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STEVEN SPIELBERG’S SHARK THRILLER WAS HUGE BUT THE FILMING WASN'T WITHOUT PROBLEMS AND IT EVEN LED TO THE DIRECTOR GETTING PTSD 14:30, 01 Jun 2025Updated 14:30, 01 Jun 2025 “You're
gonna need a bigger boat!” It’s 50 years since the immortal quote hit the big screen with the release of the movie Jaws. Steven Spielberg’s shark thriller, released in June 1975, sees a
police chief, marine biologist and shark-hunter team up to find a man-eating great white after it attacks beachgoers at a US resort. It made a monster £350million at the box office, won
three Oscars and became a cinema classic. But how much do you know about the jaw-dropping blockbuster? Now JAMES MOORE takes a deep dive with an A-Z of bite-sized fascinating fins about it…
A is for… ACTION : It’s a gripping movie, but the villainous great white shark doesn’t appear until one hour and 21 minutes into the two-hour long film and is only on screen for a total of
four minutes. B is for… BRUCE : The nickname given by director Steven Spielberg to the malfunctioning 25ft mechanical prop shark used on set - named after his lawyer. He also dubbed it the
‘Great White Turd’. C is for… COP : Roy Scheider plays Police Chief Martin Brody, but Charlton Heston was originally considered for the role. Schieder died, aged 75, in 2008. Article
continues below D is for… DRUNK : Robert Shaw played boozy shark hunter Quint. Ironically, he was often drunk on set and feuded with Richard Dreyfuss, playing biologist Matt Hooper. Shaw
died, aged 51, in 1978. E is for… EFFECTS : After ditching the idea of training a real shark, the film used three animatronic prop sharks, weighing 1.2tons, costing £200,000 and needing 14
people to operate. F is for… FLAWS: The crew’s joke title for the movie while it was being made. The prop shark often failed to work, the movie ran 100 days over schedule and went twice over
budget. G is for… GORY : Despite the blood and severed limbs, some scenes were trimmed so that the movie surprisingly only has a PG rating. H is for… HORROR : The movie is based on Peter
Benchley’s novel, itself inspired by a series of real shark attacks in 1916 off New Jersey. Benchley made a cameo in the movie as a news reporter. I is for… ICONIC: Dun dun, dun dun, dun
dun… When Spielberg fist heard John Williams’ musical theme for the movie he thought the composer was joking, as it was so simple. J is for…. JEEPERS: During shooting screenwriter Carl
Gottlieb was nearly decapitated by a boat propeller and Dreyfuss almost became imprisoned in a steel cage. K is for… KILLS : Five characters are killed in the plot of the movie, along with a
dog. L is for… LOCATION : The movie’s Amity Island resort was actually Martha’s Vineyard, in Massachusetts, US. Locals were paid £50 each to star as extras. M is for… MUTT : Brody’s pet
cocker spaniel is played by Spielberg’s own dog, Elmer. N is for… NASTY! Footage of a real great white shark attacking and destroying a metal cage below the water in Australia was used. O is
for… ORCA: The name of Quint’s boat. At one point it began sinking during filming, causing the actors and crew to have to be rescued. P is for… PROPS: Spielberg reckoned a severed prop arm
of a shark victim sticking out of the beach looked too fake. So they buried a crew member in the sand with only her arm showing to get the shot. Q is for… QUOTE: Schieder ad-libbed the
movie’s best remembered quote: “You’re gonna need a bigger boat!” R is for… REGRETS: Both Spielberg and Benchley have since said they regret the fact that the movie demonizes sharks, which
only rarely attack people S is for… SHOCK : For the opening scene, cables were attached to the legs of actress Susan Backlinie, who played Chrissie, the first shark victim. The crew yanked
them aggressively to pull her under water causing a genuine shocked reaction. T is for… TRAUMA : Despite being given his big break on Jaws in his 20s the constant problems on set led
Spielberg to develop PTSD. U is for… UNCHARTED: Jaws was the first major movie to be shot on the open ocean. A quarter of it was filmed from water level to give the audience the sensation of
treading water. V is for… VALUE : It was a smash hit at the box office on release, becoming the highest grossing film of all time until the release of Star Wars in 1977 W is for… WACKY: A
child actor from the movie, Jonathan Searle, grew up to be a real police chief in the area. Cuban dictator Fidel Castro was also a big fan of the flick. X is for… X-RATED : The movie has
lots of differences to the book. The film cut out an affair between Hooper and Brody’s wife. Article continues below Y is for… YIKES : When Spielberg’s director pal George Lucas visited the
set he managed to get his head stuck in the mechanical shark’s mouth. Robert Shaw spent two days in it for one scene. Z is for… ZZZS: Three sequels were made, without Spielberg. The worst
was 1987’s Jaws: The Revenge, starring Michael Caine, featuring the hilarious tagline ‘This Time It’s Personal!’