The Shallows was one of the best shark horror movies in years, but it still took the time out to pay tribute to Jaws by recreating a classic scene. Killer shark movies don’t get any better than Jaws. This has been true since Steven Spielberg’s classic premiered in 1975, and will likely continue to be until whatever apocalypse eventually ends mankind. The irony of that is the fact that Jaws was the first killer shark movie, and it’s rare that a sub-genre peaks with its debut.
That’s not to say that there aren’t other shark movies worth seeing. Deep Blue Sea is a lot of fun, and the famous surprise death of Samuel L. Jackson’s character remains a brilliant moment. The Meg is an amusing diversion that could use more gore but features a really cool monster. The Sharknado movies can be a good pick for those who prefer their shark flicks with some absurdity thrown in. When it comes to (mostly) serious attempts to follow-up the Jaws legacy though, The Shallows might just be the greatest.
While The Shallows’ ending gets too silly, and all but turns Blake Lively’s Nancy Adams character into an aquatic John McClane, that doesn’t ruin what was until that point a harrowing tale of human vs. predator. As part of that ending sequence, The Shallows saw fit to pay homage to Jaws’ own ending, in a cool way.
How The Shallows Recreates a Classic Scene from Jaws
Near the end of The Shallows, Blake Lively’s stranded surfer Nancy finds herself seeking refuge on a buoy after the rock she had been occupying was submerged by high tide. On the buoy, Nancy finds a flare gun, and first she does the logical thing and tries to get the attention of a passing ship. Unfortunately, the ship has turned in the other direction and doesn’t see the flare. Nancy then fires another shot toward the shark itself, catching the oil seeping out of a nearby whale carcass on fire, and setting the shark ablaze. Nancy does this while clinging to the tipping buoy, and before firing at the shark, lets out a well-timed “F**k you.”
This is quite obviously a callback to the iconic moment near the end of Jaws where Roy Scheider’s Chief Brody, at that point clinging to the crow’s nest of the Orca ship for dear life as it sinks, takes aim with a rifle at the pressurized tank that had previously been inserted into the shark’s mouth. The shot that hits the tank and causes the shark to explode and die is preceded by Brody saying “Smile, you son of a bitch.” While Nancy’s similar shot at her attacking great white doesn’t prove fatal to it like Brody’s did, she does end up emerging victorious, and it’s cool to see that over 40 years later, The Shallows scene is just as effective.
More: Every Jaws Movie Ranked, Worst To Best
