Hooper answers by crushing a styrofoam cup against his- was invented in a hotel room in Boston. In attendance were Spielberg, Dreyfuss, Dreyfuss’ pal who he was touring with, Carl Gottlieb ( the screenwriter of **Jaws** ) and various and sundry other folk. Also: Sterling Hayden was their prime choice to play Quint. He was, because of I.R.S. heartaches, living on a barge in Paris on the river, unable to work in the U.S. as an actor but allowed to work here as a writer. They went with Robert Shaw who at the time was appearing on Broadway. He had- at the start of principal photography- 55 days left on his visa. They figured they’d shoot him out in less than 55 days. They were terribly, terribly wrong. 🙂 And, just to finish, There was the boat owned by Quint, called **Orca**. ( The name for killer whales ). The boat that sank at the end was not **Orca**. It was in fact **Orca II** , a complete copy made in fiberglas by Joe Alves, the special effects man who designed and built the shark mechanisms nicknamed " Bruce ". **Orca II** was sunk on cue while cameras rolled, and raised again 24 times during the filming of the climactic attack as the shark explodes. How’s that? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/58 "2005-07-07T03:23:55Z")
Just don’t try to get into MY pants, film-boy. Jaws, all the way. I liked JP (but thought it was infinitely weaker than the book for reasons of my own) but it by comparison it fell into the same sentimentality that Spielberg has become famous for in his later years. Example that spells it out: JP: Kids are cute and resourceful. The work to help overcome the problems in the movie. Jaws: Spielberg effectively throws a 10-year-old kid down a shark’s throat in one of the more terrifying (to a parent, at least, Lady Chance will no longer watch the movie with me) long-distance shots ever. Brr! ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/59 "2005-07-07T03:56:30Z")
Wasn’t the beer can crushed in Quint’s hand, as was Hooper’s styrofoam cup (is styrofoam a proper noun? Anyway…)? Eh, it wasn’t fair to ask for a stumper, I own multiple copies of _Jaws_ including several docs about the making of it! But a valiant effort! I love anyone who is as big a movie geek as I am! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/60 "2005-07-07T11:27:58Z")
Hmmm. Yes, they were both crushed in hand. You have **documentaries** on the making of the film ??? You’ve been holding out on me??? -Sniffle- I thought you cared ! Don’t worry, **Jonathan**. It’s **EJsGirl** all the way. 🙂 ( Did you really already know about Sterling Hayden? I thought I had you with that. ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815.md?page=4)