Recommended music: John Williams – Quint Meets His End (from Jaws)
Welcome back to #WhateverWednesday! Today, we’re going into the water with an action figure accessory and a game. Let’s have some fun with The Game of Jaws 50th Anniversary!
Besides the great performances from Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, and Roy Scheider, and John Williams’ amazing score, Jaws also stands out for another star: “Bruce” the shark. Bruce the shark is legendary not just for what he did, but for what he didn’t do. Named after Steven Spielberg’s lawyer, the mechanical shark famously malfunctioned throughout production, forcing the director to rely on suspense rather than special effects.
Spielberg kept the shark hidden for most of the movie, using John Williams’ famous two-note theme and floating yellow barrels to show when Bruce was near. This made Bruce more of a psychological threat than just a monster. When the shark finally appears, it hits hard because viewers have already imagined the worst.
Even decades later, Bruce remains the gold standard for “less is more” filmmaking. His stiff, dead-eyed stare and sheer scale created a primal fear of the deep that launched the summer blockbuster era and, famously, made a generation of moviegoers afraid to go back into the water.
When NECA announced at the New York Toy Fair last March that Hooper and Quint would join their 7-inch Ultimate line for the Jaws 50th anniversary, I was thrilled to hear they’d also release a new version of the Jaws game with a 15-inch shark.
The figure looks just like the movie version and comes with lots of scene-specific accessories as game pieces. You get an anchor, a barrel, a boot, a bottle of moonshine or rum, fish bones, a glove, a half-bitten ship steering wheel, human bones, a human skull, a lantern, a Louisiana license plate, a six-pack of Narragansett beer (with one can missing), an oxygen tank, a tire, a walkie-talkie, and a gaff hook for fishing everything out of the shark’s mouth.
Overall, the game is fun. Even if you don’t want to play, the figure is excellent and looks great on display with all the accessories and vintage-style packaging.
#ActionFigurePhotography
#NECA
#ToyPhotography
Dale's Toys 