MovieChat Forums > Jaws 3-D (1983) Discussion > The mechanical shark.

The mechanical shark.

posted 13 years ago by dustin565
10 replies | jump to latest

I know the 3-D effects suck, but I thought the mechanical shark looked pretty good. Probably the best in the series, but it is kind of hard to tell because the underwater scenes are so dark. Does anyone know if there are production pics of the shark used in this film somewhere? Like an article/pics or something?

And on another note, does anyone else agree with me? I know that some people find the mechanical shark to be the worst of the series but I thought it was definitely better than the Revenge shark and just as good/if not better than the first two sharks.

[–] dustin565 13 years ago

I take back what I said after rewatching this, I liked this shark in a few scenes but thats it. Cool story brah. :(

[–] Marmadukebagelhole 13 years ago

Good thread.

I know what you mean though. After seeing this when it premiered on UK tv (1987 or 88) I thought the same. Didn't see the movie again for about 10 years and had memories of the shark being impressive. Oh boy.

They could have saved themselves a lot of trouble by just shooting a hand puppet underwater. What's the point of building a full size shark, supposed to be 35ft in length, then have practically no shots, of it next to something smaller to give it scale.

The only shots of any scale or of the mouth and it looks about as animated as a pound of mince.

[–] Richard_Albiston 12 years ago

The extra length of the shark (an impossible size for real life) was to have an extra mechanism in the shark so it's tail would move and it could swim reasonably fluidly.

Bruce 1 & 2 didn't move very well on their platform, so this was their way to improve it.

Welcome To Prime Time B***H! - Freddy Krueger

[–] Marmadukebagelhole 12 years ago

"Bruce 1 & 2 didn't move very well on their platform"

The shark in Jaws3-D makes Bruce 1 & 2 look real.

[–] GuitarJunky86 12 years ago

I actually made a thread asking this a while back.

I haven't been able to find any production stills of the shark, but if you check out this "Making of JAWS 3-D" special they released when the film came out you can see the shark at 1:40:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHrST0kshVE

[–] neophyte-punk 12 years ago

just visit my website www.jaws-3d.com and you will see some very rare pictures of Bruce III

[–] GuitarJunky86 12 years ago

Were you on the Operation Orca forum?

I feel like I have seen your web site before, but I could not remember.

Are the only two shots you have the above water ones of the shark attacking Leah Thompson?

It would be cool to see some dry photos or something similar.

[–] neophyte-punk 12 years ago

Check this one!
http://www.jaws-3d.com/blog/?p=4459
Enjoy!

[–] GuitarJunky86 12 years ago

Awesome!!! Thanks for sharing!

[–] wmlopez 9 years ago

3-D effects were o.k. and to me the best looking fake shark are JAWS 4, JAWS, JAWS3-D and JAWS 2 the worst. With it looking like a cardboard burning shark and then a rubber shark as it opens it's mouth you can see it bend like rubber.