Jaws vs. Alien

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Jaws vs. Alien
54.00%
27 votes
Jaws
46.00%
23 votes
Alien
50 votes. You may not vote on this poll




Hellloooo Cindy - Scary Movie (2000)
I see you've resorted to childish ridicule and given up on the debate.
Does it sound familiar? Perhaps similar to your comments on how to deal with sharks?

And yes I致e given up on the debate. What would be the point? Try and convince you? I知 not convinced by anything you致e said. I知 really not learning here.

I値l end things with this....The alien has a realistic feel. Very good to great movie, very scary. Jaws had the greater effect on me as I watched it as a youngster. I find sharks frightening...specific sharks like an adult great white....you can scoff at that. That may boost your self esteem....but Im comfortable enough to admit when something scares me. Because I知 cool, I知 a catch you see. I知 a snag. A sensitive new age guy. Lmao.



Make a better place
I loved both when I was young

I re-watched Alien recently and I still love the series

I'm not sure if it's a good idea to watch Jaws now. Any one of you guys watched it as an adult ?
Is it cheesy for grown ups? or is it still a masterpiece?
__________________
"Beliefs don't change facts. Facts, if you're rational, should change your beliefs" Ricky Gervais



Does it sound familiar? Perhaps similar to your comments on how to deal with sharks?
You really are streatching it for justification there. I never spoke to you with such degrading fashion. Regardless, two wrongs don't make a right. A perceived insult does not warrant an intentional insult. At least you should have given the benefit of the doubt if you felt I insulted you. I gave you that benefit when you made degrading comments earlier, but the repeate behaviour and this latest post of yours are evidence that you were in fact being disrespectful.

And yes I致e given up on the debate. What would be the point? Try and convince you? I知 not convinced by anything you致e said. I知 really not learning here.
The point would be to adress the points I made, if nothing else to test your arguments against mine. I don't care if you're learning or not, but I'd prefer you had a teachable attitude instead of this stubborn one.

I値l end things with this....The alien has a realistic feel. Very good to great movie, very scary. Jaws had the greater effect on me as I watched it as a youngster. I find sharks frightening...specific sharks like an adult great white....you can scoff at that. That may boost your self esteem....but Im comfortable enough to admit when something scares me. Because I知 cool, I知 a catch you see. I知 a snag. A sensitive new age guy. Lmao.
There is nothing to scoff at in being afraid of sharks. Why would you say that as if I'd scoff at you for that? You shouldn't make assumptions about other people. You really have gotten on my nerves in this debate with all your assumptions and your arrogance. If you can't have a respectful debate with another adult then you really have no business entering these discussions. Your behaviour was childish and disrespectful.



You can't win an argument just by being right!
Wrong thread. Apologies and thank you zotis.



Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy?
Well neither the rogue shark that eats humans nor the alien in Alien actually exist. Which is more realistic is based on how they would behave if they existed. I think Alien did a lot of research on the psychology of fear. Even if an alien like that doesn't exist I thought it was a convincing portrayal of what could exist. But I don't think the shark in Jaws could exist. It's too big and sharks don't prey on humans. Maybe the book was more realistic, but the movie wasn't.

If we're talking about which creature is more realistic I am inclined to favor Alien. I recognize the argument that sharks are actual animals, but I don't think that outweighs the other elements. If we're talking about which movie is more realistic overall then there is no contest. Alien is way more realistic in almost every other way. The only other aspect Jaws even has an argument for being more realistic in is it's setting. But I would even argue that Alien has a more realistic portrayal of space travel and life on a space ship than Jaws has of modern 70's life.
These are interesting points, but by that logic, if Jaws was actually a shark that had been infected by an alien parasite, that'd make it more realistic. It's disingenuous.

Yeah, technically that would give an explanation for why the shark acts like it does (and ditto on the alien because according to you, this is how an alien could exist. An alien can be anything) but would it make the movie better? Giving an explanation for why a shark doesn't act like a shark takes away that very primal fear of the unknown that works so well in Alien.

Bruce isn't portrayed this way due to bad judgment or poor research. A significant portion of fear comes from things not going our way. As a shark, Bruce is completely unpredictable and yet, not completely unrealistic. You're forgetting the fact that sharks on occasion do attack humans aggressively- it's not normal of course but it happens.

Bears are not known to attack humans when not disturbed or protecting cubs, yet there are instances of hikers being ripped to shreds by bears without provocation.

Just as us humans have unsavory examples who turn out to be school shooters and serial killers, it's not unrealistic that there would be exceptions to the shark rule.

And you can't say any alien is realistic at all. It can't be realistic because aliens are not known to exist at all, let alone in this fashion. Something that is completely fictional cannot be touted as realistic in any sense.

