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Why Is Universal Still Blocking The Distribution of Enzo G. Castellari's GREAT WHITE?
Three weeks ago, The New Beverly Cinema hosted a special screening of Enzo G. Castellari's INGLORIOUS BASTARDS (timed to coincide with the movie's long-awaited DVD release). Severin Films, the movie's distributor, helped organize the event, which included a Q&A with the director and his stars, Fred "The Hammer" Williamson and Bo Svenson. As is customary at The New Beverly, a second feature was programmed: Castellari's audacious Nazis-in-London romp, BATTLE SQUADRON. Due to a late start for BASTARDS and a lengthy post-film Q&A session (which gave way to a lengthy autograph-signing session), BATTLE SQUADRON didn't fire up until close to midnight; as a result, Castellari's Nazis-in-London WWII romp played to a house that was maybe a quarter full. This was unfortunate for two reasons: 1) BATTLE SQUADRON is far superior to INGLORIOUS BASTARDS, and 2) BATTLE SQUADRON was the back-up title for the movie Severin Films really wanted to show.
Had all gone according to plan, The New Beverly Cinema would've presented the first North American screening of Enzo G. Castellari's GREAT WHITE in twenty-six years.
Though INGLORIOUS BASTARDS is suddenly a hot property again thanks to Quentin Tarantino, the opportunity to see GREAT WHITE in a U.S. theater would've easily been the highlight of the evening. This is, after all, the notorious JAWS knockoff against which Universal Pictures filed an injunction in the spring of 1982. Why? Well, Universal had their own JAWS knockoff in production for summer 1983: JAWS 3-D. And though these Italian-produced cash-ins were usually under-promoted grindhouse schlock, GREAT WHITE's distributor, Film Ventures International, was aggressively spending millions of dollars to sell the movie nationwide. When the picture opened to huge business on March 5, 1982, its fate was sealed: GREAT WHITE was deemed a threat to Universal's "original" killer shark franchise, and it went away for good.
That Universal would take such a hard-line against Castellari's movie now strikes me as overzealous; it's been viewable for free on the internet for years, and it's really only remembered by completist geeks like me (who'd just convinced their parents to take them to see the film on the very weekend it was banished from theaters). The DVD release of the movie might cause a smattering of hype, but it's not like there's an ongoing JAWS franchise to be damaged (although I'm constantly hearing rumors of a JAWS remake/reboot in development at Universal). Time to ease up on that injunction, Universal. In 2008, GREAT WHITE is, at most, a curio.
I recently exchanged emails with Severin's Carl Daft, and he gave me this update on The New Beverly flap and the possibility of GREAT WHITE ever receiving a commercial release in the United States:
The only contact with Universal came from The New Beverly Cinema and they received a letter back citing the injunction itself whereby it was agreed that GREAT WHITE would never be shown again in the U.S without the prior written approval of Universal. And in this event Universal were not prepared to give that written approval to allow us to screen the film at The New Beverly. They also cite that the injunction stands in other territories but without naming which territories. Since getting wind of Universal’s position the company we were going to license the title from have got cold feet and now there is no deal to be done in the U.S, even if we were prepared to take on the risk. The film is of course out in Scandinavia without any problems and I am hopeful that we can strike a deal for UK rights to the movie and release it there without any fuss.
So there you have it: GREAT WHITE, starring James Franciscus and Vic Morrow, is safe for Scandanavia and nowhere else. This is unfortunate, as there's a Tarantino/Castellari interview in the can for an eventual DVD.
Faithfully submitted,
Mr. Beaks
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awww yeah
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Great White sounds awesome.
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I remember seeing some crazy Italian shark movie during one of the last seasons..
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Not worth all the effort. Just watch Shark Attack or Deep Blue Sea instead. Or, better yet, just wait for MEG.
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kill yourself.
