Jaws: The Revenge, “A” Camera Clapperboard

original production material

“This time it’s personal.” In the fourth and final installment of the summer-blockbuster saga, Jaws: The Revenge (1987), a ferocious great white shark with seemingly mystical powers will stop at nothing to stalk and devour every last living member of the Brody family.

This 11” x 9.5” “A” camera clapperboard was used heavily during the making of the movie, as is evident by the water-rusted bolts and the overall wear. In addition to a handwritten date of 5-29-87, the slate is marked “Scene 162 A,” which, according to the final working script, refers to the sequence that takes place immediately following the Neptune’s Folly sinking with the impaled shark. A sobbing Ellen Brody (Lorraine Gary) begins slipping under the surface until Hoagie (Michael Caine) grabs her. Michael Brody (Lance Guest) reaches them, and they swim to a large piece of the boat’s floating remains. Looking out at the endless expanse of the ocean, Michael quietly remarks, “It’s over...” This scene does not appear in the home video cut on account of Universal’s decision to alter the ending after the film’s domestic theatrical run.

After a preliminary week of shooting in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, which once again doubled for Amity Island, the cast and crew headed to the movie’s principle location in Nassau, Bahamas for seven weeks. However, unseasonal weather there wrecked havoc on the 25-foot mechanical sharks, nicknamed “Bruce IV,” after Steven Spielberg’s personal attorney, which malfunctioned in the 7-foot-high swells. Filming was later finished at Falls Lake, a 3-million-gallon outdoor water tank at the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot, not far from the Psycho (1960) house, as well as at a 34-foot-deep indoor tank on a nearby sound stage.

Universal ultimately retired one of the full-scale Bruce IV models to its Orlando theme park as part of a sightseeing attraction called The Boneyard, where the once-mighty man-eater baked out in the open Florida sun for years before unscrupulous guests plucked out all of his teeth and some of his latex skin.

Back to the Future Part II (1989) would later poke fun at the film when, in the future Hill Valley, a holographic shark promotes the latest shark sequel, Jaws 19, with the tagline: “This time it’s really really personal.” A sun-bleached copy of the 1987 Jaws video game movie tie-in for the Nintendo Entertainment System can also be spotted in the window display of the local antique shop, Blast from the Past.