About This Quiz
Think you know all there is to know about the 1975 movie "Jaws?" Take this quiz to find out just how much you remember.
If you read the book "Jaws" by Peter Benchley, you would probably have agreed that it would make a great movie. But, no one could have anticipated that a mechanical shark could have inspired so much fear in beachgoers that they avoided the nation's beaches for months.
Who knew that a movie with a budget of a mere $9 million would end up grossing over $470 million (the highest ever until the release of "Star Wars" in 1977)? In fact, the movie almost made back its production costs in the first weekend.
"Jaws" pushed movie boundaries in several ways, mainly in its use of suspense. However, the technique Spielberg used in the movie wasn't intentional, but rather the result of those crazy mechanical sharks. Unfortunately for Spielberg, the sharks did not always cooperate, often refusing to work at all, so he was forced to use sound, specifically music, to let viewers know that the shark was near. This type of suspenseful play was a technique used heavily by Alfred Hitchcock, and it certainly worked for Spielberg... and millions of viewers.
If you're ready to swim with the big fish, take this quiz.
Much of the filming was done on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Advertisement
The plate is from Louisiana, suggesting the shark came up from the Gulf.
Advertisement
He explains the root of his fear very concisely: "Drowning."
Advertisement
It's implausible that this draws the shark, as sharks are drawn by irregular and vigorous splashing.
Advertisement
Given Quint's penchant for drink, showing up staggering would have worked, too.
Advertisement
Once in the pond, the shark kills a boater.
Advertisement
Nowadays. it's unlikely someone would be admitted overnight -- but this was prior to HMOs!
Advertisement
Hooper is immediately skeptical because of the animal's smaller bite radius.
Advertisement
An underwater shot shows the bulk of the shark's body sinking to the seafloor like a battleship going down.
Advertisement
Quint's death -- with the shark jumping halfway up onto the deck -- is a little hard to swallow. (Sorry!)
Advertisement
First the shark tooth, now the gun -- Hooper needs some kind of waterproof lanyard so he can quit dropping things!
Advertisement
Quint is a glory hound who doesn't want help; Brody is nervous and wants all the help they can get.
Advertisement
"Orca" is a whale. Fun fact: the film's first potential director was passed over for using "shark" and "whale" interchangeably.
Advertisement
The town's merchants look forward to the influx of tourist dollars from the holiday.
Advertisement
The closing shot shows them heading home with Amity Island in the near distance.
Advertisement
He and Robert Shaw reportedly didn't get along, which might have been useful in creating tension between their characters.
Advertisement
The shark is distracted by its continuing attempts to mangle the cage; Hooper slips out the other side.
Advertisement
His wife tries to teach him local pronunciation of "yard" and "car" early in the film.
Advertisement
During the exchange, Brody is silent, only once looking sheepishly at his own appendectomy scar.
Advertisement
Hooper has a dart gun and intends to inject the shark with strychnine.
Advertisement
His drinking caused some difficulties on set, like when he went "method" and got drunk to deliver his original "USS Indianapolis" monologue.
Advertisement
Quint's monologue about the ship's sinking is one of the movie's high points.
Advertisement
We see his business advertised on his car as he arrives at the docks in his first scene.
Advertisement
The string of movies spawned an irrational fear of sharks; novelist Benchley spent a lot of his later life remorsefully working for ocean conservation.
Advertisement
Quint thinks Hooper is a city-bred tenderfoot.
Advertisement
He's trying to give the mayor an idea of its size.
Advertisement
The finall toll: Chrissy the skinny-dipper, little Alex Kintner, the man seen in the broken boat, the boater in the pond, and Quint.
Advertisement
Hooper dropped the "shot-glass-sized" tooth, and this allows the mayor to be skeptical, and to protect those tourist dollars.
Advertisement
The dog was director Spielberg's own, Elmer.
Advertisement
$10,000 is Quint's price for catching the shark.
Advertisement