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I've remembered a "Great White" movie for years but remembered it being lumped in with stuff like the killer whale movies and stuff coming out around the same time. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't especially great, either. I don't understand what the brouhaha is all about. Of course, I was 14 when I saw it...maybe I couldn't recognize great cinema then. I also saw "Jaws 3-D" in the theatre, and thought it was sheit. So, maybe I didn't know cinema, but I knew what I didn't like.
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That's the only new Jaws movie I want to see. Nobody wants a "reboot" with Nicolas Cage vs. a 50-foot CGI clusterfuck, but that's exactly what we'll get.
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...no kidding. That's why it's the Superstation.
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Jaws 3, People 0 would have been just another mindless parody. You might as well watch Meet the Spartans, Disaster Movie and Superhero Movie.
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Don't remember much about it except Morrow was very Quint-like and there was a scene with a helicopter where the shark jumps out of the water, right at the camera - made me spit out my popcorn.
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My parents for years had been telling me about this movie called Great White.
One of my father's favorite movies is Jaws and to this day he tells me this Italian film was far superior to Spielberg's. Its interesting to me that in no point of Mr. Beaks' article does he mention Spielberg's name.
Do you really think that Universal is the only one to blame that this film has never seen the light of day?
Twilight Zone The Movie (executive produced and directed by Spielberg) came out in 1983.
Great White was released in 1982.
Vic Morrow is one of the stars of both.
Coincidence?
Yes Landis directed the segment that Morrow starred in but I'm guessing Steven saw the film and thought, "this movie is better than mine. It might wind up being more successful than mine. Vic Morrow is really good in this. I have to keep this film from getting released. But Morrow is great. I'm going to get him in this Twilight Zone project."
Spielberg and Tarantino consistently steal people's work. Tarantino steals from Hong Kong films. Spielberg steals from old serials like Manhunt In The African Jungle and Jungle Queen/Perils Of Nyoka. There are a ton of film serials that still haven't seen the light of day because Spielberg has been blocking their release.
Its sad that this fuck would be so greedy to keep people from making money so many years later. Just let people see the film. You've made enough money, cocksucker.
What harm will it do? Or would it bruise your ego too much? -
...You're kidding right? RIGHT?
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Hiding under my bed- still terrified from Jaws - Damn you Spileberg for ruining any water activities to this day!
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Robert Downey Jr.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/17/robert-downey-jr-on-the-d_n_119414.html
His jealousy is embarrassing. Dark Knight owned Iron Man and Indy 4's ass.
I hope that Tropic Thunder flops in a big way and that Dark Knight continues to bring in the moolah. -
I remember a part where the shark is attached to a buoy and swims around knocking people over with it. If anything, I think showing Great White would remind people how good Jaws is.
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In that film Peter Lorre (as Mr. Moto) at one point is wearing this old man outfit and I'm telling you he looks a whole lot like Yoda.
Another coincidence? -
Hi. If you desperately want to get hold of the film, it has recently been released in Denmark. Find the Region 2 DVD at one of the following: http://www.laserdisken.dk/html/visvare.dna?vare=12071836436165236 or http://www.absurd-online.dk/shop/productinfo.asp?id=AWE0107
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Renamed "The Last Shark"
http://www.moviesfoundonline.com/last_shark.php
Universal had nothing to worry about - however it is a pretty cheesy blatant rip-off.
...and fassbinder79 what the hell are you on about? -
Rando Calrisian
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He's not jealous, Iron Man (which I haven't even seen, BTW) did just fine, even if it's not the number 2 grosser of all time or whatever. He was voicing his opinion (they do have 'em, movie stars) that certain aspects of Dark Knight were perhaps overlay elaborate, and I don't necessarily think he's wrong. If y'all would put the TDK KoolAid down for a minute or two you might just see that, yes, it does have dramatic / structural flaws and isn't, as a matter of fact, the greatest movie of all time.
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Rip offs of successful movies come out all the time since the beginning of film, but Great White is the only movie I have ever heard of ever been blocked by the courts. Is it really that much of a blatant rip off of Jaws. Are the characters names Sherrif Cody and Captain Kwint?
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They put on a lousy concert.
