Jaws

What is there to say about JAWS? The answer is – A LOT. So therefore I will do the opposite. I will keep my comments brief and striking. Story in two line – a great white shark terrorizes a town by eating anyone who enters into the water. A sheriff, a marine biologist, and a professional shark hunter head out to sea to slay the beast. This is definitely one of those films that I’ve spent too much time researching and learning about all the behind the scenes stories, so I won’t bore anyone with all those details. I’ll just focus on the things that I really love about the movie.

Jaws Trailer

This film really did create some awful waves (pun intended) when it came out back in the 1970s. People were actually afraid to go into the water in the oceans and beach communities saw a decline in revenue. Spielberg had no idea that this film would be as effective and amazing as it turned out to be. He was 100 days over schedule and thought that it was going to be the last film he ever made because it was the disaster film that ruined him. However, we all know it turned out being one of the great pieces of American cinema of all time and still holds up till today.

My wife and I watched this over two nights as we laid tucked in our bed – JAWS played just below our feet at the end of our bed and this was actually the first time she watched it. The film actually did scare her at several parts. The parts that scared her were: the scene where Richard Dryfess goes underwater to investigate the recently sunken ship and is greeted by the dead body in the window, when jaws (aka Bruce) kills the sail-boater, and when jaws killed Quinn she actually covered her face with the blanket in fear. So it’s nice to see that the PG-rated film that gave me nightmares as a kid still holds some power to affect people today.

I love the buildup in suspense and how we hardly ever see the shark until the final act. I love the musical score by John Williams, but I have to admit that it was offsetting during the final battle moments. There was very whimsical and playful music used seconds before jaws might his demise. It was distracting for me a little bit. Wow, imagine that – someone saying something negative while critiquing JAWS – that’s a first!

Rating: 9.8/10
RT: 100%