However, it can FEEL real, which brings great merit to the director for creating a fictional character that feels real. I will agree to some extent that the alien in Alien feels like more of a realistic, tangible, threat than Bruce.

However, what I feel Jaws does so much better is the aspect of suspense. That's what makes Jaws scarier/more interesting- not the realism, but the suspense and the sudden shock of each attack. Alien does that, but not as well. And that's completely subjective. You may disagree with this and there's nothing I can do to refute your opinion since that's just how our brains work differently. Different people are fascinated by different things.

Great discussions so far. I love how the vote is still dead even.



Hellloooo Cindy - Scary Movie (2000)
Does it sound familiar? Perhaps similar to your comments on how to deal with sharks?
You really are streatching it for justification there. I never spoke to you with such degrading fashion. Regardless, two wrongs don't make a right. A perceived insult does not warrant an intentional insult. At least you should have given the benefit of the doubt if you felt I insulted you. I gave you that benefit when you made degrading comments earlier, but the repeate behaviour and this latest post of yours are evidence that you were in fact being disrespectful.

And yes I致e given up on the debate. What would be the point? Try and convince you? I知 not convinced by anything you致e said. I知 really not learning here.
The point would be to adress the points I made, if nothing else to test your arguments against mine. I don't care if you're learning or not, but I'd prefer you had a teachable attitude instead of this stubborn one.

I値l end things with this....The alien has a realistic feel. Very good to great movie, very scary. Jaws had the greater effect on me as I watched it as a youngster. I find sharks frightening...specific sharks like an adult great white....you can scoff at that. That may boost your self esteem....but Im comfortable enough to admit when something scares me. Because I知 cool, I知 a catch you see. I知 a snag. A sensitive new age guy. Lmao.
There is nothing to scoff at in being afraid of sharks. Why would you say that as if I'd scoff at you for that? You shouldn't make assumptions about other people. You really have gotten on my nerves in this debate with all your assumptions and your arrogance. If you can't have a respectful debate with another adult then you really have no business entering these discussions. Your behaviour was childish and disrespectful.
Wow this keeps going. Looks to me you池e just trying to win an argument in a desperate attempt to win something as you made silly, assumptive and arrogant claims about sharks and how to deal with them.

Myself and people here have provided logical counter arguments, you致e dismissed them. You致e added new arguments. Now you池e attacking me personally for not attempting to continue debating with a topic going in circle and a inflexible person? Lol. I致e ended things, you should also.



Hellloooo Cindy - Scary Movie (2000)
If there痴 any movie that痴 ever had a almost tangible effect on me it痴 Jaws. I will always have the threat of a shark in the back of my head or closer when I知 at the beach. Can稚 say any film has done that to me on such a long term basis. Alien I watched recently again and really enjoyed, it痴 a great film although I don稚 get as scared when I知 in space as to when I知 in water. Normally I知 not thinking about an alien predator when I知 out performing my ordinary astronaut duties such as cleaning the space ship windows and taking out the space trash.
Have you seen documentary footage of divers swimming with sharks? They are easy to avoid if they come at you. Just stick out your hand and push off their nose. Jaws was such an unrealistic portrayal of sharks. I'm more scared of deer jumping in front of the car while driving to the cottage. I'm more scared of muggers and serial killers.

How can you be scared of something that's going extinct for soup? (Shark fin soup)
Here痴 what started this thing. It痴 still one of the most absurd things I致e ever read on here.



Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy?
Still trying to get my head around how fiction can be bad because its fictitious.
I guess some people can't handle real life being portrayed a little differently.



These are interesting points, but by that logic, if Jaws was actually a shark that had been infected by an alien parasite, that'd make it more realistic.
Correct.

It's disingenuous.
Incorrect.


Still trying to get my head around how fiction can be bad because its fictitious.
Sounds like you tried the complete opposite.



Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy?
Correct.

Incorrect.



Sounds like you tried the complete opposite.
We tend not to attribute bizarre happenings in nature to aliens (unless you're this guy) because that would be the least realistic explanation. It would be akin to blaming it on witchcraft or the hand of God.

We can't explain everything in nature...yet. It is my opinion that the suspension of disbelief in Jaws works beautifully.



We tend not to attribute bizarre happenings in nature to aliens because that would be the least realistic explanation.

It would be akin to blaming it on witchcraft or the hand of God.
I happen to believe that aliens, God, and witchcraft all exist. Even if you don't, you have to admit that you don't know they don't exist. Their existence is believable. Susperia doesn't need to explain why witchcraft exists, but Jaws does need to explain why a giant shark that preys on humams exists. Aliens doesn't need to explain why an alien exists, or a space ship, or an android, because these things are already believable. People already attribute crop circles and bright lights to aliens. People attribute all sorts of things to witchcraft and miracles.

