# 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:** 4\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/61 "2005-07-07T14:44:25Z")
Thoroughly enjoyed both movies. _Jaws_, to me, is vastly superior. Others have touched on the reason I like it better – character development. There are dozens of wonderful character moments in the film, while _Jurassic Park_ focuses more on special effects. Scenes like Martin making faces with his son; Hooper getting mad at Quint and acting juvenile, even as he’s climbing a ladder out of the scene; the aforementioned dialogue around the table which culminates in the Indianapolis monologue; Martin researching sharks at his house while his wife tells him he’s overreacting, then when she sees a drawing of a shark attacking a boat in one of the books, she yells at the kids to get out of the boat like their father told them to; the shark-cage discussion between Quint and Hooper; Hooper’s interruption of the town meeting; crushing the can and the cup; the brief dialogue between Hooper and Quint when they both realize they’re up against something they’ve never experienced before; Hooper exhorting Martin to go out on the bow of the boat so he can have some scale in his photo, and Martin adamantly refusing in disbelief … And the dialogue! Geez, there are multiple classic lines in that film. The aforementioned (and iconic) “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” But so many others: Martin: “I can do anything. I’m the chief of police.” (Hooper, trying to show off a scar, unbuttons his shirt, exposing a hairy chest.) Martin, offcamera: “You’re wearing a sweater.” The Mayor (to Hooper, as they talk about the size of the shark): “You’d love to prove that, wouldn’cha? Get your name in the _National Geographic_?” Quint: (paraphrased) “You all know me. Know what I do for a livin’. This shark … swallow ya whole. Three thousand dollars, chief? I value my hide a lot more than three thousand dollars. I’ll find your shark for three. But I’ll catch him – and kill him – for ten.” Quint (to Hooper): “You go in the cage … cage goes in the water … shark’s in the water. Our shark.” Slow smile, then singing: “Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies …” Hooper: “Mayor, we’re talking about a miracle of evolution … an eating machine. All this thing does, is swim, and eat, and make baby sharks.” The Mayor (to Martin, after the shark attacks on the Fourth of July): “MY kids were on that beach, too.” Man. How can you not love that movie? ---
**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 8, 2005, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/62 "2005-07-08T00:55:33Z")
Someone up there posted to the effect that **Jaws** works so well because of what we cannot see, not because of what we are shown. I’ll extrapolate that good thought a bit, and blend it with something I hinted at already. **Jaws** is about that which we cannot see but know absolutely to be real-life. **Jurassic Park** is about that which we wish was real but are shown anyway, in the hopes that we buy into it- even though we patently know it is not real-life. There is no leap of faith that can reproduce primal fear of death from a creature that you know full well can kill you. And, a few times a year ( 14 year old girl, just a few weeks ago… ) does kill humans. There’s verisimilatude. Then there’s **Jaws**. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/63 "2005-07-08T21:39:42Z")
And there is the primal fear of the water. I mean, while we’re swimming, just what the hell IS down there? Could be anything. I have heard that damn music in my head while wreck-diving, believe me… Scared the shit out of myself! 😃 Then again, there are at least two great white sharks that live off the beaches I swim & bodysurf at, and neither has ever attacked a swimmer. One did come into the mouth of Newport Harbor to gnaw on a whale corpse but that was a few years ago. I am not afraid of being bitten. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815/64 "2005-07-08T22:16:42Z")
Two great reviews for Jaws, mentions all the little details. [http://www.jabootu.com/jaws.htm](http://www.jabootu.com/jaws.htm) [http://twtd.bluemountains.net.au/Rick/liz\_jaws.htm](http://twtd.bluemountains.net.au/Rick/liz_jaws.htm) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaws-and-jurassic-park/310815.md?page=3)