Jaws (1975) Directed by Steven Spielberg
The movie that put Spielberg in the spotlight. A simple idea, almost a B movie idea giant shark kills people, boom straight to the point. Jaws changed the way movies were made and pioneered the killer shark subgenre. While this started the trend of killer sea life movies it has what a lot don’t have, high production value and stellar acting. Almost everyone and their brother has seen Jaws, so basically this is just my thoughts on the film, not necessarily anything profound or groundbreaking.
At a young age I saw this movie, it was one of the movies that helped mold my love for horror and suspense. While you can somewhat argue if Jaws is a horror movie or not, you really can’t argue its horrific scenes and impact on the horror genre. I became obsessed with the film every time it was on tv. I would make my dad tape it for me and watch it at the same time haha. For you youngins out there, taping something was our equivalent to DVRing something except on a VCR. I loved Godzilla movies from the first time I saw Godzilla vs The Thing and to me Jaws was basically the same idea. A huge monster terrorizing a town. The great white shark in Jaws kills and eats numerous people and the gore, while not necessarily on screen during the kill is awesome. Most of the gore is shown after the fact, usually washed up on shore and discovered by the police or a fisherman.
The simple idea and intricate approach is a concept that is lost in today’s horror. Spielberg makes you feel that the shark is evil without it being able to speak or show any other actions different from a normal shark. Through out the movie the shark almost seems to become smarter and smarter. From destroying a dock to knock fisherman into the water to swimming under a boat to capsize it, the shark is cerebral. The biggest impact the movie had on me was the fact that you don’t see much of the shark until the last act of the movie, and when he appears, HOLY SHIT it scares the crap out of you. The reactions of the actors are natural and believable.
The acting, as stated earlier is remarkable. Roy Scheider is great as the local sheriff. His stern yet somewhat timid personality balances great with Quint’s grizzled sea hand bravado. We also get Richard Dreyfus as a marine biologist that is brought in to help study the shark. Dreyfus butts heads with Quint but soon the two respect each other and realize they are fighting for their lives against the great white. The special effects are amazing for the time. The shark is shown as mechanical and real depending on the shot. The animatronics for the shark are realistic and something that is lost today with CGI. Practical effects will always surpass CGI in my opinion. The actors are working with something physical and simply there, not pretending they see a digitally projected creature.
The build up to the final showdown is tense, you really feel like you are on the boat with the guys and every time the shark shows up you know something is going to happen. The intensity and gut wrenching action pulls you in and you can’t help but impatiently await the climax. The end is great, that’s all I will say. I know most people have seen this but if you haven’t, I will not ruin it. It is currently on Netflix, so you really don’t have a reason not to watch it. In conclusion Jaws is a masterpiece, it is almost perfect and deserves an A. I would suggest this to anyone that hasn’t seen it before.
