Deja vu's too kind a term to describe what happens in the latest chapter in the lives of the characters created so long ago in print by Peter Benchley and brought to life - and, eventually, to death - on screen by Steven Spielberg. [22 July 1987]
Jaws: The Revenge was indeed the final chapter in the Jaws movies and the last sequel starring Lorraine Gary from Jaws and Jaws 2 and Michael Caine. Made in 1987, Jaws: The Revenge has some good moments like the guy who goes out at night on his boat and gets ripped apart and killed by the shark. This movie is certainly better than Jaws 2 I don't care who disagrees because it's fact!!! So in this case I give Jaws: The Revenge a 8 rating.
In a wicked mess of unmatched water shots and dreadful interior airplane sequences, the characters outlined in little blue halos, the performances range from the mortifying to the merely immemorable. Against all odds, Lance Guest and Karen Young manage to be warm and credible. Podgy but game, Michael Caine, bravely attempts mouth-to-mouth resusitation on a role which is little more than anecdotes strung together. It is not his finest hour.
Even the special effects are lame in this one, offering a latex shark that is about as realistic as a fake goldfish. Poorly directed by Joseph Sargent, who relies heavily on blood and fast editing to create tension since there certainly isn't
any written into the script.
Among the mysteries of Hollywood life is the terribleness of Jaws sequels; they are the very worst of a bad lot. Now comes No. 4 -- Jaws the Revenge -- and it is as wretched as it is ungrammatical. [17 July 1987, p.1D]
There's more suspense in On Golden Pond. And when the predictable ending comes, it has none of the titanic man-versus-beast struggle of the original. It all happens so quickly, you wonder if you've missed something. But, no you haven't, because there it is -- the familiar calm sea . . . of credits.
Man, people really hate these last two sequels, eh?
I don't even think 'Jaws 3-D' is as awful as most fellow reviewers think and that's the case again with 'Jaws: The Revenge'. It's bad, but it's not *that* bad. It makes little sense, though to be fair it is from a franchise that is all about a huge human-killing shark; despite sharks, in fact, not actually being all that keen on our rotten flesh.
Michael Caine is somehow in this. Well, I say somehow... a trip to the Bahamas and a nice paycheck likely made it entirely logical from his view; as he reportedly stated himself. Lorraine Gary, meanwhile, spearheads an average support cast. Speaking of whom, I did find their dialogue and interactions to be very unnatural and forced.
5/10. There are many, many worse films out there though.