We can't explain everything in nature...yet. It is my opinion that the suspension of disbelief in Jaws works beautifully.
No, because it is not consistent within the rules it establishes. It is set in the real world, but focuses on something that doesn't exist and offers no explanation. Read the tv tropes article on suspension of disbelief.



Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy?
I happen to believe that aliens, God, and witchcraft all exist. Even if you don't, you have to admit that you don't know they don't exist. Their existence is believable. Susperia doesn't need to explain why witchcraft exists, but Jaws does need to explain why a giant shark that preys on humams exists. Aliens doesn't need to explain why an alien exists, or a space ship, or an android, because these things are already believable. People already attribute crop circles and bright lights to aliens. People attribute all sorts of things to witchcraft and miracles.


No, because it is not consistent within the rules it establishes. It is set in the real world, but focuses on something that doesn't exist and offers no explanation. Read the tv tropes article on suspension of disbelief.
I don't know about aliens or witchcraft but I am Christian so there's the God thing.

The thing about Jaws is that the suspension of disbelief is based in the rules of the real world. Unexplained behavior doesn't mean it's not in the rules. In 2011, a great white jumped onboard a boat off the coast of South Africa and very nearly ate a passenger- so while very rare, freakish attacks do happen. I'm sure this wasn't the only case.



I don't know about aliens or witchcraft but I am Christian so there's the God thing.

The thing about Jaws is that the suspension of disbelief is based in the rules of the real world. Unexplained behavior doesn't mean it's not in the rules. In 2011, a great white jumped onboard a boat off the coast of South Africa and very nearly ate a passenger- so while very rare, freakish attacks do happen. I'm sure this wasn't the only case.
If you're a Christian then you should believe that witchcraft and aliens exist because they're in the Bible. Witchcraft was punishable death, and king Saul went to a witch to summon the ghost of the prophet Samuel, and he actually appeared and spoke to Saul. Everything that isn't from Earth is alien, so God is an alien, angels and demons and spirits are all technically aliens.

If you haven't read that article yet then I really don't want to waste my time arguing about suspension of disbelief because you don't know what you're talking about, and it would take longer trying to explain it then it would take you to read the article. If the shark in Jaws jumped on the boat that would be fine. If you've ever heard of a shark eating a boat, let me know.



Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy?
If you're a Christian then you should believe that witchcraft and aliens exist because they're in the Bible. Witchcraft was punishable death, and king Saul went to a witch to summon the ghost of the prophet Samuel, and he actually appeared and spoke to Saul. Everything that isn't from Earth is alien, so God is an alien, angels and demons and spirits are all technically aliens.

If you haven't read that article yet then I really don't want to waste my time arguing about suspension of disbelief because you don't know what you're talking about, and it would take longer trying to explain it then it would take you to read the article. If the shark in Jaws jumped on the boat that would be fine. If you've ever heard of a shark eating a boat, let me know.
Nah. Saul was talking with a medium- someone who can communicate with the dead. Think the boy from "Sixth Sense", he's a medium, not a witch. He doesn't practice witchcraft. Witches and aliens can exist but that's not relevant right now.

And yeah, I read the article.

"The writer provides the reader/viewer/player with a good story, and in return, they accept the reality of the story as presented, and accept that characters in the fictional universe act on their own accord."

"Of course, different people will have different thresholds for what they're willing to accept in a work, and what may break one person's willing suspension of disbelief may not necessarily have the same effect on another."

And yes, sharks take bites out of small boats all the time. They don't 'eat' them but they will attack boats if they think it's prey. Especially fishing boats, because sharks have incredible smelling power. There are many real-life explanations for Bruce's behavior, which means that it's possible in this universe. Just because the movie doesn't offer any explanation for it doesn't mean anything. If we knew why it wouldn't add anything to the story.



You can't win an argument just by being right!
Sharks are the apex predator in the ocean and need to be respected as such. I do. Aliens - i guess i would show respect when being introduced to one the same as i show respect to any newbie I'm introduced to. As yet i havent met one.



@Dani8Actually humans are the apex predator of the ocean. Sharks are going extinct.

@Achoo48, I'm not sure what your point is anymore, but after you ignored my point about witchcraft and argued semantics I don't feel like continuing the discussion to be honest. I wish you all the best, and may our glorious Lord and saviour bless you richly.

I think a final thing I will say is simply this, I fear the unknown more than the known.



Hellloooo Cindy - Scary Movie (2000)
@Dani8Actually humans are the apex predator of the ocean. Sharks are going extinct.

@Achoo48, I'm not sure what your point is anymore, but after you ignored my point about witchcraft and argued semantics I don't feel like continuing the discussion to be honest. I wish you all the best, and may our glorious Lord and saviour bless you richly.

I think a final thing I will say is simply this, I fear the unknown more than the known.