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his goofball, ludicrous Stark persona just like he was at last year's Comic Con. Maybe he promotes Tropic Thunder still in character, as well?
Because there's absolutely no chance that a once respectable actor, one that's been through so much shit thanks to the media would turn his coat and use back the media to churn out such idiotic comments praising dumbed down, silly blockbusters over sophistication and respect for the audience's intelligence. Right? Right? -
It's called copyright infringement. Don't get the big deal though, the cinema landscape would be a little more barren without countless shitty 70's knockoffs of good English language films.
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not too great, not too bad, just have to ignore huge Japanese subtitles (must have been ripped from their laserdisc version a couple years ago)
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...The completely unmotivated character choices in regards to Two Face.
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If Universal had nothing to worry about...Why did they block the movie?
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...is part of a three-film set along with two other killer animal movies:
http://tinyurl.com/6j4lv5
Great White is truly awful -- in all the right ways. James Francisco's slow motion "leap" into the sea just before he sets off the charge in the shark's mouth is fucking hysterical. Also gotta love the bit when the shark jumps up and bites the legs of a guy hanging from a helicopter, only the legs detach about a foot above the actual bite. -
I find it interesting that people keep using this phrase "drinking the kool aid". A number of people used it earlier this year regarding Barack Obama and his "inexplicable popularity." We are not "drinking the kool aid"...We just like things that are cool. And as is true with Barack and Dark Knight we don't feel the need to have things dumbed down for us.
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Imagine Jaws 2 - not Jaws - Jaws 2 - done in the cheapest, silliest way possible. The only thing remotely entertaining about it is Morrow's over the top Quint impression.
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United Artist theater in Westminster, CA.
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that's a weird, WEIRD read... he sounded pretty serious on my monitor after all. Once edgy actor now speaks like an obnoxious Ratnerite, bashing a "rival" blockbuster for being too intelligent - not for him of course, but the audience he supposes doesn't "get" anything except slapstick comedy, rom-com banter and meaningless plots.
I can't believe a guy who worked with Fincher, Black (Shane, not Jack) or Ollie Stone can be so retrograde - or plain clueless - about the current state of H'wood movies. I mean, not every movie can be as witty, complex and mature as Iron Man, but still... [/sarcasm] -
I just checked it out online, (skipping quite a bit - I've no interest in losing 90 mins of my life again) and wow! It is so much worse than I remember from '82. I should've kept it that way. The shark roars for pete's sake!
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But there is not a ghost of a chance that any reboot will improve the classic characters or movie one iota. It will be just about as worthwhile as Gus Van Zandt's Psycho remake. Speilburgh owns you.
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I'm back in the Talkbacks after years in retirement. I saw this in the theater no less than 3 times back in the day. I still remember the theater lobby had big inflatible sharks with the movie's logo on them hanging above the conession stand. I've been looking for one of those on ebay for years. Yes, the movie is pretty crappy by today's standards; oh hell, it was pretty crappy by 1982 standards, but it was still fun in that drive-in/ grindhouse kind of way that movies like William Girdler's "Grizzly" and "Day of the Animals" are. It's been a staple of bootleg tape and dvd pirates for years under the title "The Last Shark." The mechanical shark sticks his head out of the water more often than Bruce did, and the plot pretty much cannibalizes both the first film and the first sequel. Plus, theres a cool shot from the POV of inside the shark's belly as he swallows some poor schmuck. Cult film lovers might get a kick out this, but kids today need not apply. It's good to be back.
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so, it's Jaws 3-D who ripped off Enzo Castellari eventually? I might give it a look, sounds like a good 80's killer crocodile movie, but with a killer shark, and Castellari's skills (yes, I said it).
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Dumb talkbacker or clever troll? Look, I actually saw GREAT WHITE in the theater back in 1982 and it isn't a very good movie. JAWS is one of the greatest films ever made. Your Dad obviously doesn't know much about film. And Universal is thinking of remaking JAWS?! Yeah, that should go over about as well as the PSYCHO remake did.... Lightning can't be caught in a bottle twice you stupid Studio Executives!
