History Trivia / Jaws

* PopCultureUrbanLegends: In 2015, Joe Hill (Creator/StephenKing's son) spotted an uncredited female extra in the Fourth of July scene wearing jeans and a blue bandana, who he theorized was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Ruth_Marie_Terry "the lady of the dune"]], later identified as Ruth Marie Terry, whose body was found later that summer in Provincetown, 100 miles from Martha's Vineyard, wearing similar clothes. Investigators have dismissed the connection as unlikely and wild speculation.

* TroubledProduction: The film became Hollywood's first true SummerBlockbuster and the TropeCodifier for the ThreateningShark trope, but its production is legendary for its many troubles (which would start a tradition for the series, as you can see in [[TroubledProduction/FilmSerialOffendersFranchises the ''Jaws'' folder here]]).

* EnforcedMethodActing: Richard Dreyfus has said he truly was as enraptured as he appears by Robert Shaw's performance when Quint tells the story of the Indianapolis.

** The Indianapolis speech was written by Howard Sackler. Robert Shaw then rewrote some of it, turning it into a monologue. It was Spielberg who felt that Quint needed a motivation for his quest. Its inclusion in the final film is only because yet another shark shot failed.

** Creator/RobertShaw himself made a significant contribution to the Indianapolis speech.

* ReferencedBy:
** The ProfessionalWrestling promotion Wrestling/ExcellenceProfessionalWrestling has a [[AnimalMotifs cat motif]], and its January 13, 2018 event was titled ''PAWS''.
** [[Wrestling/{{Jawsolyn}} Jawsolyn "The Friendly Shark"]], a wrestler and sidekick of Wrestling/TeamSeaStars, is an AffectionateParody.
** ''Film/ChasingAmy'' features a scar comparing scene that's similar to the one in ''Jaws''.
** "Rocking The Boat" by Music/IceNineKills is dedicated to the film.
** Given that ''Ride/{{Jaws}} the Ride'' was removed in Ride/UniversalStudios Orlando to expand ''Ride/TheWizardingWorldOfHarryPotter'', [[https://attractionsmagazine.com/6-ways-universal-paid-tribute-jaws-diagon-alley/ many references to the movie]] [[WriterRevolt were]] [[MythologyGag included]] in the Diagon Alley that ended up in its place.
** In ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'''s [[MultiMookMelee Salmon Run]] mode, there are creatures called Boss Salmonids who are stronger than the typical {{Mooks}}. One type of Boss Salmonid is named Maws, who swims through ink to [[OneHitKill devour]] players from below, with its only warning being a telltale bobber. This reference is further solidified by [[FeedItABomb the simplest way to take one down]].

* TheWikiRule: The [[http://jaws.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Jaws Wiki]].

* {{Trope Namer|s}}:
** JawsAttackParody
** JawsFirstPersonPerspective
** VoodooShark (via the novelization of the fourth film)

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The 1995 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition home video release featured a making-of retrospective.... which played ''before'' the main feature, revealing every single plot element including the ending.

* OldShame: The movie's popularity turned the book into this for Creator/PeterBenchley, who lamented that he would never have written the book had he actually ''known anything about sharks'' and that they weren't like the monster about which he had written.

* OldShame: As was the case with Peter Benchley for the book, Creator/StevenSpielberg expressed regret that the film's portrayal apparently contributed to mistreatment and overhunting of sharks in real life.

* In 2015, horror author Creator/JoeHill propagated a theory that one of the extras in the July 4th scene might be the Lady of the Dunes, a notorious unidentified murder victim from the area at the time of filming, due to her resemblance to an artist's rendering and wearing a similar-looking bandana. Several others have embraced the theory and hope it might lead to the case being solved, while still more dismiss it as wild speculation.

* EnforcedMethodActing:
** Richard Dreyfus has said he truly was as enraptured as he appears by Robert Shaw's performance when Quint tells the story of the Indianapolis.

** Initially, they weren't getting the reaction shot Spielberg wanted from Susan Backlinie when the shark first grabs Chrissie, so they did a take where they didn't tell her when it was going to happen. That's the take that went into the movie. The actress was also injured as she was jerked around by the rig used to simulate the attack, lending the character's pained screams some extra [[HarsherInHindsight grimness]].

* CompletelyDifferentTitle: Many countries just bypassed the oblique title and went for the direct ''Shark'' (Spanish, Portuguese)\''The Shark'' (Hungary, Italy). But for more specific cases:

* ExtendedUniverse: The employees of the Florida version of the ride made a fan film called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VUVz9sK2ms ''The JAWS Ride Movie: Death of Gordon'']], which serves as a prequel and side story to the ride and set in the reality presented in the show's queue. The film introduces us to the ill-fated Gordon who ends up on Amity 3, who originally gets a routine tour but swaps tours with a coworker for a VIP tour so he could get a bigger tip, as well as showing us the "real" Brody, who apparently is having an affair with a coworker at the sheriff's station and everything going on at base during the chaotic shark attack on Amity 6.

* ProductionNickname: Bruce for the first shark. Spielberg himself called it Great White Turd due to its breakdowns.

* RealitySubtext: The scene where Brody, Hooper and Quint drunkenly sing "Show Me the Way to Go Home" unintentionally captured the mood of most people on set at that point in the movie's grueling production, to the point where multiple crew members started crying.