That being said, Jaws is a landmark masterpiece of a movie. To this day, I still hear stories from people who saw it when it was released back in 1975. They tell me how the movie made them jump three seats down the aisle, and how they haven't been swimming since then.
Jaws tells the story of a Great White killer shark that is attacking Amity Island and eating swimmers. After two deaths, three men decide that enough is enough and hunt him down and kill him. Their names are Brody, Quint, and Hooper and they are played by Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss respectively. It is very graphic, and in my opinion, had there been three deaths in the film it would have gotten an R rating. Throughout his career, Spielberg has covered every genre imaginable. Jaws is certainly a thriller, but I would even go so far as to say it is a horror movie just because of its nature.
The writing in this movie is top-notch. When you are writing a movie like this, you have to take it seriously and not make it silly. In the wrong hands, Jaws could have easily been a silly movie. Because of the dialogue, you really feel for the three main actors, and you feel for the city that is deathly afraid of going in the water. There is a scene in the movie with the Mayor and Chief Brody. The Mayor says, "You yell 'Barracuda!', everybody says 'Huh? What?'. You yell 'Shark!', we've got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July." That piece of dialogue rings true for the entire movie.
If anyone has watched Richard Dreyfuss in interviews for his movies, you know that he has a great sense of humor which comes across easily in the movie. When he tells Chief Brody, " 'Scuse me. You know those eight guys in the fantail launch out there? Well, none of 'em are going to get out of the harbor alive.", you see him smile afterwards because it's not gonna be his fault if they don't listen to him and they die out there. Watching Robert Shaw in this movie is a great pleasure. Because of the kind of actor he was, you really believed that he was the experienced, older fisherman who knew what he was doing. If you listen to Quint, you'll come home with a butt-load of fish. Roy Scheider is an actor who has always remained close to my heart. I grew up watching him on a show called Seaquest D.S.V. It wasn't received very well, and it only lasted three seasons. I always like to think of the show as Star Trek underwater. Despite all of this, I really enjoyed the show. I remember when he died back in 2008, and it really was heartbreaking. Someone I had watched on television was no longer going to be there. Thank Odin for DVDs. When Quint smashes the radio, Roy Scheider's Brody turns into this grumpy old man who isn't getting his way, and now there's nothing they can do. Those are the kind of memories I have of watching Roy Scheider.
Spielberg was in his late 20's when he directed Jaws. Even though Steven Spielberg was not the bankable name back then that he is today, as a director he hasn't changed at all. You can watch Jaws and then watch Catch Me if You Can and you can tell he is exactly the same director.
John Williams is the most iconic and celebrated movie music composer of all time, and rightfully so. In my opinion, he is the greatest ever. He won his first Oscar for Original Score for this movie, and it was well-deserved.
The great miracle of this movie is that the mechanical shark never worked. Had it worked properly, the movie would have lost all meaning. Spielberg definitely knew what he was doing even at the young age of 27. He cranked out an iconic movie, and to this day he is one of the most influential directors of all time.
Spielberg was in his late 20's when he directed Jaws. Even though Steven Spielberg was not the bankable name back then that he is today, as a director he hasn't changed at all. You can watch Jaws and then watch Catch Me if You Can and you can tell he is exactly the same director.
John Williams is the most iconic and celebrated movie music composer of all time, and rightfully so. In my opinion, he is the greatest ever. He won his first Oscar for Original Score for this movie, and it was well-deserved.
The great miracle of this movie is that the mechanical shark never worked. Had it worked properly, the movie would have lost all meaning. Spielberg definitely knew what he was doing even at the young age of 27. He cranked out an iconic movie, and to this day he is one of the most influential directors of all time.
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