Question: When the swimmers are running out of the water, why does Brody shout: "No whistles?"
Answer: Brody didn't want to panic all the beach goers and cause a splashing commotion which would excite the shark.
Answer: When the shark attacks fist began, Brody began reading up on shark behavior. It is believed that loud vibrating sounds can attract sharks. Brody believes that multiple people blowing loud whistles could bring the shark closer into shore.
On the contrary, high frequency noises (such as those produced by whistles) barely penetrate into the water and seem to have no effect on sharks or any other fish. Low-frequency noises (such as concussive splashing) travel a great distance in water and are a definite attraction for marine predators. Ultra-low-frequency noises (such as the songs of whales) can travel hundreds of miles through water. The U.S. Navy even uses extremely-low-frequency (ELF) transmissions for communicating with submarines far out at sea. So, no, there is no documented scientific reason for Brody to think that high-frequency noise would attract sharks. Either the movie's screenwriters were badly mistaken in their assumption that whistles attract sharks, or the character of Chief Brody was deliberately written to be mistaken in that assumption.
Question: In the scene where Quint and Hooper were drunk and comparing scars, at the end of the scene Chief Brody lifts his shirt to reveal a scar. The significance of the scar was not revealed in the movie. What was the scar from?
Chosen answer: It's an appendix scar, from when he had it removed. It's of no great significance other than a jokey moment where Brody realises that he doesn't have any stories to tell the others about any scars he has, other than one he received through a fairly common operation.
Answer: It is a scar from a gun shot wound he received whilst on service for NYPD. He doesn't want to talk about it. It could explain the whole reason he moved to Amity from NY.
Answer: The chief was going to show the scar from his gunshot wound that he got as a police officer while working in New York.
Question: When Bruce is killing Quint (and in every shot of Bruce thereafter) there's a whole lot of white stuff around the shark's teeth that doesn't seem to be just his gums. What is that white stuff? It looks like he's chewed on lots of paper or something...
Answer: It's supposed to be flesh from whatever he ate before. Like when you eat chicken and a piece gets stuck in your teeth.
Question: In the scene where the shark enters the pond, Brody's son and some friends are trying to tie a knot in a rope, a man in a small boat paddles up to them and says something right before he asks if they are ok. It sounds like he is saying "fellas make it thin, fold it in sheets". I've watched Jaws a 100 times and I still can't quite make out what he says. Any idea?
Question: When Alex Kintner (the boy on the raft) gets eaten by the shark, I distinctly remember a shot right after the shark rolls over the raft, that the inflatable raft pops with a loud "POP", then there were two streams of blood coming out of the water almost 5 feet in the air, in a V-type pattern. Nobody remembers it. Nobody knows. It was only in the cinema in its original release. It's never made it to any re-release or home video media version or TV broadcast. This scene was forever etched in my memory because I knew the shark had punctured the boy's back and severed the two arteries/veins that are as thick as garden hoses. Please somebody, does anyone remember this scene?
Answer: While there was an alternate (and more gruesome) Kintner-boy attack scene that was filmed late in production, Spielberg chose not to use it, and it never made it into the film. The only released Kintner-boy attack scene shows the shark roll the boy's raft, then the boy is seen lifted out of the water (by a film crew scuba diver) as fountains of bloody water appear several feet in front of the boy.
Question: As Matt Hooper is analyzing the dead body, he yells at Martin not to smoke. Why does he follow that up with "this is what happens" while holding up her severed arm? What does that line refer to?
Question: Before firing the first barrel into the shark, Hooper attaches something that appears to be a locator beacon to the line. While this device is seen in some later shots it never appears to be used. What is the device and why was it never used?
Answer: I haven't seen the movie in a while but the script says it is a strobe light so the shark can be spotted if it surfaces at night. The climax of the movie is in daylight so the light of the strobe is not visible.
Question: When Hopper asks the men in the boat if there are any hotels nearby, they say "Walk straight ahead" and Hooper's response to that was to laugh and say "They're all gonna die" - Why were the men going to die exactly?
