10 Best Jaws Moments
5. Chumming
This is human hubris at its finest.
Crowds of men who think they know best head out to find and kill the shark once and for all. They are jovial, cocky. This is a game to them.
This scene is especially brilliant because it cuts between the men out for a jolly and the very real fear and disgust of Matt Hooper (who encapsulates knowledge) as he examines the mangled body of Chrissie Watkins.
The exaggerated elation at some of the men catching a tiger shark is crucial. That false sense of security ensures that the events that follow are all the more shocking.
4. Quint’s Death
Reeling from Hooper’s apparent demise in the shark cage, Quint and Brody are still. Not for long though. The great white is back. Not satisfied with eating the town, he wants more…
We know Quint is scared, we saw him glance at the life jackets, and know how indicative of his fear that is, yet he still goes out fighting. Screaming, stabbing, kicking.
Quint’s death is the most gratuitous (yes, Chrissie Watkins is naked, but it is dimly lit and suggestive more than explicit). He was a larger-than-life character and he deserves a larger-than-life death.
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3. The Indianapolis
Finally bonding, the three men drink and seem at relative ease on the Orca as they celebrate their first day on the ocean. Quint and Hooper share injuries – moray eel, thresher and bull shark scars – then Brody points to one on Quint’s arm and Quint reveals it’s a removed navy tattoo. Quint explains in a bone-chilling monologue that he was aboard the ill-fated Indianapolis (a real-life second world war tragedy). All of Quint’s behaviour now makes sense.
Not only does this scene layer on more fear of sharks and the ocean, but it also serves as a warning to each of us. When a movie character has been through that much fear and trauma, their ability to withstand it seems never-ending. Hooper and Brody are riding with a man who has seen too much and fears too little.
Great choices! To this day it’s a movie my dad and I can pretty much quote word for word to each other.