Jaws is by far my favourite movie of all time. It’s the reason I love sharks, the reason I got into film production, and so much more. I still go out of my way to see every shark/animal horror film that releases, but very few ever hold a candle to the masterpiece that is Jaws (Spielberg, 1975). My love of the film has no limits, I have even wrote synopisis for multiple reboots/sequels/spiritual successors. I even wrote a full story a few years ago. But let’s put that aside and get to the greatest movie of all time. The reason many of us avoided the water.
Details of Jaws
Movie: Jaws
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Companies: Zanuck/Brown Company & Universal Pictures
Director: Steven Spielberg
Producers: Richard D. Zanuck
Scriptwriters: Peter Benchley & Carl Gottlieb (based on Benchley’s novel- Jaws)
Main Cast: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gray, & Murray Hamilton
Released: 20th June 1975
Running Time: 124 Minutes
Certificate: PG
Story of Jaws
Set in the fictional island of Amity of the coast of mainland US is the newly ironic hiring of police Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) who is scared of water. The newly appointed chief is submerged in the deep end of politics when he finds a dead woman believing it to be proof of a shark attack. The Mayor ignores the Chief’s pleas and insist the beaches must stay open for the 4th of July tourist income that the small island town relies on. To no surprise the allure of the splashing beach goers ensures the shark returns for seconds.
The town erupts in panic as they enlist a USS Indianapolis survivor turned shark hunter named Quint (Robert Shaw), but there’s a catch. Chief Brody and the marine biologist , sent to investigate the shark activity, must come along. The three set sail the next morning. After a pretty uneventful first day and night of drinking and sharing bite scars.
The climatic finale comes to an end in a suspenseful climax that is well edited clipping together real footage of sharks with the prop mechanical shark (which by all means hasn’t aged that well). The clips of real sharks helped this films lasting appeal. Ensuring some real tense visual imagery when the mechanical sharks off putting nature in modern day cinema would certainly ruin the tone of the finale if it was used more in the final cut.
Analysis of Jaws.
A partnership that ended in multiple Oscars, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, E.T and much more.
The iconic original score for the film was composed by none other than John Williams himself. He received the Oscar for best original score for his contributions to the film. Spielberg was so pleased with his work that he passed on his name to Lucas when he was looking for someone to compose the music for his in-development space opera that would soon be released a couple years later titled Star Wars (Lucas, 1977). The relationship between the three has since spawned countless blockbuster films from Schindler’s List (Spielberg, 1993) to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Spielberg, 1989).
Williams’ soundtrack is arguably the best feature Jaws. The crescendo that alternates between two keys perfectly mirrors the flow of a shark’s tail when swimming. The tone and velocity of the melody depicts the sharks natural hunting movements perfectly. It is with such a mood setting soundtrack that entitles Spielberg to be more creative with his shots. This film pioneered what would soon become staples of horror.
Summary of Jaws
From the jump scare to POV shots of the monster. Jaws (Spielberg, 1975) is responsible for so much influence on today’s film scene it surely is worth a watch. It was top grossing film of all time until 1977 for a reason. It is a masterclass creative masterpiece created by ragtag mobile film crews that somehow managed to create a film that revolutionized the horror/thriller genres with a malfunctioning mechanical shark named Bruce.
