Underrated Badass of Cinema: Quint
First off, can we all agree that Jaws is just a fantastic movie? Actually, screw it, I don't care if you agree or not; just know that if you don't agree then you're wrong. Because Jaws is just a fantastic movie.
I could make the case that Jaws rocks the house because of Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, the shark, the dialogue, the direction, the characterizations, blahbity-blah-blah-blah.
But no, my friends. Jaws is megasuperterrific because of one man: Robert Shaw in the role he was born to play, as Quint the Crusty Old Shark Hunter.
Quint is such a badass.
Quint's the kind of guy that scrapes his fingernails down a blackboard to get the whole room's attention, even though said room is about the size of a broom closet, and a simple "HEY!" would probably have done the trick.
Quint's the guy who knows that a shark's been eating people, and says he'll find the shark for $3000, but he'll catch it and kill it for $10,000. That's right: at heart he's a bidnessman!
Quint will stand there looking at you like you're a total moron, eating crackers with a slight smile on his face that seems to say, "You're a total moron."
He's also got his own boat, mounts shark jaws on the wall, laughs at the end of the movie Moby Dick, and apparently has the ability to not instantly dislike Roy Scheider, an ability many common mortals do not possess.
More importantly, Quint is willing to CHASE FUCKING JAWS. The sheer ballsiness of that cannot be overstated.
Oh, did I mention that Quint underwent Horrific Badass-ifying Trauma in his past? Yessir, the U.S.S. Indianapolis was part of Quint's WWII tour of duty. Watch this clip:
Now just try and tell me that Quint isn't a badass. He never wears a life jacket. That is just unsafe, people!
(Also: that 3 minutes of acting by Robert Shaw may be the finest monologue committed to film in the last 30 years, and you all can take your stylized hipper-than-thou Pulp Fiction and suck on it. I don't even want to hear it.)
Yes, Quint ends up getting et in half by the shark. Still: you think that shark blows up at the end of the movie because Roy Scheider hit a million-to-one shot on a scuba tank?
Hell, no!
The shark blows up because the shark's stomach literally cannot physically contain Quint's utter badassedness. I'm serious. It was totally in the first draft:
SHARK: (swims)
BRODY: (aims)
HOOPER: (floats)
QUINT: Ha! Even in the bowels of this shark, my disembodied torso contains enough badassedness to rip apart the beastie. Begone!
SHARK: (BOOM!)
Roll credits, bask in awe.
Quint: Underrated Badass of Cinema!
I could make the case that Jaws rocks the house because of Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, the shark, the dialogue, the direction, the characterizations, blahbity-blah-blah-blah.
But no, my friends. Jaws is megasuperterrific because of one man: Robert Shaw in the role he was born to play, as Quint the Crusty Old Shark Hunter.
Quint is such a badass.
Quint's the kind of guy that scrapes his fingernails down a blackboard to get the whole room's attention, even though said room is about the size of a broom closet, and a simple "HEY!" would probably have done the trick.
Quint's the guy who knows that a shark's been eating people, and says he'll find the shark for $3000, but he'll catch it and kill it for $10,000. That's right: at heart he's a bidnessman!
Quint will stand there looking at you like you're a total moron, eating crackers with a slight smile on his face that seems to say, "You're a total moron."
He's also got his own boat, mounts shark jaws on the wall, laughs at the end of the movie Moby Dick, and apparently has the ability to not instantly dislike Roy Scheider, an ability many common mortals do not possess.
More importantly, Quint is willing to CHASE FUCKING JAWS. The sheer ballsiness of that cannot be overstated.
Oh, did I mention that Quint underwent Horrific Badass-ifying Trauma in his past? Yessir, the U.S.S. Indianapolis was part of Quint's WWII tour of duty. Watch this clip:
Now just try and tell me that Quint isn't a badass. He never wears a life jacket. That is just unsafe, people!
(Also: that 3 minutes of acting by Robert Shaw may be the finest monologue committed to film in the last 30 years, and you all can take your stylized hipper-than-thou Pulp Fiction and suck on it. I don't even want to hear it.)
Yes, Quint ends up getting et in half by the shark. Still: you think that shark blows up at the end of the movie because Roy Scheider hit a million-to-one shot on a scuba tank?
Hell, no!
The shark blows up because the shark's stomach literally cannot physically contain Quint's utter badassedness. I'm serious. It was totally in the first draft:
SHARK: (swims)
BRODY: (aims)
HOOPER: (floats)
QUINT: Ha! Even in the bowels of this shark, my disembodied torso contains enough badassedness to rip apart the beastie. Begone!
SHARK: (BOOM!)
Roll credits, bask in awe.
Quint: Underrated Badass of Cinema!
posted by Chris at 7:27 PM
1 Comments:
I love that scene where Quint regales us with the story of why he no longer where's a life jacket.
What makes it even better, is that apparently he was really drunk when they shot that scene.
He was so effective, even when hammered, Spielberg just said "Screw it. We don't need to shoot it again."
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