History Film / Jaws

* {{Tuckerization}}: The mechanical shark used in the film was nicknamed "[[ProductionNickname Bruce]]" after Steven Spielberg's lawyer Bruce Ramer.

* {{Tuckerization}}: The mechanical shark used in the film was nicknamed "Bruce" after Steven Spielberg's lawyer Bruce Ramer.

Although Scheider, Shaw, and Dreyfuss got top billing, the true star of the movie was a mechanical shark [[ProductionNickname named Bruce]], [[IAmNotShazam not Jaws!]]

As the level of terror in the tourist-economy town of Amity -- and in the audience -- gradually grows to a fever pitch, the shark continues with its attacks, eventually forcing Brody, Hooper and Quint to spend the last third of the film completely isolated at sea, hunting the monstrous creature.

''Jaws'' had such a profound impact on the public that beach attendance dropped sharply the summer it was released -- it has been said that it filled the cinemas and emptied the beaches.

* GargleBlaster: Quint's home brew hooch, judging from Brody's reaction to tasting it.
* GonnaNeedMoreX: Perhaps the most famous example of someone suddenly realizing they need more of something as a situation gets out of hand:

%%* MusicalPastiche: "Ladies of Spain" for Quint.

%%* NailsOnABlackboard: Quint, making his legendary entrance.

%%* NightSwimEqualsDeath: The SkinnyDipping in the opening scene may be the TropeCodifier.

** He also uses the wrong date, claiming the incident occurred on the 29th of June when it was actually the 30th of July. Getting the day wrong might be justified by the fact that it was literally minutes after midnight (as in, it might have been the 29th the last time he checked before the sinking) but getting the ''month'' wrong is a fairly glaring error.

** Sharks do not usually attack you unless you provoke them or they can smell your blood in the water. But they will attack you if you look like a seal or a turtle (this may be a case of Science Marches On, since sharks seem to act the same way towards their natural prey), which the little kids just happen to look like, but they (usually) won't eat you whole -- so that's a relief. Many of these (including the shark's love of attacking humans) were from the book, and Peter Benchley admitted that at the time of writing, he knew absolutely nothing about sharks. Although, it's easy enough to HandWave that this is just a particularly vicious and man-eating shark, which if nothing else is certainly ''bigger'' than the average Great White. It's rare for sharks to attack humans and rarer for them to actually ''target'' humans... but that doesn't mean it's impossible, or unheard of. [[note]] Like in 2010, when the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheik experienced killer shark attacks, they hunted who they thought was the killer shark, declared the beaches safe... only for the shark to ''attack again''.[[/note]]

** The shark is said to be 25 feet in length. Great Whites don't grow more than 20 feet, and even that is extremely rare (10-15 feet is the average for a full-grown specimen). Although it's noted to be an unusually massive (and violent) shark, so it appears to be an aberration InUniverse.

** The shark can be heard growling, particularly when the barrels are tied to the stern. This is impossible, as sharks do not have vocal cords.

* DeathOfAChild: A puppy and a little boy. To top it off, the incidents in question happen within seconds of each other.

** Hooper's narration of Chrissie's body is a classic, letting our minds do all the work as we never see the body. It also applies when Chrissie's remains are first discovered on the beach. We only see her hand, but what Hendricks, Cassidy, and Brody see is enough to make them all [[VomitChainReaction dry heave]]. During Hooper's autopsy he's visibly disgusted as well.

* {{Jerkass}}: The majority of Amity. Mayor Vaughn and the local business owners especially, they are clearly more concerned about loosing money/business than people's lives and they attempt to ignore and cover up the attacks rather than risk bad publicity.

* MeaningfulName: Quint's vessel, the ''Orca''. Orcas, a.k.a. killer whales (yes, the intelligent creatures we see performing at Sea World), are the only natural predators of sharks in the wild, and substantial documentary evidence can confirm that orcas occasionally go shark hunting themselves. And they do it in packs, just like the three humans on Quint's boat.

* MobySchtick: Of course, with Quint as an Ahab stand-in.

* SignatureLine: This film has two:

** Quint declared that "eleven hundred men went in the water, three hundred and sixteen men come out, and the sharks took the rest". In reality, most of the ''Indianapolis'' crew died due to dehydration, exposure, and wounds they already suffered at the time of the ship's sinking. The share of sharks in the overall death toll was overestimated over decades, adding to their unfounded notoriety (and the movie -- and Quint's speech -- certainly did not help)

x* BarrierBustingBlow: After [[spoiler:Quint is eaten]], the lone Brody ducks into the cabin of the sinking ''Orca'' to regroup. The shark suddenly bursts through the wall face first, biting away, hoping to catch the chief within its jaws. [[spoiler:It's this moment where Brody gets the plan to finish the shark and forces the compressed air tank into its mouth.]]

