How to watch the 'Jaws 'movies in order, from the original to 'The Revenge'

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Key Points
The Jaws franchise spans four films released between 1975 and 1987.
Each movie features a new deadly encounter with a great white shark.
While not tightly connected, the sequels loosely follow the Brody family.Few films have had the cultural impact of Jaws, the 1975 thriller that not only terrified a generation of beachgoers but also launched the modern summer blockbuster.
Directed by a budding Steven Spielberg, the original movie became a massive critical and commercial success, blending suspense, horror, memorable characters, and John Williams' ominous Oscar-winning score to create a cinematic milestone.
What started as a single shark attack on the fictional shores of Amity Island soon grew into a full-blown franchise, spawning three gory sequels between 1978 and 1987. While the quality and tone of the films vary, each installment delivers its own brand of blood-soaked chaos.
With all four Jaws films now streaming on Netflix during the original's 50th anniversary, there's never been a better time to revisit the series (or dive in for the first time). Here's how to watch the Jaws movies in order.
Jaws (1975)
Ah, the one that started it all. Directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name, Jaws follows police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) as he battles a great white shark terrorizing Amity Island. Despite Brody's warnings, the mayor refuses to close the beaches to save the tourist season, and the results turn deadly.
Jaws was Spielberg's second major studio film behind 1974's The Sugarland Express, and it quickly spiraled into pure chaos. The shoot ran way over budget and schedule, the mechanical sharks constantly broke down, and tensions among the cast often flared.
"When the film wrapped Martha's Vineyard, I had a full-blown panic attack," Spielberg recalled in the July 2025 documentary Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story. "I couldn't breathe, I thought I was having a heart attack. ... It was everything that I had experienced on the island, trying to hold myself together, but hold the crew together. I felt really responsible for keeping them there for as long as we had to stay."
But these complications didn't doom the final product. Released on June 20, 1975, it became a cultural phenomenon and redefined the modern blockbuster. "Steven Spielberg's granddaddy of all great white movies isn't just great for a shark movie, it's a great movie period. A masterpiece, in fact," Entertainment Weekly's staffer wrote in 2025. "Spielberg's malfunctioning mechanical monster forced the director to be clever, suggestive, and Hitchcockian — the scariest moments in the film are the ones where you don't see what lies beneath the water line, but anticipate what could be."
Where to watch Jaws: Netflix
Jaws 2 (1978)
Jaws spawned three sequels, each receiving progressively less critical acclaim and weaker box office results. However, its immediate sequel, Jaws 2 (1978), is generally considered the best among them.
Spielberg was not interested in returning to direct a sequel. After John D. Hancock was let go just days into filming, Jeannot Szwarc ultimately stepped up as the director of Jaws 2. Scheider, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, and Jeffrey Kramer reprised their roles as Chief Brody, Ellen Brody, Mayor Larry Vaughn, and Deputy Leonard Hendricks, respectively.
The movie, which is strikingly similar to its predecessor, centers on Brody's growing suspicion that a new great white shark is threatening Amity Island, a fear confirmed as a series of attacks and disappearances soon occur on the beach.
As noted by EW's critic, Jaws 2 is a "pretty steep come-down from Spielberg's brilliant original. But if watched in a vacuum, it's a decent enough bit of disposable fun."
Where to watch Jaws 2: Netflix
Jaws 3-D (1983)
Jaws 3-D takes a sharp turn away from the original Jaws films, not just in quality, but also in casting. None of the original actors return; instead, we get Dennis Quaid, Bess Armstrong, Simon MacCorkindale, Lea Thompson, and Louis Gossett Jr.
The story follows the grown-up Brody kids, Mike (Quaid) and Sean (John Putch), who now spend their days at SeaWorld in Florida. Somehow, a young great white shark sneaks into the park, but the real trouble starts when its much larger, angrier mother comes looking for it and wreaks havoc along the way.
Originally released in 3-D (which didn't age well outside theaters), Jaws 3-D was retitled Jaws 3 for home video, where the lack of visual effects left audiences with a flat and often laughable viewing experience. Critics weren't kind then either, and the movie hasn't exactly earned a loyal following.
In a 2010 rewatch, two former EW critics dubbed it a "big bucket of chum." One recalled, "They're underwater in a sunken ship and suddenly a big fake rubber shark is knocking repeatedly into the walls."
The other critic added, "And with all the speed and grace of a four-year-old in a bathtub jamming a plastic shark into a plastic ship. Also, they have the shark swimming backwards, which it biologically can't do, and it roars. It roars! Not as dramatic a roar as in Jaws: The Revenge, mind you, but still, it's still a shark roaring underwater."
Where to watch Jaws 3-D: Netflix
Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
Released on July 17, 1987, Jaws: The Revenge sank almost immediately, taking a critical and commercial beating. Beyond the abysmal reviews, it had a worldwide gross of $51.9 million against a $23 million budget, making it the lowest-grossing entry in the Jaws franchise.
Serving as a direct sequel to Jaws 2 (and pretending Jaws 3-D never happened), the film follows a now-widowed Ellen Brody (Gary), who becomes convinced that a great white shark is targeting her family out of revenge.
After her youngest son, Sean (Mitchell Anderson), is killed, Ellen flees to the Bahamas to visit her other son, Mike (Lance Guest). There, she strikes up a romance with Hoagie Newcombe (Michael Caine), just as another massive shark appears and threatens her safety.
An EW writer bluntly wrote, "The fourth and final Jaws movie is not good. But Michael Caine does drop in to lend it some class. Who cares if his khaki shirt is wet and then mysteriously dry in the same scene? This is not a movie to pick apart with logic. It exists beyond reasoning in a shark-movie universe where the fewer questions that are asked, the better."
Where to watch Jaws: The Revenge: Netflix
The Jaws movies in order by release date:
Jaws (1975)
Jaws 2 (1978)
Jaws 3-D (1983)
Jaws: The Revenge (1987)Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
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