Jaws

"Jaws" is my third favorite movie of all time...in case anyone was wondering...after "Psycho" and "12 Angry Men."  "Jaws," was released in 1975 and was directed by a young Steven Spielberg....who would soon become one of the greatest American directors of all time.  This of course is completely ignoring "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," which as I have mentioned before is all George Lucas' fault. 

When Jaws was released it not all made nearly every American scared to go anywhere near the ocean it also became the first summer blockbuster.  This classic and amazing movie has a great cast which includes Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, and Lorraine Gary (Ellen Brody).

I assume most know the story but I will briefly go into it.  It takes place on the fictional, Amity Island...Theres a shark (Jaws!) nearby that is terrorizing...and eating people.  This all starts with a stupid drunk girl who wandered into the ocean late at night, with little clothing on...of course she gets eaten...and you really don't have any sympathy for her because she is ridiculous.  Some of the other victims do warrant sympathy.  Everyone is scared of the ocean and for good reason.  Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), the chief policeman wants the beaches to be shut down.  Amity Isand is a vacation town and the greedy mayor will have none of this losing money nonsense...what an idiot...apparently he doesn't care about the citizens of his town. Well anyway Martin Brody along with a fish expert, who is partial to sharks, Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and a professional shark hunter, Quint (Robert Shaw) are put in charge of finding and killing Jaws.

  This movie is great...and that's an understatement.  Everything about it is.  There is great suspense throughout the entire thing.  The shark is not even seen for the first part of the movie, adding to the suspense and several camera shots are from the sharks point of view which makes it even better.  Everything is just leading up to that great final scene that should be ingrained in everyone's minds for all of eternity. Very true the shark is fake and mechanical. But, come on guys for 1975 it was all that they had and they did a darn good job with it. 

I can't write this review without mentioning the music.  The "Jaws" theme is probably one of the most recognizable in film history...similar to how well known the "Raider of the Lost Ark" theme is.  Both were scored by the amazing composer, John Williams.  Much of the success of "Jaws" should be credited to John Williams.  It is fantastic, suspenseful, gripping, memorable...and any other really good adjective you can think of.  Right from the start of "Jaws" people are sucked in by the memorable score that makes the shark attacks even more terrifying.  It would have been a really sad thing had someone else scored the movie because it would not have been that great.  Luckily, John Williams scores pretty much all Steven Spielberg's movies and each one is amazing and perfectly compliments the film.  Alright, I needed to get that out of my system.  I love John Williams almost as much as I love Bernard Herrmann.

  If you haven't seen this movie yet...you should...it's one of those things that every human being should experience multiple times in life.  35 years later people are still watching it and loving it and it's regarding as an American classic and according to the American Film Institute it is one of the top 100 films...which of course it is. 

Oh, and by the way "Jaws"...one of the greatest movies, spawned some of the most horrible sequels that any human being ever thought of making.  I guess that's why Steven Spielberg  steered clear of all of them...they are so horrendous and awful and I swear that the budget was cut by half with each sequel and Jaws definitely roared in "Jaws: The Revenge," you know after following Ellen Brody to the Bahamas which doesn't make sense in any way, shape or form.  I had to get that out of my system too.  It's ridiculous how greedy Hollywood is and how much they love to sell out. 

Ok, I'm done ranting.  Jaws is amazing.  Watch it. 

-Joseph Sbrilli

BACK COVER SYNOPSIS: This Special 25th Anniversary Collector's Edition is Digitally Mastered and contains exclusive footage, interviews and behind-the-scenes material. Steven Spielberg directed this classic film that became one of the most enduring, action-suspense film of all time. "JAWS" was an instant blockbuster, a phenomenon, and today it is still among the highest grossing films in motion picture history, acclaimed by critics and audiences alike. Rediscover the timeless film that continues to make entire generations afraid to go in the water.

FILM REVIEW: As the lack of synopsis in the "Back Cover Synopsis" suggests, if you don't know what this film's about then you've been living on another planet. "Jaws" has become so ingrained in to Western popular culture that it's hard to find someone has at least hasn't heard about it, if not the famous dun-dun dun-dun music score. And the film is so simple - killer shark starts eating people in a tourist town during the summer, and it's up to three guys to catch it and kill it before it kills more people and does damage to the town's reputation who depend on summer dollars. There's a bit more to the story than that, such as the Mayor and Council who refuse to take action because they don't believe the threat is serious enough... that is until the shark eats a few people in front of everyone, but overall, that's it. And it works perfectly.
There are two main core elements that make this film work so well; the first is that you don't see the shark for the bulk of the film (what you can't see is more frightening) and even when you do, it's cut in to the film in just the right way to look deadly and not cheesy. The second is the three lead actors. They really carry the film, particularly Roy Scheider who plays a seemingly inept police chief who ends up having to find the courage the face the menace he's confronted with and destroying it.
The suspense scenes in this film may seem a little dated today, but they're no less thrilling. And combined with John Williams Oscar-winning score, you have something akin to the way films such as Pyscho work, generating a primal fear in the viewer that quite literally scares the hell out of you. And when Scheider finally gets to that moment to kill the shark, you are completely on the edge of your seat, almost covering your eyes to see if he's actually going to survive.
Spielberg isn't one of Hollywood's top directors for nothing. In "Jaws", his first blockbuster, he demonstrates a lot of the hallmarks that have made his film so successful over the years. But mostly it's just so well done. The thrills combined with some very good acting make for a solid commercial film worthy of artistic merit (it's rare to get both in a big film). Just as an example, the scene where Scheider is throwing bait over the back of the boat and the shark pops up out of nowhere, followed by his line, "you're gonna need a bigger boat!" is perfect.
This is a classic, great film and must be watched.

TECHNICAL REVIEW: To see this film transferred as spectacularly as it has to DVD is a pleasure to behold. The picture is probably better than when it was screened (a great accomplishment given it's on a single disc) and the audio has been given a makeover with a 5.1 surround sound mix (although the original mono soundtrack is available). A lot of work went in to this transfer and makes this great film even better.

EXTRAS REVIEW: A 50-minute documentary on the the making of JAWS is the centrepiece for this extras package. It's a fascinating, revealing look at the film; what it took to make this film is almost worthy of a film itself. "The Shark is Not Working!" is a common theme and you can tell that the filmmakers (particularly Spielberg) find it all very amusing in hindsight but at the time you can tell it drove them all up the wall. The film did not have a smooth production and hearing about the various stories and problems that they had makes for fascinating viewing. We also have a number of deleted scenes, outtakes, productions photos, storyboards, trailers, filmmaker notes and PC material (screen savers etc). Overall, a fairly comprehensive extras package that gives you a great insight in to this classic film.

BOTTOM LINE: Add it to your collection now!

FILM RATING: 9.5/10 -- EXTRAS RATING: 8/10 -- OVERALL DVD RATING: 9/10 

Todd Murphy <br />
http://www.allaboutmovies.net