Answer: The entire town went into a frenzy after Mrs. Kintner offered a reward to kill the shark. People who knew nothing about boats or seamanship were heading out on the ocean, armed with shotguns and explosives. When Sheriff Brody saw that the men were dangerously overloading the small outboard boat, he asked Hooper to warn them, which he did. The men ignored Hooper, then made the sarcastic remark about him walking straight ahead, which would lead Hooper off the end of the pier. They were idiots who Hooper believes will probably drown or blow themselves up.
Question: Who was the girl said, "Sh-Shark! Shark in the estuary!" in Jaws? Does anyone know the character and/or actress' name?
Answer: The name of the actress is Carla Hogendyk.
Thanks, Super Grover! Now I know the character was known as Artist Hippie Girl thanks to you! Cheers and awesome job spotting her!
You're quite welcome. Happy to have helped! Rikki.
Question: When Brody and Hooper find Ben Gardner's boat why does Hooper dive into the water to examine the bottom of the boat when he already knows there's a man-eating shark in the water? How does Hooper know the shark won't swim up behind (or underneath) him and devour him?
Answer: Because he is under the impression the shark has recently eaten and the digestive system of a shark works really slow so it won't be out hunting for a while. With a normal shark anyway.
Answer: Hooper wanted to inspect Gardner's boat as soon as possible to see what caused it to sink, and before the town locals towed it and possibly destroyed any evidence. As the other answer noted, Hooper knew the shark's eating habits. He was willing to take a calculated risk and which he was quite nervous about.
Question: During the USS Indianapolis speech, Quint says a "big fat PBY" came to pick them up. Whats a PBY?
Answer: He's talking about a Consolidated PBY Catalina, which was an amphibious plane (meaning it could land on water) used in WWII. PB stands for Patrol Bomber (the Y designated the manufacturer, Consolidated Aircraft).
Question: Why didn't they bring stronger ammunition on the Orca to kill on-site when the shark is surfaced, instead of using barrels and playing the slow game?
Answer: Agree with the other answers, but would add that both Quint and Hooper underestimated how big and powerful the shark would be. Until they were at sea, the shark wasn't fully seen and was likely expected to be about 15 feet and easier to kill with the weapons they had. As mentioned, the barrels were intended to slow down and exhaust the shark, keep it nearer the surface, and allow them to track and kill it.
Answer: The barrels were also used to slow or even stop the shark from leaving. They were heavy, but it didn't slow him down. Quint said, "The shark can't go down with two barrels on him." When it did, Matt Hooper asked, "Have you ever seen a shark do that?" Quint replied, "Never."
Answer: They didn't want to lose it. If the thing surfaces and you start shooting at it or use explosives and you don't kill it, you will just scare it off and won't see it again. That is, until there is someone eaten again. They wanted to be sure to kill it, so you lure it, get it to surface with the barrels and then kill it properly. It's still just a fish.
Question: Why is Quint's belt buckle undone and he is zipping up his pants as Hooper talks about his girlfriend who broke his heart. Was he showing off another scar, and they cut that scene out?
Answer: Yes, that part was edited out. As I remember it from the theatrical version, Quint had shown Hooper and Brody a scar below his waist, then was buckling his belt just as Hooper started talking about his "broken heart." This scene and others were likely edited to fit a TV time slot and allow for commercials.
Question: Why did Quint attach himself to the fishing rod? If the reel had run out wouldn't he have been pulled into the water? Also, is it ever revealed whether it was the shark that he had snagged?
Answer: He also wrapped a belt around him and positioned his feet, so he wouldn't go overboard. To this day sports fishermen do it to tackle the "big ones." Being an experienced fisherman, he was fairly certain it was the shark, since they used large bait and reel that only a large predator could pull.
Question: Chief Brody and his wife are looking at a shark book in their den and their sons are playing outside in the boat the older son Michael got for his birthday. What is the title of that book? I know I had the same book when I was young kid.
Answer: It's called "Food for Thought".
Answer: Quint had become so obsessed with killing the shark that he was completely irrational. He was stubborn, combative, single-minded, and determined that no-one knew more than him about catching sharks and was not going to listen to anything that Hooper or Brody said or did, to the point of sabotaging his own boat.
raywest ★