It's hard to believe, but there was actually a time when the summer period was viewed as the barren wasteland of movie release times. Back in those dark ages, Hollywood movie studios viewed the summer release season as the dumping ground for all of their exploitation and cheapo horror movies, and saved all of their big money releases for the late- and Christmas-season releases. This movie changed ALL of that. It became the first movie to gross $100 million dollars, and for good reason. "Jaws" was a big budget movie, yes, but it was a word of mouth smash - everyone had to see it. Its story is powerful, its acting is superb, and its action and suspense is a sight to behold.Put simply, "Jaws" is among an elite group of films important not only to the horror genre, but to cinema and moviemaking as a whole; in my opinion, legendary director Steven Spielberg has never topped his initial big-time Hollywood offering. So many classic scenes, so many memorable lines and characters, so many quotable lines of dialogue, and perhaps the most badass fishermen of all time make this movie must-see viewing.
I don't know, do I even have to get into the plot? I suppose I should for those that are SEVERELY lacking in the pop culture I.Q. quotient. "Jaws" begins with a group of partying beachgoers, music and grass-smoking being the primary interests. One girl breaks apart from the rest, strips naked, and dives out into the ocean - at which point she is savagely attacked by the largely unseen menace that will become the focal point of the rest of the film. Don't know if this is quite #1 Bravo scary movie moments worthy, but it's powerful stuff...and welcome to "Jaws."
"Jaws" is essentially the story of its three lead characters, and the three lead actors who play them. Roy Scheider is Chief Martin Brody, concerned only with the safety of the public, and not just the safety of the collective pocket-fattening that takes place every summer at Amity Island, which is what the mayor (Murray Hamilton) seems primarily concerned with after the attacks pile up. Richard Dreyfuss is Matt Hooper, a smartass oceanographer sent to deal with the new shark menace. And Robert Shaw turns in one of the ten best performances in movie history as Quint, the proverbial Ahab to Bruce the Shark's great white whale. Indeed, Spielberg's originally filmed scene that introduces Quint shows him laughing hysterically at a screening of the classic 1950s "Moby Dick" film.
The reason this movie is so successful is because it builds up its story and characters so well. Most people already know that we don't see the shark until well into the film; that much is a trivia universal. But what they DON'T tell you is that Brody, Hooper, and Quint are all three thoroughly endearing characters. For this reason, "Jaws" is one of the very few films that is actually MUCH better than the novel upon which it is based; while I enjoy the novel, its big weakness is apparent in the final third of the book (read: the shark hunt). By the time the big money scenes with the shark arrive in the book, we don't really give a damn about any of the three leads. You don't even really HAVE to give a damn about Richard Dreyfuss...you just have to put yourself in his situation. Throw in some actual plotting that MAKES us care about these people, and you've got captivating stuff on your hands.
And "Jaws" is a captivating film on pretty much every level. The soundtrack ("duh dun, duh dun") is a pop culture hallmark. Everyone has heard it. Spielberg gives us plenty of early credence that he is an absolute genius as a director; at the time, this probably ranked as the most challenging shoot in the history of man, not only because they were working with a freakin' 25-FOOT MECHANICAL SHARK for the duration of the movie's third act that almost never worked, but for a smorgasboard of other reasons. We always have to feel as if we are in the middle of the ocean, and Spielberg had to be VERY careful which direction his camera was pointing so as to never show land. The boat containing the sound crew sunk during filming, and had to be fished out by frogmen. As the movie went over budget, Spielberg had to convince his backers that the film was not only worth finishing, but a GOOD product would result. Indeed, this movie was ALMOST not finished, and that would have been a crime.
In the end, this is a film about people vs. a mindless monstrosity, and as a big fan of the "keep it simple, stupid" philosophy of storytelling, this movie is just a raucously entertaining watch no matter how many times I see it. In addition, this movie may very well contain the single greatest SCENE in movie history - that being Quint's monologue about the U.S.S. Indianapolis. While the book painted Quint as an extremely unsympathetic S.O.B., just watch this scene and tell me you don't want to see him drag the shark by its tail back to hell.
You don't really need me to say anymore, do you? Can't recommend this movie enough, must-see, Joe Bob says "check it out":)
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