I first saw Jaws 2 on the Royal cinema in Madrid on June 16th, 1979. It was released in Spain some months earlier, on the 1978 Christmas, but only on theatres far from my neighbourhood, and then re-released next Spring, which was a lucky thing because I turned 8 on November 1978 so I was some months older, and very tall for my age.

This was very important because when I approached -trembling, almost running- to the ticket office that morning (I just went with my mother to the nearby market and was astonished by that big Tiburon 2 letters on that big cinema which was closed at that hour -all is big when you are a child-) it said on a sign to my absolute relief: “Kids allowed with parents companion”.

Later I screamed, yelled, cried and rolled on the floor of my house just to convince my father (who refused to bring me to see the re-release of Jaws one year earlier) to go that very afternoon and finally got it just by belting out an spontaneous, inspired sentence, my face covered in tears: “That´s what I´m getting A´s in school for???!!!???”

The moment arriving with my family to the cinema and stepping into the external hall lives inside of me as one of the happiest and most intense of my life. Those 20+ minutes awaiting for my father to buy the tickets, and specially staring at the lobby cards (the one of the incredibly big fin passing along the girl instantly created a tremendous sensation of fear on me, that endures since then… I never entered the sea!) come to my mind over and over, and embrace me warmly.

The lobby card with the image that still scares the hell out of me

Believe it or not I met right there a schoolmate (the quipster one) who lived really close to the theatre and was just wandering around. As he wanted to get invited by us and I had to refuse as I barely could (our economy was weak to say the least, but I still feel the anxiety of that boy almost ruining my perfect moment) he got angry and told me that his brother have seen the film yet and it was awful, specially the final was horrible with the shark biting an electrical cable and dying burning badly with smoke coming from his eyes!!!

But in the end it was irrelevant to me, nothing could beat my feeling of immense, huge anticipation, my pure emotion, my absolute happiness, the magical thrill of the moment… 

I was so afraid that finally they wouldn´t let me enter for being so little -the fact that I was with my fathers and sisters and looked like a 12 years old due to my height didn´t seem solid to me right then, the time was passing quickly- and at the same time so enormously excited because I was about to see a film of a huge shark attacking people (I do love great white sharks since I was 4) that the whole situation put me on an efervescent kind of feeling that still remains intact. Actually I couldn´t believe that all of them would allow me to see it! I wish every child in the world could feel like that at least once in their life at a similar age.

Despite knowing the ending, the film absolutely got me mesmerized from start to finish. To this day is my favourite film ever and represents a journey to my childhood, to my fears, to my prime excitement, to everything that I love. That cinematic experience with my family is one of the fondest memory of my entire life, with kind permission from my wife and two daughters.

If I have to resume it in one word, the film to me was, besides the continuous fear of the shark, color. An explosion of colors, extremely beautiful. Those multicolor sailing boats, the blue of the sky and the sea, mixed with green, the shark… a color festival.

Twelve long years passed until I could see the movie again, on Spanish tv. So I passed that 12 years trying to memorize the whole thing, and it got built like a myth inside of me. Still have the drawings I did in school to help myself, sometimes I even tend to think I live inside of it! 

It´s hard to explain this to adult people, I know it may sound childish. But when you are 8 years old and live this experience, how can you explain that blue in the sky, that June afternoon light, that cinema smell, that crowd so afraid of the shark...? It´s rooted inside of me.

From all the amazing moments, and Jaws 2 have plenty, Eddie and Tina´s attack scene is something that still impresses me so much that I can´t describe my emotions with words. First time I saw Eddie so far in the sea that it seemed he was a mile away, and specially when the shark passes below the boat to haunt him I thought my heart would stop. I couldn´t but behold to the screen, astonished.
 

I´m so used of hearing that Jaws 2 is inferior to Jaws, a laughable crap sequel etc. that I could write a book on it, but nothing can change my mind. It´s my favourite movie and I am very proud, although I just experienced all kinds of condescension from lots of people when they hear my opinion. If Jaws 2 have mistakes or weak moments I cannot see them, but anyway it doesn´t matter to me at all, the whole thing is delightful. 

And lately I came to realize I´m not alone. We are very few, but we do exist who consider Jaws 2 the best film (the best film ever!), the most enjoyable. There are even those who prefer it after seeing Jaws first! I invite everyone to share their experiences on this blog.  

I have seen the whole spectrum from the all time classics to the author ones, and after all my preferred movie is Jaws 2. A terribly entertaining film, full of light and colour, incredibly well crafted, a hidden jewel.

I didn´t see Spielberg´s Jaws until that tv screening of both in 1991, although I knew of it since 1978, a year before seeing the sequel… who didn´t. That mistery  about the first film (I had seen only some pics and the poster, remember how little I was) helped me to anticipate every second of the sequel to a point of instant panic. Luckily, I didn´t have that “okay, let´s see that fake shark coming again” feeling, I was new in that specific fear and still have that sensation.

