Jaws 3-D (also known as Jaws 3 or Jaws III or Jaws 3D) is a 1983 American horror thriller film directed by Joe Alves and starring Dennis Quaid, Bess Armstrong, Lea Thompson and Louis Gossett, Jr. It is the second sequel to Steven Spielberg's Jaws, which was based on the novel by Peter Benchley and is the third installment in the Jaws franchise.
The film is notable for making use of 3D film during the revived interest in the technology in the 1980s, amongst other horror films such as Friday the 13th Part III and Amityville 3D. Cinema audiences could wear disposable cardboard polarized 3D glasses to create the illusion that elements penetrate the screen. Several shots and sequences were designed to utilise the effect, such as the shark's destruction. Since 3D was ineffective in home viewing until the advent of 3D televisions in the early 2000s, the alternative title Jaws III is used for television broadcasts, VHS and DVD.
Plot
A great white shark starts to follow an unsuspecting team of water skiers. The driver stalls the ski boat but manages to restart it before the shark can attack. The shark follows the water skiers into the SeaWorld park and throws the gate off its rails while it is closing. Meanwhile, Florida announces the opening of SeaWorld's new glass covered underwater tunnels that allow close up views of the park's animals.
Kathryn "Kay" Morgan, SeaWorld's senior marine biologist, wonders why dolphins Cindy and Sandy are so afraid of leaving their dolphin pen. When Shelby Overman dives into the water to repair and secure the gates, he is killed by a shark. That night, two men in diving equipment sneak into the park in a small inflatable boat to steal coral they intend to sell. Both are killed by the shark, which also bites and sinks the inflatable.
The next day, Kay and Michael Brody are informed of Overman's disappearance. They use a small submarine to search through SeaWorld's new tunnels before checking in an underwater Spanish Galleon fixture, despite dolphins Cindy and Sandy attempting to keep them out. As they search the Spanish Galleon they encounter a small great white shark. The dolphins rescue Kay and Mike.
SeaWorld park manager Calvin Bouchard does not believe the shark story, although the news is exciting to his underwater film maker and photographer friend, Philip FitzRoyce, who states his intention to kill the shark on network television. Kay argues that killing the shark would be good for one headline, but capturing and keeping a great white shark in captivity would guarantee TV crews and money constantly rolling into SeaWorld. The young shark is captured and Kay and her staff nurse it to health. Calvin, desperate to start the money rolling in immediately, prematurely orders it moved to a small tank for exhibit, where the young shark soon dies.
At the underwater tunnels, a girl is terrified when she sees part of Overman's corpse float up to a window. Examining the bite marks on Overman's corpse, Kay realizes that the shark that killed him must be the small shark's mother, and that since Overman was killed inside the park, the mother shark must also be inside the park. Based on the shape of the bite, Kay concludes that the shark's mouth must be about three feet wide and thus the shark about 35 feet long. This captures the attention of FitzRoyce, but she cannot convince Calvin until the enormous shark shows herself at the window of the park's underwater cafe, terrifying the customers.
Flushed out from her refuge inside the filtration pipe, where fast moving water flowed across her gills, the shark wreaks havoc throughout the park. The shark attacks water skier Kelly Ann Bukowski and Michael's brother Sean, injuring Kelly's leg before causing a leak that nearly drowns everyone in the underwater tunnels.
FitzRoyce and his assistant Jack lure the shark into the filtration pipe in an attempt to kill it. When FitzRoyce is attacked by the shark he attempts to use a grenade to kill it, but the shark devours him before he can pull the safety pin. With the shark safely in the pipe, Mike and Kay dive down to repair the underwater tunnel so the technicians can restore air pressure and save the customers. Calvin orders the filtration pump shut down to suffocate the shark, but the shark breaks free from the pipe and attacks Mike and Kay. They escape thanks to help from dolphins Cindy and Sandy, who attack the shark to distract her briefly.
They join Calvin in the control room, but the shark appears in front of the window and smashes its way through the glass and floods the room. Calvin manages to swim out and rescue one technician but another technician is killed in the process. Mike notices FitzRoyce's corpse still in the shark's throat with the grenade in his hand, and uses a bent pole to pull the grenade's pin, killing the shark.
Cast
- Michael Brody .... Dennis Quaid
- Kathryn Morgan .... Bess Armstrong
- Philip FitzRoyce .... Simon MacCorkindale
- Calvin Bouchard .... Louis Gossett, Jr.
- Sean Brody .... John Putch
- Kelly Ann Bukowski .... Lea Thompson
- Shelby Overman .... Harry Grant
- Jack Tate .... P. H. Moriarty
- Danny .... Dan Glasko
- Liz .... Elizabeth Morris