Jaws III

Called Jaws III for television and stripped of the one gimmick (3D) that made it - arguably - acceptable in theatres, this hapless opus stands as a testament to the law of diminishing returns. (Unfortunately there was a truly awful follow-up in Jaws the Revenge.) Joe Alves, the production designer of Steven Spielberg's great original and therefore the man responsible for creating the mechanical shark, is at the helm here, but it's quite clear from this effort that he's no director, as a group of moderate talents act all at sea. Watch out for PH Moriarty (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels's Hatchet Harry), but just feel sorry for the likes of jobbing Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett Jr, both miscast and extremely under-directed. The Bess Armstrong romantic bits are quite watchable, though.