Jaws

Its kind of amazing that Jaws came out in 1975, forty one years ago. Its also a little bit amazing that while I consider myself a fan of movies, I actually had not seen Jaws until I saw it on Netflix very recently. It always baffled me when I heard people say that this is one of, if not the best film Steven Spielberg has ever made and I wanted to take a look at it and figure out if there was any validity to that statement.

Jaws centers around a small town called Amity Island. The island is known for its beaches, especially

during the summer. People are just coming around for their vacations when accounts of people being
attacked by sharks starts to haunt the town. The Police Chief Martin Brody (played by Roy Schneider) is convinced that the beaches need to be shut down until the shark is caught but the arrogant mayor (played by Murray Hamilton) obviously does not believe him. The beginning of this movie is basically the build up to the second half of the movie where they actually go after the shark and that is when things get really good.

But until then, they bring in an Oceanographer named Matt Hooper (played by Richard Dreyfuss). And yeah, I think its fair to say that this movie jump started Dreyfuss's career and made him a household name from that point on and its for good reason. Hooper is an incredibly unique and yet incredibly likable character. He's quirky but he's right and actually brings a lot of fun to the movie. He'll start puking at the sight of guts and gore but he'll still do it and he brings a lot besides some comedic relief to a tension filled plot.

And the pairing of Dreyfuss with Schneider is one of the reasons this movie works out so well. Brody is quiet while Hooper is quirky and outspoken. Brody has this command presence while Hooper is your subject matter expert. These two just work well between the two of them. Like I said, the beginning is them investigating these attacks and figuring out the exact magnitude of this shark and what it can do. This is also supported by the suspense filled attacks that happen throughout the film.

And while Brody and Hooper provide a lot of the heart of this film, the cinematography is where the movie really shines. And yes, I'll do my obligatory disclaimer that I don't know much about cinematography but I'm realizing that Steven Spielberg made his career an incredible one by knowing the balance between the way the movie is shot, and the story the movie tells. And while some of the visuals and the practical effects perhaps don't hold up as much, the way this movie is shot is done incredibly well. There are moments where you know there is going to be a shark attack but you don't know when its going to happen and how. And when it does, its not like its a jump scare or a cheap thrill, it gives a very good pay off.

So obviously, at a certain point they realize that the shark needs to be stopped and they hire a local fisherman named Quint (played by Robert Shaw) to come and hunt the shark. Hooper and Brody go with him and here you get the main course and best parts of the movie. Their methods to track sharks are just fun and makes the movie a cat and mouse adventure. You spend the entire time wondering if everyone is going to make it out and how are they going to kill this shark? And throughout it all, you get a satisfying adventure, a tremendous score (of course by John Williams), and incredibly satisfying ending.

If the pairing of Brody and Hooper wasn't enough, then they bring in Quint. Robert Shaw plays a fisherman who has probably been on the ocean too long and just has this very dark past. You can tell he's a little bit nuts and it works absolutely perfect for these three to be the ones that go after the shark.

Each one of them has something to prove when going on this adventure and they each have their own personalities that clash and meld together perfectly.

On of the best things to put on top of a pretty good movie is great stories about the production of that movie and why it came out the way it did. I've heard these stories and have been told that the original script showed the shark a lot more than what actually happened in the movie. The reason they didn't show as much was because the shark didn't look real enough and actually looked a little silly when its shown up close.

And the best part about that story is that that makes the movie even better.

The fact that the shark didn't look good forced Spielberg to shape his movie in a different way and forced him make that suspense in a different way and he absolutely nails it. The suspense comes from the moments that you don't actually see the shark and you only see shadows in the water or from the perspective of the shark.

This made the movie so much more memorable and made the fear or it even more palpable. So much that people were afraid to go to the beach after seeing this movie.

So do I love it as much as the rest of the world did?

Unfortunately, no.

I think Jaws was more a product of its time than an amazing movie. While it is definitely a good movie and I understand why it has that classic feeling to it, I can't help but feel that other have done the suspense action movie better since. I have to give Jaws the credit for being the pioneer, and I am by no means saying the movie is bad. In fact, just looking at the picture above makes me remember a lot of the iconic moments of the movie. But I don't put Jaws at the top of my list just because it didn't excite me as much as the other Steven Spielberg movies I've seen. At the end of the day, I'm glad I saw it, its a good movie, but I'm not going to say this is an absolute essential if you're interested in movies, at least not one to be put at the top of the list.

But am I totally off? I feel like I'm betraying some kind of movie code by not praising this movie more, what do you think? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as send me your requests for movies I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I'll leave you with this. One of the most iconic things about Jaws (and a lot of the early Spielberg films) is the music composed by John Williams. Here is those two talking about how the theme for Jaws came up and how it became so iconic. Enjoy!