* AxeCrazy: Played with. [[spoiler: Quint gets a little bit more unhinged with each interaction with the shark, largely because he's been hunting them for a good portion of his life, and all the tricks he's apparently used in the past don't work on this particular shark. Also, it appears that the shark constantly making him look bad is damaging his pride. What makes the trope played with is the fact that Quint doesn't go axe crazy on Brody or Hooper, instead he goes axe crazy on the ''Orca'', first destroying the radio so they can't call for help, and blowing out the engines, seemingly because his pride can't take killing the shark by drawing it into shallow water and drowning it. Once the ''Orca'' is stranded and is sinking, he snaps out of it, but by then he's sealed his fate and ends up HoinstByHisOwnPetard.]]
* BarrierBustingBlow: After [[spoiler:Quint is eaten]], the lone Brody ducks into the cabin of the sinking ''Orca'' to regroup. The shark suddenly bursts through the wall face first, biting away, hoping to catch the chief within its jaws. [[spoiler:It's this moment where Brody gets the plan to finish the shark and forces the compressed air tank into its mouth.]]

* AxeCrazy: Played with. [[spoiler: Quint gets a little bit more unhinged with each interaction with the shark, largely because he's been hunting them for a good portion of his life, and all the tricks he's apparently used in the past don't work on this particular shark. Also, it appears that the shark constantly making him look bad is damaging his pride. What makes the trope played with is the fact that Quint doesn't go axe crazy on Brody or Hooper, instead he goes axe crazy on the Orca, first destroying the radio so they can't call for help, and blowing out the engines, seemingly because his pride can't take killing the shark by drawing it into shallow water and drowning it. Once the Orca is stranded and is sinking, he snaps out of it, but by then he's sealed his fate and ends up HoinstByHisOwnPetard.]]

* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: ''Jaws'' is set around the Fourth of July.

* ImprobableAimingSkills: Initially averted when Brody tries to shoot the shark with his service revolver in a genuinely realistic depiction of just how hard it is to hit a moving target with a handgun, but later played straight when he hits the gas canister in the shark's mouth from a not-inconsiderable distance. Arguably, an easier shot due to him using a rifle this time, but [[WordOfGod the director]] admits he [[RuleOfCool wasn't exactly aiming for realism]] with this one. Although, to be fair, in the latter case it ''did'' take him 6 shots to hit the scuba tank. Plus, the shark was coming straight at him, and getting closer all the time.

** Played with in a later interaction, when Hooper playfully argues with Brody that it doesn't make sense for a man who hates the water to live on an island, only for Brody to playfully, (and drunkenly,) counter that it's only an island if it's looked at while being In the water.

* CasualDangerDialogue: Quint doesn't even bat an eye when the shark attacks the boat the first time and it knocks a lantern over on the deck.

** Played for laughs a few minutes later, when the shark is attacking the boat and knocks an oil lamp to the floor, starting a fire. Brody and Hooper are rushing around frantically, while Quint says, in a ''very'' calm voice, "Chief. Put out the fire, would you?". His tone of voice is the same one you'd expect from him saying "Chief. Pour me a cup of coffee, would you?"

* AdaptationalSympathy: Invoked, as Steven Spielberg has said he found the novel's ostensible heroes so unlikable, he actually wanted the ''shark'' to win.
** Hooper, who is an arrogant {{Jerkass}} in the novel who likes to flaunt his family's wealth and social status and has a sleazy affair with Brody's wife. In the movie, Hooper is [[AdaptationalNiceGuy much more sympathetic]] and [[SparedByTheAdaptation allowed to survive in the end]].
** Quint, who gets an expanded backstory and deeper motivations for his actions, chiefly the fact that he was a survivor of the USS ''Indianapolis''. Beyond that, he's more likable and charismatic, and though tense throughout the hunt for the shark, he grows to respect both Brody and Hooper.
** The adulterous Mrs. Brody herself is a perfectly decent and loving wife and mother in the movie.
** Mayor Vaughn owes money to TheMafia in the novel, which accounts for his refusal to deal with the shark preying on tourists, but in the movie his motive for refusing to shut down the beaches is mostly due to genuine concern about the town's livelihood, and a sincere belief that the shark threat is overblown.

* AdaptedOut: In the novel, the Brodys have a third son, Billy.

** Screenwriter Creator/CarlGottlieb appears as an aide to the mayor who assures Brody that there never have been shark problems in local waters.

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: As proven when [[JustForFun/TropesExaminedByTheMythBusters MythBusters]] tested it, shooting a compressed oxygen tank won't cause it to explode like a bomb. Rather, it would turn into something like a rocket as the air is forced out of the bullet hole. It would still almost certainly kill the shark, though, so long as the canister rocketed through the shark's body.

->''"There is a creature alive today that has survived millions of years of evolution, without change, without passion, and without logic. It lives to kill; a mindless, eating machine. It will attack and devour anything. It is as if God created the devil and gave him.. [[TitleDrop jaws]].

->''"There is a creature alive today that has survived millions of years of evolution, without change, without passion, and without logic. It lives to kill; a mindless, eating machine. It will attack and devour anything. It is as if God created the devil and gave him... [[TitleDrop '''jaws'''."'']]

->''"There is a creature alive today that has survived millions of years of evolution, without change, without passion, and without logic. It lives to kill; a mindless, eating machine. It will attack and devour anything. It is as if God created the devil and gave him... '''jaws'''."''

* ImprobableAimingSkills: Initially averted when Brody tries to shoot the shark with his service revolver in a genuinely realistic depiction of just how hard it is to hit a moving target with a handgun, but later played straight when he hits the gas canister in the shark's mouth from a not-inconsiderable distance. Arguably, an easier shot due to him using a rifle this time, but [[WordOfGod the director]] admits he [[RuleOfCool wasn't exactly aiming for realism]] with this one. Although, to be fair, in the latter case it ''did'' take him 6 shots to hit the scuba tank.
** Plus, the shark was coming straight at him, and getting closer all the time.

** Mayor Vaughn owes money to the {{Mafia}} in the novel, which accounts for his refusal to deal with the shark preying on tourists, but in the movie his motive for refusing to shut down the beaches is mostly due to genuine concern about the town's livelihood, and a sincere belief that the shark threat is overblown.

!!"You're gonna need a bigger trope":

* TheFilmOfTheBook: And one that overshadowed the book.

** When frantically telling the others to untie the roped shark from the boat's stern cleats, Quint exclaims, "He'll pull out the transom!" Soon the shark will smash the whole transom when it lunges onto the stern.

** Hooper's narration of Chrissie's body is a classic, letting our minds do all the work as we never see the body. It also applies when Chrissie's remains are first discovered on the beach. We only see her hand, but what Hendricks, Cassidy, and Brody see is enough to make them all [[VomitChainReaction dry heave]]. During Cooper's autopsy he's visibly disgusted as well.

** He also uses the wrong date, claiming the incident occurred on the 29th of June when it was actually the 30th of July. Getting the day wrong might be justified by the fact that it was literally minutes after midnight (as in, it might have been the 29th the last time he checked before the sinking), but getting the ''month'' wrong is a fairly glaring error.

* DevelopingDoomedCharacters: While Spielberg read the book, he found the characters so annoying that he started rooting for the shark. So in the movie, he cut some subplots and developed them better so it would not fit this trope.

* HeroicBystander: So many ordinary people act in the face of a crisis.

** The same happens when the shark attacks on the Fourth of July. One woman shouts in alarm and points at the fin heading towards in the pond, notifying Brody to act when he realizes Michael and his friends are there. One boater yells at the boys to reel in their boat, before the shark attacks him. He probably saved their lives with the warning. People get out of the water and drag anyone else who's in shock with them to safety. Brody takes charge, but it's his sons' friends who ultimately get Michael out of the water. They could have left him behind but instead got him out.

* InconvenientlyVanishingExoneratingEvidence: Hooper accidentally drops the shark tooth that would have proven the existence of the Great White to the mayor.

* PeekABooCorpse: When Hooper searches under the wrecked boat for Ben Gardner, his severed head (which is [[EyeScream missing an eye]]) [[JumpScare suddenly shows up]], not only terrifying Hooper.
* PlotDrivenBreakdown: Quint has his boat on overdrive causing the engine to blow up and rendering the three main characters at the mercy of the shark on the open sea.

* ArmorPiercingSlap: The grieving Mrs. Kintner gives Brody a stinging slap when she learns that the beaches were left open despite the authorities knowing there was a man-eating shark in the area, resulting in her son's death. Even though Brody had actually been overruled by his superiors, he says nothing and accepts the blame.