A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcrammers

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Of course, that something can be replaced by other things, and, like @crumbsroom said, Jaws is under no obligation to be tense or scary in every scene just because it's partially a Horror movie, but if those other things aren't as engaging, then I can't help but find the movie to be slightly uneven as a result.

You make a good case for what is great about the Indiannapolis scene. But the way you are levelling your criticism, is that because the rest of the movie isn't as engaging (and how could anything be??), it feels uneven.


Now, if all those other non-shark scenes don't do anything for you, fair enough. It makes sense you like the movie less than me. But you are writing this like the error of the film was they didn't maintain the tension of what is arguably one of the great masterclasses in tension building in modern cinematic history.



I assume it's the former.



You make a good case for what is great about the Indiannapolis scene. But the way you are levelling your criticism, is that because the rest of the movie isn't as engaging (and how could anything be??), it feels uneven.

Now, if all those other non-shark scenes don't do anything for you, fair enough. It makes sense you like the movie less than me. But you are writing this like the error of the film was they didn't maintain the tension of what is arguably one of the great masterclasses in tension building in modern cinematic history.


I assume it's the former.
It's the former, since my point wasn't that the non-shark scenes weren't as good because they weren't as specifically tense as that monologue, but because what they did do doesn't happen to be as engaging, IMO. And they could've done literally anything else, as far as I'm concerned; they could've been funny, dramatic, exciting, or whatever else, just so long as it was done well (which they were in general... just not 100% as well as the shark stuff was, as far as I'm concerned). It's no real surprise either, as Spielberg's often been kind of inconsistent with his ability to "shift gears" in his movies; I mean, you also got that unnecessary comic relief I mentioned in List, but that exact same year, he does a superb job of balancing the potentially contradictory tones of wonder and terror in Jurassic Park, so it's always been kind of a crap shoot as to whether he'll make that work perfectly, though he was still a great director on the whole in his prime.



I just realized I called Jaws "modern filmmaking". Which is almost exactly as hilarious as someone back in 1975 calling The Passion of Joan of Arc modern filmmaking.



I just realized I called Jaws "modern filmmaking". Which is almost exactly as hilarious as someone back in 1975 calling The Passion of Joan of Arc modern filmmaking.
Aw man, you just had to tempt Rocko to pop in here and badmouth it again, didn't you?



Aw man, you just had to tempt Rocko to pop in here and badmouth it again, didn't you?

Oh, not at all. I was just talking about the inescapable terror of time.



Not even Rock's terrible opinion can slow that down.



Is it movies where the killer uses a sharp instrument?



Victim of The Night
While I still think Jaws is a very good movie on the whole, since I just talked about this a bit on another forum, and I never got around to getting into it as in-depth here as I wanted to, I'd like to take this chance to revisit my biggest criticism of it that I mentioned in another thread here earlier, which is; the material not directly dealing with "Bruce" or the hunt for him aren't as gripping as the ones that do, due to the reduction of atmosphere/environmental tension in those scenes (which, to compare it to a peer movie in Alien, is the reason why that one's my favorite 70's monster movie, since it has that tension throughout, even in the scenes that don't feature, or even threaten the appearance of the Xenomorph at all).

I stand by this point because part of the reason why the "USS Indianapolis" monologue is such a great scene, and possibly the most iconic moment in a movie that's overflowing with 'em, is due to the sheer amount of environmental tension in the scene, with the steady sounds of the boat creaking, the waves crashing, and the ominous score, along with the sights of the light fixture swaying overhead, and the disorienting visual of the sea and the darkened sky continually bobbing up and down in the background all creating an incredibly unsettling mood, and setting the stage perfectly for Quint's story, so it only stands to reason that the scenes that don't have this tension lose something in the process.

Of course, that something can be replaced by other things, and, like @crumbsroom said, Jaws is under no obligation to be tense or scary in every scene just because it's partially a Horror movie, but if those other things aren't as engaging, then I can't help but find the movie to be slightly uneven as a result. I mean, it's not fundamentally different from my opinion on the secretary montage in the middle of Schindler's List, which I've always felt was an ill-advised digression into unnecessary comic relief, even though it takes place in what otherwise might just be my favorite movie of all time, you know?
I'm not sure I fully understand what you're saying but I think I'm disagreeing with what I think you're saying.
As I mentioned in my September thread when I wrote a longish thing about it, for me, the best scene in Jaws is when the mother of the kid who gets eaten comes up to Brody and slaps in front of everyone and says, "My boy is dead. I just wanted you to know that." That, to me is the most intense moment of the film and it's that stuff that makes all the stuff on the boat and with the shark a payoff because it's paying off all the good stuff in the first half of the film.



