← Back to Reviews
in
That's how war veteran turned shark fisherman Quint (Robert Shaw) describes the creature after his deadly encounter with them during the war. "Eleven hundred men went into the water, three hundred sixteen men come out, and the sharks took the rest", he says. That encounter has haunted him to the point that he's hellbent on capturing or killing a shark, any shark, perhaps as a way to exorcize his own demons. But he's not the only one.
Jaws mainly follows Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), the police chief in the beach town of Amity Island who happens to "hate water". "I guess it's a childhood thing", says his wife, even though it is never fully explained. But the threat and subsequent attacks from a great white shark on the beaches forces him to face his fears, whatever they are, in order to protect his family and the townspeople, but perhaps, much like Quint, to exorcize his own demons as well.
Joining them on the adventure is Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), a young oceanographer that quickly finds out that what he learned in books doesn't necessarily equate to the reality in the water. The three form an unlikely alliance to try to stop this shark. But can they overcome their own fears, agendas, and obsessions to do it?
This is a film I've been watching ever since I was a kid. I must have seen it dozens of times and my appreciation for it has only grown more and more as I grow older. Not only is it well acted, but it's exceptionally well directed, which is more impressive when you consider it was only Spielberg's third feature film. Much like Coppola in Apocalypse Now, one can say that the production issues made him a better filmmaker and made the film more effective than it would've been.
Jaws and Spielberg went on to define the blockbuster trend of "big budget" summer films, but it did so with a lot of craft and skill, a lot of care, and yes, maybe a bit of luck. And unlike many other big blockbusters of past and recent years, lifeless ones, when this one "bites" you, you're eyes are gonna roll over from how thrilling, scary, and fun it is.
Grade:
JAWS
(1975, Spielberg)
(1975, Spielberg)
"You know the thing about a shark? He's got... lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'... until he bites you."
That's how war veteran turned shark fisherman Quint (Robert Shaw) describes the creature after his deadly encounter with them during the war. "Eleven hundred men went into the water, three hundred sixteen men come out, and the sharks took the rest", he says. That encounter has haunted him to the point that he's hellbent on capturing or killing a shark, any shark, perhaps as a way to exorcize his own demons. But he's not the only one.
Jaws mainly follows Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), the police chief in the beach town of Amity Island who happens to "hate water". "I guess it's a childhood thing", says his wife, even though it is never fully explained. But the threat and subsequent attacks from a great white shark on the beaches forces him to face his fears, whatever they are, in order to protect his family and the townspeople, but perhaps, much like Quint, to exorcize his own demons as well.
Joining them on the adventure is Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), a young oceanographer that quickly finds out that what he learned in books doesn't necessarily equate to the reality in the water. The three form an unlikely alliance to try to stop this shark. But can they overcome their own fears, agendas, and obsessions to do it?
This is a film I've been watching ever since I was a kid. I must have seen it dozens of times and my appreciation for it has only grown more and more as I grow older. Not only is it well acted, but it's exceptionally well directed, which is more impressive when you consider it was only Spielberg's third feature film. Much like Coppola in Apocalypse Now, one can say that the production issues made him a better filmmaker and made the film more effective than it would've been.
Jaws and Spielberg went on to define the blockbuster trend of "big budget" summer films, but it did so with a lot of craft and skill, a lot of care, and yes, maybe a bit of luck. And unlike many other big blockbusters of past and recent years, lifeless ones, when this one "bites" you, you're eyes are gonna roll over from how thrilling, scary, and fun it is.
Grade: