Jaws III: Monster

I really enjoyed this. I’m not qualified to comment on the technical side other than to say it was really well edited, all the changes to the direction of the film and the audio edits were transparent and never drew attention to themselves. I’ve seen more monster movies than I can count and the new footage was integrated into the film as well as most of those films, it didn’t distract from the story even though I was aware none of it was there in the original verison and, overall, I’d say the new shark and other fx fit a lot better than the old ones. I liked the new direction the film took, I found it a lot of fun. I’m not an editor but, purely as a viewer, it all worked really well for me as a fun monster b movie. The whole thing was a great package, a lot of care obviously went into creating all the extras. And for a non editor like me it’s really interesting to get to see what you guys do behind the scenes. Great work and, for me, well worth the wait.

Really enjoyable movie. It's been years since seeing the original and I'd forgotten the majority of it. I definitely don't remember it being this fun. My overall impression of the original was that it was mind-numbingly boring, actually. There are still sections here which aren't that interesting, thanks to the original script, but these are usually helped along by a fun turn from Dennis Quaid. It's easier to scoot by those bits when the film's been tightened up this much, too.

I really enjoyed the additions from other films to pep this one up. They worked really well, didn't stand out too much (apart from maybe a couple of obvious CGI shots which were nevertheless graded and colour-corrected well enough to not jar with original footage) and added a lot of fun stuff. The only thing that I wasn't keen on was the radio DJ providing plot exposition. I assumed (even before watching the brilliant documentary on disc 2) that this was the fan editor right away. It really sticks out in the final scenes, too. In theory, it's a fantastic idea, but the performance doesn't work for me. The key sticking point is the British accent. It doesn't work given the setting and the inherent Americanness of the film. Other than that, the additions are amazing. Frankly, I didn't realise the extent of some of the editing until I saw the documentary, which is a testament to how well it's done.

The editor has taken a forgettable, dated chore of a sequel and turned it into a fun movie. I'll be recommending this one to friends. The extras are fantastic as well. Great touch.

A definite improvement on a really bad movie. Like the new B movie elements added with the new squid ending. Thank God for the removal of the tacky 3d effects of the original. Excellent soundtrack. Love the extras on the second disk... Love the "Ghost Shark" short. Fun edit!

A bit of a curious missing link between TMBTM's Jaws Sharksploitation Cut and LS' own Jaws 2: Amity Horror, Jaws III: Monster is a fairly faithful trimming-down of the original coked-out theme park horror flick with a few climactic twists thrown in to keep viewers off-balance. Still lots of fun, and impeccably assembled, but it doesn't quite reach the loving fidelity of Amity Horror's fanfix or the wild grindhouse heights of Sharksploitation.

On the other hand, the egregious Jaws IV is turned into a moody short film (on the second disc included here) called Ghost Shark that vastly improves that movie into a rumination on grief and aging... with killer sharks. Between that and the excellent behind-the-scenes commentaries, great cover art and extras galore, it's plenty enough to make you forget about the somewhat murky intentions behind the main feature, this is a wonderfully assembled fan edit package and very highly recommended.