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I love corny films,....and I think it should be re-classified as a spoof,..so it can be released.
Who did this movie scare? -
About a young man who has to save a princess from a giant artificial Lethalsun base with the help of an old mystic man who teaches him the ways of The Power along with his two robot friends and a space pirate and his giant bigfoot navigator?
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...would anyone want to plug this? Oh yeah, sorry, I forgot. Tarantino probably thinks it's cool.
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I saw an interview with him in the U.K stating that the only reason he did Iron Man was because he wanted to be in a movie that more than 5 people saw. Which is quite funny considering it wasn't that big over here, and frankly everyone i know thats seen it, said 'meh, it was alright'. Which is fair. The Dark Knight showed it up for the flawed piece of fluff that it is. Obviously that grates on him.
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Plus all the DTV Killer Shark knock-offs at Blockbuster. WTF! (guess UNI needs to get their money's worth spent on the original GW injunction) How dare anyone else make money off a Shark. Shark: Trademarked by Universal. The word Shark was used with permission, all rights reserved.
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I had a 16mm print of this and sold it 9 years ago on eBay. Didn't know it was a rare title : ( Now I want to watch it again lol.
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Wonder if the windsurfer is gonna get it???? Oh the excitement is killing me!!!!!!
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anyone? The trailer on youtube looked pretty good, in that "good/trashy" sorta way. Vic Morrow's an awesome actor
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Hopefully and naturally, everyone in the remake - especially the grizzled old Quint - will be 25 years old and the shark will be filmed in shake cam. The newly available technologies let one improve all those overrated old movies, so why not do it?
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Aug 18, 2008 8:28:02 PM CDT
As long as we're talking RDJ in a completely unrelated talkback.
by mystery roach
"I feel like I'm dumb because I feel like I don't get how many things that are so smart." I'm not the biggest TDK supporter, but I think Downey's brains may have finally turned to complete mush.
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after seeing the trailer on Youtube I really want to see it now. I can see why the Jaws people were scared.
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...as anything other than a little legal historical footnote, is either high or really fucking stupid, or flat out taking the piss. I just watched about 20 minutes on YouTube and it's fucking wretched. Totally worthless. Just awful. Please tell us you're joking, Fassbinder and that you don't really believe your kooky little conspiracy theory about what is very obviously a complete abortion of film.
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Stop. Look at which talkback you're in. Realize that there is a segment of fandom that's maybe 3 weeks removed from randomly knocking on people's doors and asking if they've accepted The Dark Knight as their personal savior.
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I'm not interested in seeing this. More '70s horror and fewer Diablo Cody festivals, please.
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I saw TDK once in the theater. Opening day. I liked it. It was a really good movie. It was the best Batman movie I've ever seen. I will own it on DVD. That said, I'm getting really bored and really tired of being bombarded by the unceasing wailing hysterics of Dark Knight zealots for whom this movie (and Heath Ledger) is apparently nothing short of Salvation. And nothing, NOTHING, is more pathetic than all the sexless virgin cuntbags who swarmed all over IMDb and joined the campaign to vote The Dark Knight into first place, or who are actually concerned with whether or not TDK breaks Titanic's box office records. In fact, if you're one of those shitmeisters who voted TDK a 10 on IMDb before it was released why don't you just go ahead and play with your pussy. In fact, reach up into your pussy, feel around in there for your balls, pull them out and let them dry off. Jesus. And once again the fucking fanboys can't be content to like both Iron Man AND The Dark Knight. Battle lines have to be drawn. One movie has to "beat" the other. For fuck's sake. This is just like the Star Wars VS. LOTR shit from a few years ago. Or South Park VS. Family Guy. Trust me, it IS possible to like all of those things simultaneously. Sorry. I just had to get that off of my chest. Dark Knight Mania is getting me down.
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I too saw "Great White" in the theater. I have often wondered in the years since why it's never showed up on cable. I guess this explains it. Also... to anyone thinking of "re-booting" Jaws.... please kill yourself immediately.