Last night I watched three movies of average length. Tonight I watched one looooong movie: In Search of Darkness Part 2, a four and a half hour documentary sequel about horror movies in the ‘80s. They kinda blew their wad with all the best horror movies of the ‘80s in the first one unfortunately. So what we get here are mostly barely remembered films that the talking heads aren’t that passionate about. But still, like the first one, it’s all nostalgic fluff that fits the tone of the season perfectly.



I'm not sure I fully understand what you're saying but I think I'm disagreeing with what I think you're saying.
As I mentioned in my September thread when I wrote a longish thing about it, for me, the best scene in Jaws is when the mother of the kid who gets eaten comes up to Brody and slaps in front of everyone and says, "My boy is dead. I just wanted you to know that." That, to me is the most intense moment of the film and it's that stuff that makes all the stuff on the boat and with the shark a payoff because it's paying off all the good stuff in the first half of the film.
Yeah most of the scenes that don’t involve the shark directly or discussing what to do about the shark are wonderful, especially the family moments. They all feel authentic and grounded, like Brody’s son mimicking his troubled gestures at the dinner table, the mom yelling at the kids to get out of the boat after she sees an image of a shark eating a boat in a book, “let Polly do the printing,” the mentioned Kitner slap, etc.

And as someone who’s lived in Massachusetts all my life and been to the Cape many times, they nailed that northeastern beach town summertime feel.



I'm not sure I fully understand what you're saying but I think I'm disagreeing with what I think you're saying.
As I mentioned in my September thread when I wrote a longish thing about it, for me, the best scene in Jaws is when the mother of the kid who gets eaten comes up to Brody and slaps in front of everyone and says, "My boy is dead. I just wanted you to know that." That, to me is the most intense moment of the film and it's that stuff that makes all the stuff on the boat and with the shark a payoff because it's paying off all the good stuff in the first half of the film.
What about it don't you fully understand? I'll do my best to explain it further, if you want. Anyway, the scene where the mother slaps Brody is a great moment, but it proves my point for me, since it was a result of one of the shark's attacks. That being said though, while I haven't read the book, I still imagine that Jaws the movie was better from everything I've heard about it, considering all the subplots that were apparently cut when they adapted it.

Yeah most of the scenes that don’t involve the shark directly or discussing what to do about the shark are wonderful, especially the family moments. They all feel authentic and grounded, like Brody’s son mimicking his troubled gestures at the dinner table, the mom yelling at the kids to get out of the boat after she sees an image of a shark eating a boat in a book, “let Polly do the printing,” the mentioned Kitner slap, etc.

And as someone who’s lived in Massachusetts all my life and been to the Cape many times, they nailed that northeastern beach town summertime feel.
I'm not saying that most of those weren't at least good moments (though I didn't remember the "Polly" line at all), I'm just saying that they didn't make a big enough impression on me on the whole for the movie they were in to be a favorite of mine.






You go in the thread.
Thread goes into hot takes.
Stu's into hot takes.
Our Stu.



I just realized I called Jaws "modern filmmaking". Which is almost exactly as hilarious as someone back in 1975 calling The Passion of Joan of Arc modern filmmaking.
This happened to me recently when I realized that it's the same amount of time between now and 9/11 and the time between 9/11 and the Lennon/Reagan assassinations.





You go in the thread.
Thread goes into hot takes.
Stu's into hot takes.
Our Stu.
Heh, if I knew how to, I'd make a GIF of a giant Baby Sinclair rearing up out of the water, followed by Brody saying "You're going to need a longer post"; can anyone here more skilled in that area oblige me, please?

I watched A Quiet Place 2. It was fine.
I still haven't seen AQP2 (not sure if I will, either), but did you like the first one, at least?



As long as we all agree that Jaws is a masterpiece almost peerless in construction, pacing, character and tension building, we’ll be fine.