“June the 29th, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.”

According to the Quint speech, the Indianapolis was sunk a month before it actually occurred.

In a bit of a synchronized life moment, I put on the Jaws dvd for some bonus material viewing, and Spielberg talks about all the rewrites to that speech and how it is his favorite scene.

Then I notice Shaw said “June 29, 1945” and I had to appreciate the coincidence of having put on the movie on that very date here in 2024. So that prompted me to look into the actual sinking of the ship, and noticed the dates didn’t match up.

Jaws is my favorite movie, I’ve probably seen it 300+ times since I was a kid and had the box set of all 4 films. Maybe Shaw slurred his speech, maybe he was trying to convey memory loss, being drunk, etc., or the writers all just got it wrong (happens). Jaws is a smart movie and probably the best (or most entertaining) movie ever made, and the challenges they overcame made it what it is. But I’m pretty sure Quint got the date wrong and wasn’t slurring his speech.

ETA: Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Schneider were incredible in this film as well. All three men on the Orca were at their best.

Also, the ending when the shark was tied up with the cage Hooper was in was an actual shark in Australia being filmed. The shark got hung up in the lines and almost drowned with the cage around him. The real footage is incredible.