Josh-da-man

Not sure if it was an ABC Sunday Night Movie, but Fast Times at Ridgemont High had some deleted scenes added back in when it aired on television.

Rockmjd23

Halloween has a number of extra scenes in the TV version.

Mike Long

I'm on vacation at the beach (ironically) and I picked up the Jaws 2 novelization at a used book store. The book is based on the original screenplay which was heavily re-written for the finished film. There are some pretty cool scenes in the book which would have actually been creepy if handled correctly.

Paul_SD

Although I owned the book for the longest time, I think the only thing I actually read was a reader's digest, or some other magazine's, condensed version of it. It bugged me as a kid that it had almost no relation to the movie- but that's the exact reason it would be fascinating to read now.

I've kept my eyes open for it at used bookstores, but haven't run across a copy in years.

BTW- the Marvel Comics adaptation was a further bizarre hybrid incorporating material from the original and rewritten scripts.

Mike Long

Finally finished the novelization. (I was only reading a few pages at a time in "The Library".) This would have made a terrible movie. It started out OK, but it didn't actually become a shark story until the last few pages. Most of it is about Brody fighting the mafia. I liked some of the concepts in the story, but it was really misguided. Jaws 2 may not be a great movie, but it's light years ahead of the original script.

If anyone wants details on similarities/differences, let me know.

Mabuse

Sure, I'd love to hear more of the differences.

Mike Long

The opening with the two divers is exactly the same. The scene with the ski boat is the same, except it's a man and a woman. After that, the focus is on Brody attempting to prosecute a man who shot a seal (I'm not making that up). A Navy helicopter which is dragging a sonar ball through the water is attacked by the shark, but it's early in the story. The pharmacist develops the pictures from the divers, but he keeps them to himself to use for blackmail -- therefore, Brody doesn't realize that there's a shark until the very end. Mike and Sean are played younger here and Mike is obsessed with scuba diving, not the regatta. A scuba instructor character is actually interesting and would have been good in the movie. There is a regatta, but it remains in the background until the very end. The race is a town event, and when it goes wrong, the boats are lashed together, as in the film. The shark dies the same way as in the movie, but it's presented as an accident, not something which Brody makes happen. There are many paragraphs written from the shark's POV, and we learn that it's a female and that she's pregnant, which is what drives her to attack. Despite her death, at least one baby is born, leaving the story open for another sequel. There's no Brody trying to convince the council. There's no attack of the couple making out in the boat. I can't imagine watching a movie which was mainly comprised of Brody driving around arguing with people. The best part of the story is that, due to the shark attacks from the first film, Amity has fallen on hard times -- this isn't "fun", but it makes logical sense.

Mabuse

Yeah, I really like that angle. From reading a bit on Wikipedia it sounds like there was a whole subplot about the town owing money to the mafia because mafia money funded a new resort that the town hopes will bring the tourists back. Is that correct?

thebunk

On of the best horror sequals of all time, and I think calling it "the best of the bunch" is really not giving it much credit. I thought it was a very good sequal to one of the best films of all time.

Not to derail the conversation but I think Halloween 2 falls in a similar camp. Again, does not touch the original but I would call it very good sequal and not just the best of the bunch.

Mike Long

Yes. A group of investors, some of which are in the mafia, have backed a casino which Amity hopes will put it back on the map. Some know about the mafia and some don't and there's way too much talking about this. One of the mobsters becomes involved in the Brody's lives. All of this takes the story farther and farther away from being about the shark. The pharmacist/photo developer didn't sell his land when he had the chance, and now he resents the town, which is why he keeps the shark photo to himself.

stinkeye

To be fair the original book didn`t end with Brody in a heroic posture either. I like the way the novel fleshed out the story the way it does, but it certainly would not have given the audiences what they wanted in a Jaws sequel. The same author also wrote the novelization for Jaws the Revenge. And he almost explains away away the ridiculousness of that plot. Almost.

hilts

The Marvel adaptation is seared into my memory for one reason: every time Brody was startled he yelled "Holy Shirt!" No typo there - apparently the writer wanted something to use for profanity and that's what he came up with. It was absolutely jarring and painful to the eye and inner voice as I read it.

Daytripper

Agree. I bought the book back in the day. Much better than the film. And the movie would have been better with a better director.

colin42

I'm about two years too late, but I think the mafia laden plot is very good; as far as the novel is concerned. Books just work differently (usually much better) than hour and a half films do. The mafia has actually always been an integral part of the story of Jaws, as those who've read Peter Benchley's awesome novel will know. And, in the novel for Jaws 2, I think it was a really powerful moment when the main mobster realized that his child was sailing with everyone else....

As for the film, it's a very good sequel to an excellent adaptation of one of my favorite books ever. As far as sequels go, Jaws 2 gives so much attention to detail and such a feeling of quality that you really have to acknowledge it as one of the best sequels ever. A sequel is a hard thing to do, and Jaws 2 absolutely passed. Just listen to John Williams' score and look at those floater barrels in front of Brody's house.

B5Erik

It's funny, when an old thread like this one is bumped back to life I have to scan it to see if I already commented... (I didn't see anything posted by me on that quick scan through).

Anyway, I really like Jaws 2, and I even like the kids. Those characters seem kind of familiar to me - like some of the kids I knew back in the late 70's to a degree, so I don't have any problems with those characters. It may not be as good as Jaws, but it isn't Jaws The Revenge level mediocrity, either.

So, yeah, I like it a lot. Then again, I don't dislike Jaws 3, so take that as you will...

largemouthshark

Me too. Except there was hardly any "references" to the shark in JAWS 1.

largemouthshark

The first time JAWS aired on tv on the ABC Sunday Night Movie, in 1979, most of the gory scenes were deleted, but the deleted scenes were added in to compensate!

rennervision

Thanks for sharing this. (It sounds terrible btw. )

I'm not a big Jaws 2 fan, but think it would've got more respect if a certain movie named Jaws didn't precede it.

I really feel it needed to be set in a different location other than Amity Island. The odds of this happening twice to the same town is too much for me to accept. (Kind of like the problem I have with most of the Die Hard sequels.)

If Richard Dreyfuss would've been up for another one, they could have had Hooper encounter another large Great White somewhere due to his profession. He's now friends with Brody so through that connection he then becomes involved as well. It would have been much easier for me to believe.