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He's clearly kidding and sticking it to DC because he's working with MARVEL!! LOL!!! (See below)
"Robert Downey Jr. may only be spoofing, as he reportedly does to hilarious effect playing a white Australian actor playing an African-American soldier in Tropic Thunder, but he has boldly given The Dark Knight its worst review yet. When asked during an interview with MovieHole.net about the Batman sequel, Downey said that he "didn't get it. ... [I] still can't tell you what happened in the movie, what happened to the character." He said that while watching the movie, it dawned on him, "I get it. This is so high-brow and so f***ing smart, I clearly need a college education to understand this movie." He then added, "You know what? F*** DC comics. That's all I have to say and that's where I'm really coming from." Last month, Downey starred as Iron Man, created by DC comics' principal rival, Marvel." -
Which serials did Spielberg bury?
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For weeks and weeks he had the Hellboy animation on corner, ignoring the force of chaos called The Joker and The Dark Knight. And NOW, that Tropic Thunder has knocked TDK off the top spot, Harry comes up with a Joker animation. What's with that Harry? Why So Seriously Late?
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- and I'm gonna agree with fassbinder79's Dad. FAR superior to Jaws.
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It sounds more like a case of life imitating art imitating life [or replace word imitate with spoof in that]. Tropic Thunder *is* about egos of Hollywood *stars* and there can't be a better dig on that ego in real life than that statement. Either RDJ has the best sense of humour of all... or only difference between him and others is he isn't shy about throwing his ego around. Could be bit of both too (:
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I remember seeing this one, downloaded on Kazaa... yep, it's better than Jaws, but doesn't undermine Jaws. One of those 'inspired' movies that is as good as original, even better.
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So I was thinking, maybe SOMEWHERE, somebody put this movie on DVD. You know...shitty little pan-region thing some Asian guy with a trench coat peddles on the A train out of JFK after scanning the car for cops. So I did a torrent search for it and all I found "The Great White Ass XXX."
And those cool-tempered moderators who say "you know, TDK isn't the greatest movie ever and Iron Man did pretty good" drink just as much Kool-Aid as anyone else. I mean, this is a thread about a 1980's Jaws-knockoff B-movie. Take it to one of the many TDK or RDJ topics. At least there, people give a shit. -
That's not a dark knight animation, man. It's clearly Ichi the killer.
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This film, considered in many quarters to be superior to its criminally overrated "forebear" E.T. is currently only available in PAN & SCAN DVD. What's with that? And who is *behind* all of it? I'll leave you all to ponder the answer.
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Lets be honest - Spielberg by his own admission on countless occasions has said the Jaws that we see today was a happy accident and not what he originally planned on shooting. I for one would be curious to see a film that he participated in (he'd never direct it) wherein he gave all his original notes to some young gore director and make the arterial bloodspray movie of a shark movie he originally intended to make. At the very least I'd consider it, as long as it stuck to those original plans, at the very worst an interesting failure, Hell - at the very least the great white would look better than the obviously mechanical monstrosity in the original.
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They aren't gonna make a sequel which i'd love so a remake is the way to go.
Spielberg said somewhere he wanted to remake his movies and if he did he'd have Jim Carrey as Hooper and that ER/revenge of the nerds guy as Brody.
Let him remake it or give it to Fincher who loves that fucking movie. We'll see Downey Jr as Hooper and Ed Norton as Brody then. -
As someone else said, anyone who is thinking of remaking Jaws should go kill themselves.
That film is damn near perfect apart from one or two shaky moments with Bruce (the leap being most obvious).
The best shot of the shark in Jaws is when you see it on its side chomping on Ted Grossman (anyone else remember the video of the cruise ship chick getting attacked a few years ago? Eerily similar).
Never heard of Great White/The Last Shark, but you can be sure I'm hunting it down now!
I mean, I even watched the awful Shark Attack 3: Megaladon starring TV Whore John Barrowman!
(was great watching that dick squirm on Jonathan Ross when Torchwood came out - JR showed a clip from SA3!)
