CORPORATE LINE: From the best-selling novel by Peter Benchley, Steven Spielberg directed this thrill ride of terror. During the height of beach season, the Massachusetts resort town of Amity Island is terrorized one summer by surprise attacks from a great white shark. Three unlikely partners team up to hunt down the rogue and destroy it: the new chief of police from New York (Roy Scheider), a young university-educated oceanographer (Richard Dreyfuss), and a crusty old-time fisherman (Robert Shaw). The film shoot was notoriously difficult for the young Spielberg, who had directed only one feature film before JAWS. The mechanical shark seldom operated correctly, and Spielberg was frequently forced to create the idea of terror without actually showing the shark. However, after the film premiered it went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time–surpassing THE GODFATHER and becoming the first film to gross more than a hundred million dollars. Composer John Williams created the score to JAWS, which has since become a well-known theme of impending doom. Ron and Valerie Taylor were responsible for filming live sharks in Australia; their sequences were later mixed with footage of the mechanical shark.
THE FILM: Spielberg’s monster movie is brilliant in every aspect. Even watching it for the umpteenth time it’s still as thrilling. Spielberg’s holding back on not revealing the monster late created such tension that you never release it until the movie is over.
The cast is perfect. Roy Scheider as the chief of police plays it down the line to Richard Dreyfuss and the crotchety fisherman played by Robert Shaw. Each brings a different dimension which keeps the movie moving forward even when Jaws is MIA. Certainly Shaw’s character is based on Moby Dick and yet his obsession never overcomes the task at hand; saving lives by destroying the shark.
DVD FEATURES: Featured along with the special edition DVD is a 60-page commemorative photo journal.
The main reason to buy this version versus previous is the two-hour documentary; “The Making of Jaws.” It was previously released with the 25th Anniversary DVD set. The production information is exciting to watch—even if you’ve seen it before. The information on the mechanical shark is as interesting today as it was ten years ago. It’s a part of film lore now and a history that never gets tired.
The real blow is the lack of commentary—although it wasn’t expected. But you get most of what you could want or need in the documentary. It was Spielberg’s drive and determination that made the film great. It’s fun to watch him work and speaking about the experience.
The “Deleted Scenes and Outtakes” is another re-release from the 25th anniversary. Most of these are deleted scenes but there are a few outtakes yet nothing is really that interesting or amusing.
FRANKLY: Jaws helped define a genre that hasn’t really got it right since. Jaws struck fear because we are seemingly preprogrammed to fear the ocean. Only recently a surfer was bit in Jersey and it wasn’t long ago that a shark tore off the arm of a girl surfing in Hawaii. Jaws is something we feel in our bones when we look far into the ocean and wonder what might be below the surface. Jaws certainly keep some people out of the ocean and that proves the power of this film.
+ Charlie Craine
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