Jaws Review

 

        Summer’s officially here, not really but since its’s now May I will be dropping new reviews three times a week. One can’t talk about summer blockbusters without having a civil conversation about Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. It’s unfathomable just how this one movie about a really big fish changed the landscape for cinema. At the time, no studio released a hyped movie during the summer. After the release of this film, every studio releases their slate of films that would hopefully turn a big profit. So let’s get started. SPOILERS will appear. 

1. A Monster Movie

        Little do people know that this film is based on the novel by Peter Benchley. He actually co-wrote the movie along with screenwriter Carl Gottlieb, it’s one of those rare instances where the author has a hand with the film adaptation. At its core, the film is about a Great White Shark running amok in the peaceful Amity Beach. With Chief Brody played by Roy Scheider who takes it upon himself to protect the civilians from potential attacks. Not only does he have to deal with the animal, but the mayor of the town as well. 

        When being presented with the details of how serious the shark attacks are, Mayor Larry ignores them and goes ahead with opening up the beach to the tourists to relax and have fun. He explains that the town is reliant on the tourists for income, which I’ll give the film that since it’s too easy to make a politico in the film just unlikeable. He has a reason. And like most things, it bites him in the ass. 

        One would consider this movie to be either: a monster movie, anti-capitalist movie, adventure movie, or obviously a summer movie. It manages to be all of them with no overlap or inconsistency in terms of drama and urgency. Since, the actual animal in question is only in the movie for a little bit. To make up for it is the great character interactions that give everyone depth. Those are the best part since if it had the shark every couple or so minutes, it would just be a plain B-Movie. 

        To put it into context, some movies involving animals going on a rampage are pretty bad. Especially the ones that involve giant spiders or other bugs that were popping up back in the 50s to capitalize during the Atomic age when the bomb was still in everyone’s mind. Here it’s played straight, a Shark seeing humans and eating them as they encroach in its territory. It’s not a bumbling monster or one altered by science, just an animal living and eating. 

        One last thing is that iconic music. It's so simple, even referenced here and there in movies or any situation. The music remind me of heart beats when the animal is approaching. What I like is that we are trained that when we hear the music, the shark appears. The film goes above and beyond to have the shark pop out without the music. It made me terrified since I was not expecting the moment for the shark to breach the surface. 

2. Chief Brody and Co. 

        To put it out there, during the filming of Jaws the animatronic wouldn’t work all the time. Spielberg made up for it by having most of the film be character driven. That’s where we see Brody meeting Hooper played by Richard Dreyfuss and Quint played by Robert Shaw. We progressively get introduced to them when the small town react to the shark. With Hooper being brought in to analyze a remnants of the first victim we see. 

        Quint is probably the most interesting out of all them. He has one moment where hunting the shark is personal but we’ll get to that momentarily. What’s great is that we each understand what’s in it for them to see and kill the shark. It’s obvious for the Chief that he’s the one who oversees the town to make sure everyone is safe. Hooper is from the Oceanographic Institute and likes to study Sharks. He joins Brody to hunt down and stop the Great White. 

3. USS Indianapolis Monologue 

        And then we have Quint, he’s the no-nosense guy who’s old fashioned with finding the Shark. When being presented with Hooper’s equipment, he laughs it off and uses his own knowledge to track down the aquatic animal. He has an old fishing boat called the Orca, a far cry from the technologically advanced ship that Hooper uses when Brody invites him to find the Shark. At first he starts off as the weird guy in town. 

        We warm up to him when the trio head out to the waters to finally hunt. He chastises Hooper for not knowing how to tie a specific knot. Other than that, he is the one to have most experience when he and Hooper compare scars on their bodies. That’s when we hear the story that should’ve gotten Robert Shaw a nomination for best supporting actor. He explains that he was part of the USS Indianapolis sinking. Which was the ship that sank during World War 2, and the survivors were eaten by swarming sharks. 

        Just him explaining the story and both Brody and Hooper listening show just how much hunting the shark means to Quint. The fact that all of them have some reason as to hunt for it, but it comes with the personal vendetta. There was a plan to have that story be a prequel to Jaws and have it follow Quint’s exploits. I’m glad that it didn’t go forward, since it would’ve ruined just how mysterious the character is. 

4. Legacy

        The influence that this movie had was felt during and after the release. It was released in 900 theaters across the country and ran throughout the entire summer. More so that it was merchandised to hype up the film. Before Star Wars, it was the highest grossing movie at that time and have a massive impact on pop culture. When it was inevitably broadcasted on television, people watched it by the millions. The film propelled Spielberg to a prominent director and to be one of the greatest in all of cinema. 

        Unfortunately, there had to be sequels. I haven’t seen them, I have no chance to ever watch them since just by name association they are inferior. The third one even had the ambitious idea of making it 3-D. That's not even the worst part, the fourth one involves the damn shark stalking the Brody family for revenge. Since that’s what the fourth movie is called Jaws: The Revenge. Just the idiocy of the sequels inspired more directors to direct shark movies that are nowhere near as good as Jaws. I will let you in on a secret that there's 50 crappy shark movies involving weird situations like a tornado to odd animal fusions. It's something where you need to drink heavily to get over just how bad they are. 

5. Overall 

        To put it bluntly, it’s nearly 50 years old. It still holds up as one wild ride and influential film of all time. Need I say more? 

        Jaws gets a five out of five.