As to the one guy who mentioned Meg - I've been a fan of Steve Alten since day 1, but this flick will never happen thanks to all the cheap shit knock offs who stole all his ideas.
Such a shame, as Dennis Quaid would have been perfect as Jonas Taylor. -
Why is FOX blocking the distribution of Snyders WATCHMEN?
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I saw this movie recently (got the swedish DVD-set with "Rats - Notte di terrore" and "Tentacoli") and enjoyed it to the max. Sure, the movie is a ripoff. Sure, it's quite bad. But it's still funny and entertaining as hell! I saw it in the early 80:s as well, on a VHS-rental (with the coolest cover ever by the way).
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Yes, I have seen it in * w i d e s c r e e n * . I worked in a movie theater when that shit was out. We had a few crazy after-hours riff showings of it, with lots of illicit substances being passed around. The McDonalds scene with Mac dancing in the teddy outfit was some crazy shit.
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They (Fox) are only trying to block the distribution of WATCHMEN because they say they still have the rights to distribute it (based on a previous deal back when Fox was going to make the movie). Imdb.com has a good article about it. Basically, they want a cut of the profits, if any.
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What do you mean it wasn't that big over "here"?
Im from the UK as well and I know damn well that Ironman was huge in this country! Number 1 for a hwll of a long time.
So get your facts straight! -
- you can bet whatever tactless noob of a director they get will turn Quint's anecdote about the sinking of the Indianapolis into an Avid-Fart-drenched, overstated mini-epic of CGI rendered CHUM. Like Bay's Pearl Harbour with shark attacks and a digitally de-aged avatar of the actor playing Quint. And it will suck the shit out of a dead seagull's arsehole. Just like the rest of the film.
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left by the Nottigham shooting delay. Could be about play Bill Hicks. Very Interesting.....
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Is that held up in legal hell or what? Can anyone shed some light on this?
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The cast would all be rich sons of people that live on Martha's Vinyard.
Quint would be the 18 year old son of the harbormaster. Hooper's dad would be a marine biologist at Woods Hole. And 19-year old Brody would be a brash young deputy fresh out of high school. The three little scamps take it upon themselves to set off and hunt the shark. They think of "wicked sick" ways to attract the shark and kill it with an exploding beer keg rigged to a ps/3 controller. The shark would be 100% CGI and filmed in a studio tank, not the ocean. Speilburgh would send the Moussad after the director and have him hunted down. -
Hilarious. The shark carries machine guns now.
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Please, please, please, go choke on a cock. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.
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Well said. Anyone who complains about so-called holes in the plot/logic/character motivations in either BB or TDK is clearly not paying attention, unable to connect the dots in any way, and obviously needs everything spoon-fed to them. Unfortunately, this apparently includes Robert Downey, Jr., whose current interview in Rolling Stone magazine is such a convoluted mess of blathering nonsense and cryptic bullshit you're absolutely convinced the drugs fried him for good.
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SPIELBERG DIDN'T PRODUCE JAWS NOR DOES HE OWN MUCH IN IT? WASN'T HIS DECISION DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE DECISION WAS STILL RIGHT!
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This sanctity of Jaws as an untouchable franchise is simply laughable because it was soiled decades ago by inferior sequels, the worst one I remember seeing was the one with Michael Caine. All these "what they'll remake it as" pale in comparison to the reality that - and please correct me if I'm wrong - one had the mechanical monstrosity wreaking havoc at a Sea World-esque theme park/aquarium. The halo of the glory of Jaws has long been tarnished.
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What site are you reading? If you don't think there is a very vocal group of hyperbolic TDK fans ready to fuck themselves in their own asses with the DVD in the hopes of impregnating themselves with Ledger's or Nolan's Christ-like lovechild you haven't been keeping up with things. Yes, I think most of us can agree that TDK was a win. Best Batman movie yet. I was impressed. But it's not the best movie ever made. I'm not saying that YOU are one of those hysterical 12 year old girls at a Beatles concert. But I assure you they're out there. I can't speak for Chewtoy (although there's nothing in his post that points to his NOT liking the movie) but as for me, it's not being "contrarian" to point out that a lot of people have really gone overboard with this movie. Like I said, I'm a fan. I'm just not going to place the movie in a shrine and light candles around it. That, I think, was Chewtoy's point as well.
