The Shark is Still Working

“The shark is not working. I repeat: the shark is not working.”

After an early Memorial Day and a late Labor Day, we have finally reached the end of 2026’s Summer Shark Festival Extravaganza. And as always, we close the summer with a documentary.

I first remember watching this as a kid in my parents’ bedroom, and being absolutely enthralled. I’m not quite sure if it entirely held up to my memories (what movie does?) but The Shark is Still Working is still a very good and entertaining look at what happened once filming wrapped.

This is not a documentary that cares all that much about the actual filming of Jaws. It only devotes the first thirty or so minutes to it. Instead, the focus is on what the subtitle is: “The Impact & Legacy of Jaws.”

It covers everything from the birth of the summer blockbuster, to how it changed advertising, to the Academy Awards that it was (and was not) nominated for, to how the internet allowed fans to come together, to prop collectors, to how the movie changed people’s lives and careers, as well as some deep dives into specific and iconic scenes, like the USS Indianapolis speech.

If that sounds like a lot, it is. It’s a lot of ground to cover in 103 minutes, and it does come off as disjointed at times. I actually wonder if it wouldn’t feel better if I had watched it somewhere with commercials, since each segment would make a natural ad break and could make it feel more coherent.

They managed to get basically everyone in to be a talking head, including Peter Benchley in his final on-camera interview. Even if it was only for one topic, they still got the relevant people in. One of my favorite segments talked about the trailer and featured an interview with Percy Rodriguez, who was the voice of it. The way that he approached narration and the tone that he wanted to accomplish with his voice was fascinating. I had never heard of Rodriguez before, but he was the narrator for so many famous trailers. I love learning about people like that.

And I meant that I did learn new things. Maybe nothing groundbreaking or scandalous, but fun details like how Universal purposefully restricted how many theatres could show Jaws so that lines would be out the door. Or that people would purposefully ask Lee Fierro, who played Mrs. Kintner, to slap them when they met her.

Is it a bit of a fluff piece? Maybe. What’s the difference between a fluff piece and a genuine celebration of a major piece of pop culture? That’s what the title is really about. Yes, it’s a play on the very infamous fact that the mechanical shark rarely worked while on set. But it’s also the documentary’s thesis statement.

The shark is still working because it is still a foundational element of people’s psyches. The movie poster is spoofed everywhere. Lines are recited without fully knowing where they came from. The iconic score more than speaks for itself. It inspired a whole cohort of directors to sit up and say “I want to make a movie like that!” Even what was then 30 years and what is now 50 years later, the power of Jaws hasn’t faded away. That’s pretty amazing.

Random Thoughts

I reviewed a total of 14 movies this summer. We had a few themes, which was both unintentional but also a lot of fun. We had some period pieces, some where people were trapped while scuba diving, and an unofficial Syfy trilogy. We had some truly excellent movies and two movies that earned the tag of Worst Movie Ever. As always, I rank this summer’s movies below based on personal enjoyment.

• Beast of War
• Fear Below
• Dangerous Animals
• Nightmare Shark
• Atomic Shark
• The Devil’s Mouth
• Thrash
• Trailer Park Shark
• Jaws 3-D
• Deep Water
• Bull Shark
• The Last Breath
• Water Park Shark
• Into the Deep

And that is it from me! I love being able to share this subgenre with you all, and I hope that you had fun reading and exploring it with me!

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An Honest Fangirl loves video games, horror movies, and superheroes, and occasionally watches far too many shark movies.

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