Jaws 2: The Making of the Hollywood Sequel

by Louis R. Pisano, Michael A. Smith, Carl Gottlieb (Foreward)

Just when filmmakers thought it was safe to make a sequel, director John D. Hancock ran into huge difficulties making Jaws 2 (1978), a thriller film and the first sequel to Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975). Until now, the full story of the sea of troubles during the making of the film has never been told. Authors Louis R. Pisano and Michael A. Smith fished from the original cast and crew the full no-holds-barred story from their behind the scenes experiences, a tale as action packed and occasionally as bloody as the film. Based on Peter Benchley's original Jaws novel, Jaws 2 starred Roy Scheider as a police chief dealing with another great white shark terrorizing the waters of a resort. The original director, John D. Hancock, proved unable to handle the action film and was replaced by Jeannot Szwarc. Actor Roy Scheider, who only made the film to end a contractual issue with Universal, was also unhappy during production and had several heated exchanges with Szwarc. Follow the entire fascinating production of the unforgettable film from concept to the impact the film made on Hollywood after Jaws 2 achieved a spot on Variety's list of Top 10 box office hits. About the authors: Louis R. Pisano is the director of the very popular series of “JawsFEST” fan DVDs. Michael A. Smith is the co-founder of MediaMikes.com and is a long-serving officer of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle. Jaws 2 The Making of the Hollywood Sequel is their first book. Includes Footnotes and illustrated with more than 200 rare behind-the-scenes photos taken by the cast and crew.

362 pages, Paperback

First published September 5, 2015

Reviews

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of information about the sequel. One can never underestimate how much context helps enrich a movie, and especially this film, the follow-up to the first summer movie blockbuster.

Lots of good photos, coverage of even those actors that got cut from the film—a certifiable little sibling to Taylor’s Jaws book a few years back.

Like the Cujo book I read last year, this could’ve used some additional editing. Numerous instances of stories being repeated and grammatical errors. Didn’t dampen my enjoyment of the book a bit, though.

[Dave · Rating 1 out of 5]

While there is a ton of great information about the making of "Jaws 2" in JAWS 2: THE MAKING OF THE HOLLYWOOD SEQUEL, the book is so poorly written, edited an organized that it is an exceptionally frustrating read.

Instead of tracing the steps of the production from start to finish and synthesizing the various perspectives of various key moments of the film's production, authors Louis R. Pisano and Michael A. Smith bafflingly rush through the production history before backing up to focus on each and every individual cast and crew member. The result is endless backtracking and repetition of information at the best of times - the tale of Ricky Schroder being sent home with green hair comes up at least twice, if not more - while at its worst, a great deal of page space is wasted on what more or less amounts to "this person didn't really know much of anything."

The poor organization though is nothing compared to the endless typos and grammatical errors which appear page after page in the book. It would be one thing if it were the occasional mistake, which every book in publication has, but this book has so many that it often feels like one is encountering an error every three or so pages. Hell, a part of a paragraph seems to simply disappear, with a sentence starting on page 25 never being completed on the next page of text.

While I really wanted to like JAWS 2: THE MAKING OF THE HOLLYWOOD SEQUEL, I honestly cannot recommend this unless you are picking it up for free at the library. The finished book just feels like a rushed, amateur work

[John Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Simply too repetitive and in need of editing. It did interest me in the story of Sara Holcomb, who was fired from the first cast but finished her career playing the girlfriend in CADDYSHACK. I do want to read Hank Searls novelization, which supposedly follows the original script.

[Horror DNA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Screenwriter Carl Gottlieb contributes a humorously prescient Foreword to the book, in which he encourages readers to keep in mind that memories fade over time and that nobody really remembers the truth of what actually happened. Pisano and Smith have spent a great deal of time tracking down as many cast and crew members possible for this collection and conducted countless interviews with all involved. What follows is an impressive trip down memory lane as witnessed by those who worked on both versions of the film. Jaws 2: The Making of the Hollywood Sequel uncovers a generous number of original storyboard drawings that map out several key sequences, many involving the shark. The book also boasts a large number of rare behind-the-scenes photographs, including some showcasing the material shot under Hancock’s direction. Longtime fans of the film will be excited to finally get an inside look at what really happened on this troubled shoot.

You can read ZigZag's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

It may seem silly to read two books covering Jaws 2 but since I read two books about Donald Trump, I’ve let up on myself. After all, one is a hideous predator that hurts people with no remorse...the other is Jaws. I love that this book even exists since Jaws 2 is underrated and pompously dismissed. The authors don’t make the case Jaws 2 is even close to the original, which seems refreshingly nuanced. Every living and willing person from the movie is interviewed and they offer fascinating insight. The problem is that interview structure is the whole book so it feels like a long repetitive oral history. Also, there are some cool photos but they’re often blurry in the layout. I’m also not sure calling Jaws 2 the first Hollywood sequel is accurate give it’s four years after Godfather II. It is the first to use the numeral two so that’s a flag it planted. I guess it’s not fair to complain about what this isn’t nor compare it to the books on 2001 and Caddyshack. Any kind of deep dive (sorry) on a footnote movie should be applauded and celebrated.

[Ethan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s horrendously put together but undeniably passionate.

[Brian Burris · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5