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Thanks to the Memories and Skraggo guys for being the voices of reason. Like they said, TDK is a pretty good movie, one of the better ones this Summer, but the BEST EVER? Really?
I think that first, TDK fans should keep in mind that it's still only a movie. Second, anyone who thinks that it's the best movie ever, as in, better than the Godfather I and II, Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia, etc. needs to step away from the drugs and blow out the candles surrounding their Batman shrine. -
I watched this on Google Video today. James Fransiscus is God. Reminded me of all the shit I used to rent at Mach 1 Video.
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I bet you the Nolans are big fans.
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It would have sucked balls. The ONLY reason Jaws was the first summer blockbuster ever was...because the shark DIDN'T work.
It made the movie become about "the people"...and not just the 3 leads...but Brody's kids, the Mayor, the Jewish bitch in the city hall scene, (Bad hat) Harry, Ben Gardner, heck...the entire frickin TOWN of Amity!
They were forced to shoot a bunch of scenes that had nothing to do with the damn fish.
And that's why it's the classic it is today. When I ask people I meet what was Jaws about...and they answer..."A shark"...I smile politely...and just walk past them. The movie was never about the shark. And had Bruce actually performed as planned...the movie would have suffered because of it.
Which is why a silly CGI shark filled "re-boot" will fail miserably.
"In Amity...one man CAN make a difference". -
I agree. You always hear people talking about the fake-looking shark and hear Spielberg lamenting about how he had to re-think the movie due to Bruce's constant malfunctions, and yet for me "Jaws" is a classic, totally as is. I'm not even bothered by the "fake-looking" shark. And the reason is precisely because of what you're talking about. The characters and the great performances by Shaw, Dreyfuss, and Scheider make the movie. John Williams' score, and the fact that until the end we rarely even see the shark, both tighten the screws on the suspense. And for my money, one of the classic scenes in the history of cinema is Quint's monologue about the USS Indianapolis. For a movie that was supposedly compromised by its "lackluster" effects, it certainly made an impact on audiences and actually DID make a lot of people afraid to go into the water. There is no CGI-laden remake or re-boot or sequel that is going to have the impact or lasting appeal that the original "Jaws" has. Whenever I watch that movie I'm not watching it for super-realistic gory shark attacks. I'm watching it for the characters, the dialogue scenes, the great acting. What modern remake is going to have ANY of those things?
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I didn't even mention what a debt Spielberg owes to John Williams for that fantastic score...I still have that soundtrack album in the original 1975 packaging.
And even with CGI sharks, as was demonstrated in Harlin's "Deep Blue Sea", they can look just as fake as anything Bruce did back in the day. The practical effects in DBS actually looked far superior to those robotic CGI looking fish.
BTW...My handle's spelled wrong because "Chief" Brody was already taken here at AICN. Although I have yet to run across a single post by him. -
But even without doing so, I can enrage rabid TDK fans. Here's another non-judgemental (and on topic!) comment that will strike some as blasphemy: Jaws was *far* more popular in its time than The Dark Knight is today. Sold nearly twice as many movie tickets. Other movies that sold more tickets than The Dark Knight currently has: Ghostbusters, Spider-man, Home Alone, Jurassic Park, Forest Gump, Shrek 2, Independence Day, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace... Man, inflation has been a bitch the last 20 years. Anyway, TDK is a great movie, and a deserved success... but it's ultimately just another summer blockbuster. Jaws was the blockbuster that started the whole concept of summer being a mega movie season.
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There's nothing wrong with loving a movie and applauding its success. But there is definitely a section of crazed fans who would benefit from some much-needed PERSPECTIVE.
