Jaws III: Monster

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.

This was an outstanding fan edit and very professional in it's overall presentation. The extra's on disc two were top draw.

Most of the new footage and shark effects were integrated well. I particularly liked when the squid first surfaces further enhanced with an excellent music cue. The ending is a huge improvement over the original and the same can be said about the rest of the film.

Only thing that didn't work for me was the opening credits montage which featured way too many CGI sharks for my taste and simply went on too long. Personally I prefer the underwater shots as used in the originals where it's left to the music to set the scene and nothing is shown.

The video quality wasn't particularly good however I believe this was mostly a result of the source material. In any case the new footage was downgraded to match perfectly.

Overall this edit is highly recommended and deserves all the accolades it's received!

After a visit to my local Cex store I was able to pick up Jaws 3 and 4 for a bargain £1.50 each. The first Jaws film has long been a favorite of mine while I consider Jaws 2 to be a rather underrated sequel. Parts 3 and 4 however I haven't revisited to often as their barley screened here in the UK. I knew part 3 was set within a theme park but had no idea that the Brody family from the first two films were involved. I was also surprised to see Dennis Quaid starring in Jaws 3

Given my lack of knowledge to Jaws 3 I didn't take a look at the changes Last Survivor made but knew the edit would include a new monster and remove some dated 3D effects. After seeing the edit it was hard to see just what else he had done to this film. This is the biggest complement I can give to the editor as the commentary goes into great detail the various changes made I just presumed this to be how the film was originally released.

The added Squid monster fits in perfectly though maybe a bit of back story to the monster would have made for a stronger sub-plot. However seeing the footage on the deleted scenes I think the right de-session was made as it's clear that both films have some years between them. The film it self is a enjoyable B movie flick, a little more family friendly than it's predecessors but it's well acted and the characters are likable.

The bonus feature includes a great documentary with narration by Last Survivor in which we see some interesting ideas / stories regarding Jaws 3. Last Survivor also explains why he wanted to edit the film which is very insightful and I’d recommend to anyone who is just starting out or thinking about becoming a fan editor. The Ghost Shark short film is another welcome inclusion, as with Jaws 3 I haven't seen Jaws 4 in over 20 years but I’m well aware of what people's opinion on the film is. Last Survivor is able to salvage something from the film and turn it in to something watch-able and it looks great in black and white. As with the main feature another entertaining commentary is well worth checking out.

Now that I have Jaws 3 and 4 will I be watching these films in the future? Simple answer to that is NO. why would I when I can just re-watch Jaws 3: Monster. The only criticism against the edit is that maybe you don't get the shear size of the shark given that footage was removed.

So do what I did and get a big bowl of popcorn and enjoy some monster one on one action :)

April 16, 2012

The only problem I see with this edit is that its intention is a little vague – most of the 3D is fixed, and the ending is changed, but it’s still corny and stupid; however, I can’t say it isn’t entertaining.

Technical quality – 9/10 – well, the video quality was very poor, full of grain and blocky solids, but I’m pretty sure this was the fault of the original DVD and not LS.

Editing – 10/10 – the color correction, for the most part, was very nicely done.

Presentation – 10/10 – oh. My. Gosh. The extras. Ghost Shark was BRILLIANT. It didn’t have a real clear story progression, but it was still brilliant. It was entertaining and emotionally engrossing. It may have been better if the end was more ambiguous, and if Ellen had somehow confronted the shark in her own mind and overcome her fear or something. But, man oh man, that build-up of paranoia and what’s-real-what’s-not was incredible. Then there was a set of interesting deleted scenes and a MAGNIFICENT documentary. Cannot recommend that enough, it probably is one of my favorite parts of the edit. LS, you did a splendid job keeping the docu entertaining and informative. I never got bored, I learned a lot, and it was a really fun watch. I wanted to get this review posted soon, so I didn’t listen to the commentaries yet, but I have no doubt that they will be splendid. The cover art left just a tiny bit to be desired, but I won’t go into that in a review of the edit itself. Menus were very nice (great that you had scene selection even for the extras).

Entertainment – 8/10 – I never really finished watching Jaws 3. I watched about half of it and then never really got back to it. This time, I sat down and watched LS’s edit in one sitting without really getting bored at all. The opening flowed nicely, but the fact that it was in Amity and completely unrelated to the rest of the movie seemed kind of weird. Personally, I think the title sequence gave too much shark away – I guess you were trying to capitalize on the B-movie feel, but any and all mystery that could have been retained wasn’t. One of the things LS said was that he was trying to keep the shark’s presence less obvious so early on, and this was completely ruined by showing a huge, over-the-top shark montage during the opening credits. The rest of the film plays like a cheesy Jaws rip-off. I guess my problem with it was that it couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be the next Sharksploitation Edit or whether it actually wanted to improve the film. But either way, it was entertaining, and I completely forgot I was watching a fanedit because the cuts were so smooth. The other problem with it is that it could have done with a few more [SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER] Octopus scenes to build up to that incredibly well-edited and corny B-movie climax that was a nice callback to the end of the Sharksploitation Edit [SPOILERS OVER]. I noticed the repeated octopus scenes, but my mind didn’t really register that they were meant to be part of the plot for some reason. The re-edited attack on the scuba divers was cool, though, and I think this edit can’t really be much better – I mean, the editing is completely perfect, and it really does feel like a very entertaining B-movie. I would give Disc One 8/10 and Disc Two 10/10, so that balances out to 9/10.

Overall – 9/10

April 15, 2012

I agree with what Blueyoda said. Except maybe about the opening credit montage, that I liked a lot.

- The movie is improved while being respectful of the original. Of course the CG shark shots are obviously not from the 80′ but I think it works better than the bad mix between Slow Bruce (who chased his victime at the speed of Friday the 13th’s Jason…) and random real sharks footages that always are a bit jarring. This gives a sens of unity in the special effects that this movie needed.
- The audio work is VERY good. A lot was changed but we do not notice anything wrong.
- The added plot works well and add to that B movie feeling. Although I think we could have seen maybe a bit more of this (but it’s always a good sign when you say that you want MORE of something, you know.)
- The commentary was really interesting. Kuddo for this extra work.

- So the edit is very good, but to me the real gem of this release is the bonus DVD.
I rarely saw (never?) such an amount of work for extra features on a fanedit.
The documentary, edited and commented by the editor is amazing and really pro-looking. Its first part is about the original movie Jaws 3D and the second is about the fanedit itself, so beware of spoilers.
Then we have Ghost Shark. A 30 + minutes short fanedit of Jaws the Revenge. The main idea behind this edit is something I wanted to make myself but did not have time and, to teel the truth, did not really know how to do. And I can tell you: I had the time of my life watching LastSurvivor’s version because I could not have done it better and it was a pleasure to watch a fanedit I wanted to do without, well, doing it! lol. I don’t see another way to make Jaws 4 better, IMO. Not to mention tha this short edit also have a commentary as an option.
Add to this: deleted (edited) scenes and trailers and you have an amazing bonus package.

So I would rate the main edit a 9/10 because I think it’s great but not perfect.
But the extra work of the bonus pushes it to 10/10.