Jaws III

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Jaws III

PG

Released Jul 22, 1983

1h 37m

Mystery & Thriller

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

10%

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40 Reviews

17%

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100,000+ Ratings

After a young great white shark finds its way into a sea-themed park managed by Calvin Bouchard (Louis Gossett Jr.), workers try to capture it. But the facility's attempt to keep the shark in captivity has dire consequences: A much larger mother shark appears in search of its offspring. Among those who must battle the angry aquatic killing machine are marine biologist Kathryn Morgan (Bess Armstrong), her co-worker Mike Brody (Dennis Quaid) and a pair of friendly dolphins.

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Critics Consensus

A cheese-soaked ocean thriller with no evident reason to exist, Jaws 3 bellows forth with a plaintive yet ultimately unheeded cry to put this franchise out of viewers' misery.

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Matt Singer

ScreenCrush

No movie with Dennis Quaid holding a basset hound's ears to keep them out of his water bowl while pouring himself some coffee can be all bad. Jaws 3-D comes pretty close.

Rated: 3/10

Oct 14, 2018

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Variety Staff

Variety

Surprisingly tepid.

Dec 10, 2007

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Derek Adams

Time Out

Put in a baking tray, gas mark 7, and enjoy a turkey.

Jun 24, 2006

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John Stark

Mac the Movie Guy

Jaws was like getting an expertly crafted chocolate cake from a Michelin star chef, and the third film is like getting one of those Lil Debbie Cosmic Brownies and pretending those two things are remotely similar in quality.

Rated: 24/100

Jul 27, 2025

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Jesse Hassenger

Decider

Jaws 3 is a pretty bad movie.

Jun 24, 2025

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Laughable.

Rated: 1.5/4

Apr 27, 2025

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Erik B

This movie isn't good. And it pales in comparison to its predecessors. A travesty.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

10/06/25

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Chris R.

Terrible. Just terrible

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

09/21/25

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Lucien G

The first one was amazing, (I watched the whole series in 2024 bear with me) the second was a little less enjoyable but still decent in my opinion, and then we have this I don't think i can even call the CGI shark bad its downright abysmal and the ending almost made me vomit because it's CGI was so bad. Also great whites don't swim at that snails pace they portrayed in the ending. Not rotten, DECOMPOSED.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

08/24/25

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Khaliel P

Jaws 3D, released during the 1980s 3D craze, suffers from awkward visuals when converted to 2D, reflecting the limitations of early stereoscopic filming. The production was troubled: Roy Scheider refused to return after Jaws 2, and Dennis Quaid later admitted he was heavily using cocaine throughout filming. Upon release, the movie was widely panned, earning multiple Razzie nominations for its slow pace, weak plot, excessive characters, and the shark’s minimal presence. Yet, beneath its flaws, the film hints at ideas that would later appear in Jurassic Park, with a promoter believing he can control a dangerous animal that ultimately turns on him. Passably entertaining, it remains the most frequently aired installment on television, even as the franchise’s quality clearly declines.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

08/20/25

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Malik A

The cgi were literally worst than every jaws movie this movie have the worst cgi in jaws movie but the story is good the shark model is good and the other animals model is good

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/15/25

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Dustin B.

A lame, detrimental bore fest with effects on par with a film from over seventy years earlier, Jaws 3-D is the definition of a film that’s so bad - it’s just bad.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

08/02/25

Full Review

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Joe Alves

Director

Dennis Quaid

Michael "Mike" Brody

Bess Armstrong

Kathryn Morgan

Simon MacCorkindale

Philip FitzRoyce

Louis Gossett Jr.

Calvin Bouchard

John Putch

Sean Brody

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Synopsis

After a young great white shark finds its way into a sea-themed park managed by Calvin Bouchard (Louis Gossett Jr.), workers try to capture it. But the facility's attempt to keep the shark in captivity has dire consequences: A much larger mother shark appears in search of its offspring. Among those who must battle the angry aquatic killing machine are marine biologist Kathryn Morgan (Bess Armstrong), her co-worker Mike Brody (Dennis Quaid) and a pair of friendly dolphins.

Director: Joe Alves
Producer: Rupert Hitzig
Screenwriter: Richard Matheson, Carl Gottlieb
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Universal Pictures, Alan Landsburg Productions
Rating: PG
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 22, 1983, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 11, 2015
Runtime: 1h 37m
Sound Mix: Surround

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