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I don't think we can ever compare movies from different era based solely on tickets sold or adjusted gross. There are way too many forms of entertainment today competing with movie going experience, and not to mention the ease with which pirated copies get distributed over internet. How many tickets would TDK have sold if there were no P2P or torrents and no insane number of channels on the tube? I'm fan of TDK though don't consider it second coming of christ or anything. I just feel that it is unfair to mention tickets sold or adjusted-for-inflation gross when comparing success of movies from different era, without factoring other factors. In fact any such comparisons are useless, as each movie is a reaction to times it is made in.
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My bet would be - the story of how brutally bad that production was going would have leaked to the net. You'd have some pa pissed off about getting cussed out by a stressed out producer and deciding he'd take vengeance by submitting to sites like this how the movie is being made up as it goes, how the crew all sneer behind this twenty something nerd's back, calling it Flaws. The buzz would be brutal and who knows if the studio would allow the editor - whoever that woman was - Jaws success is owed to her - the time and patience it would take to reshape it in the editing bays. Who knows. Hell, with a young Spielberg having so little power and movie studios now notoriously risk averse (look what they did to Fincher on Alien 3), they'd prolly yank it from him, give it to some pathetic Peter Hyams/Simon West/ whomever hack and bury it in a last week of August or second week of January release.
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Aug 20, 2008 12:47:50 AM CDT
Not sure Id be proud that Jaws created the summer blockbuster
by jackrabbitslim
Because it, along with Star Wars and the flops of Heaven's Gate and Sorceror, started turning the studios into the risk-averse, everything must have broad-based-appeal and franchisability with veritical synergy along all aspects of the multi-tentacled corporate structure creatures they are today. The vast sums of filthy lucre Jaws raked in corrupted almost everyone and certainly left even I, the biggest hater of the fucking back-in-the-day syndrome, realizing the average film of the 1970s was much better than the average film of today.
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I just watched this stupid italian movie on the net. It's called "The Last Shark" on google video. For Universal to spend one dime trying to block it is the most retarded waste of legal action I can imagine. HELLO! The movie SUCKED and poses ZERO threat to the Jaws franchise. Anyone who actually would buy it on DVD is wasting their money. It's not even a good movie to watch stoned. Except perhaps when that guy gets bitten in two hanging off the helicopter. Or perhaps the dummy who gets launched in the air from an obvious explosion when the shark is suppose to have rammed his boat from below. Come to think of it, this movie is a great stoner movie. Take a hit or a shot everytime something retarded happens. You'll be wasted 10 minutes in.
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It's not about fairness at all. I'm not at all interested in crowning a "champion". I brought up Jaws because it's relevant to the actual thread, and because the fact is, fair or not, it was a much bigger deal back in it's day than TDK is today... yet there's no reason to enshrine it, or to flip out when someone says they personally didn't get it. The popularity of TDK isn't really significantly different than any of those other major event films I listed... and that *is* fair to say.
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I call bullsh*t on this one. How many times have we seen some movie come out with tons of hype only to find an attempted upstage by a B-grade or less movie with the same basic concept. Dante's Peak vs. Volcano is a prime example. And when Twister came out there was this crappy made-for-tv knockoff.
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No amount of sequels or remakes can tarnish the original. I do remember Great White though and it was fucking hilarious. Anyone who says it's in the same league as Jaws is a fucking retard.
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That was "Devil Fish" Oddly enough. I thought it was Great White at first too but no.
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touché to that (:
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My God come on...the movie is pure garbage...just because it's officially unavailable doesn't mean it needs to be made available. Yes it's a steaming pile of shit, shameless brazen rip off of Jaws & Jaws 2, and to boot it's just bad moviemaking. I can't believe space was wasted on asking "why" ...Jeebus, come on...get some taste for Heaven's sake...
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Aug 24, 2008 2:50:55 AM CDT
Why Is Universal Still Blocking The Distribution of Enzo G. Cast
by ufoclub1977
Cuz it still suxxxxx??? Okay, it's funny. Especially when the shark gets blown up and splits into two halves...
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