So I am one of those few who saw Jaws 2 first, and couldn´t compare both for 12 years. There was no cable tv here, and the VHS tape was released at the same time of the tv screenings, more or less.

I have no problem with Jaws, I consider it a classic, but in my opinion it´s just not so good as the sequel. Roy Scheider makes on the second an outstanding Brody (stronger, darker…), Lorraine Gary and Murray Hamilton nailed their roles, the children are amazing -specially Ann Dusenberry- and the rest of the casting, the crucial contribution from Joe Alves, the splendid Butler´s cinematography, the unbelievable William´s score, edition, storyline etc. make Jaws 2 better to my eyes. Not counting on how many things they just couldn´t do due to PG restrictions, deadlines and so on.

So after 37 years I´m writing this to heartily thank the whole crew involved, now I know the kind of hell they had to suffer to do it, and appear like heroes to me.  
 

And despite almost everyone seems to desperately want to see the Hancock´s stuff I don´t need it at all. Szwarc´s work means perfection to me. I even know why he did the movie in the end, and that maybe not himself nor any of the crew have my superb opinion of the film. He was hired because he could go and work under pressure, so just came and did the movie because they had to finish it. And he could manage to do the task, one of a great difficulty.

So it´s hard to me to realize over and over how much underrated is Jeannot Szwarc´s role. His wisdom, his strength and his creative input (which I´d love to know in detail) made the film a reality, and touched the heart of some of us.

Mr. Szwarc, I want you to know that I have the highest admiration for your work on Jaws 2. After 40 years you are surely proud of it, but anyway I feel you don´t have the recognition you deserve for that specific film. You earned my deepest respect and appreciation, and wanted you to know that to me, you achieved a pinnacle. And if you think I am exaggerating please take it as a compensation for so many years without the credit that you utterly own. I would love to see an in depth interview with you regarding the film, there are things left to be told.

Thank you so much, Mr. Szwarc, for getting the job, fight so much (even with your fists!), and help create such a wonderful masterpiece.

To me, you are a genius. 
 

Jeannot Szwarc, the main force behind Jaws 2

 ****************

After reading this I´m sure you will all understand I keep looking for a photo of the Royal cinema when it was opened, just to 3d model it and try to capture the timelessness of the moment that means so much to me.

I know someday I´ll get it, and if not I will have to manage to travel back in time to that sunny 1979 Saturday, at 16:30 PM, and live it again. I did it many times since then.

The Royal cinema, closed since the late 80´s, just photographed by me in September 2016. I am working on a 3d recreation of it. The lobby cards expositor was on the right side of the external hall pictured above, close to the ticket office

IMAGE GALLERY:

This is just the very first scene... I was terrified because I thought the shark would just appear out of a sudden from the left to bite them. After almost 40 years I cannot look at it without a deep, uncontrolled, infantile fear

The wonderful colours in Jaws 2

The ski is floating while the boat arrives... my first approach to tachycardia

Eddie is too far from the boat, way too far... he won´t make it

The shark is going below!!! Poor, poor Eddie...

Tina is screaming the truth... it´s happening again

Brucette lurking... on the enormous cinema screen the image looked amazing

The Leviathan

This moment was also very beautiful...

 

...and at the same time terrifying

One of those moments of extreme, total terror... always surrounded by the infinite sea

A nightmare becoming reality...

...and it´s more horrific than you could ever imagine. We all love you Marge.

Unforgettable, splendid, magnificent shot

P. S: There is a 2015 book called "Jaws 2. The making of the Hollywood sequel" by Lou Pisano and Michael Smith, that is a must read if you are interested in the movie. They did a labour of love and put dignity on a highly underrated movie which is much more than you use to hear.

Finally we know on their own words how many troubles the Universal crew had to face to finish the job, the great importance of Carl Gottlieb, who rewrote the script and turned it into an entertainment kinda film instead of an arty dark gory one, etc. 

I honestly think that this new look was the main reason that led them put that "Kids allowed..." sign which allowed me to enter the cinema being only 8 years old. Thank God Universal took the right decissions firing Hancock and hiring Szwarc and Gottlieb. No offence intended, you know what I mean.

The book is full of unreleased pics, tons of interesting info and most of all you can feel how carefully it has been made, something that Jaws 2 deserved for a long time. I would like to take the chance to thank Lou and Michael for spreading the word and their efforts, I wish they could make a deluxe re-edition of the book with all the possible improvements and new features.


Just noticed that I didn´t use the tagline! 


P.S. 2: If any of you would like to contact me, please feel free to write to: caesaremperor@yahoo.com