Jaws (1975)-"PG-13"

Run Time:124 minutes

4 stars out of 4

Spielberg's Jaws is one of my favorite films of all time. Based on the best-selling novel by Peter Benchley, the film version is a lot less trashy, and in my mind, a better story for it. The story is simple. Amity Island is a small seaside resort community in New England, a town whose success is completely dependant on the money brought in by thousands of summer visitors from downstate. Just before the Fourth of July, the peak of the tourist season in Amity, a young woman's body is found horribly mutilated and washed up on the beach. When the medical examiner determines the death to have been caused by shark attack, community leaders scramble to play down the death and convince themselves that it was just a freak accident, in order to save the tourist season. Police Chief Martin Brody (played by Roy Scheider) is forced to keep the beaches open, despite another possible attack. When another boy, a local named Alex Kintner (Jeffrey Voorhees), also falls victim to the shark, this time in broad daylight with plenty of other people nearby in the water, the town is again in a tight spot. A shark expert from the mainland, Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) is called in and the search begins for a shark capable of causing such damage and striking so swiftly. Hooper and Brody, together with the help of a local fisherman and pro shark hunter Quint (Robert Shaw), set out on a two day voyage to kill the beast before he can kill again. What they find on the open sea turns out to be the biggest, meanest shark of them all, a great white, who just might prove to be more than they can handle. One of the reasons that this film is able to draw the viewer in so well is that it involves a fear that many people have: deep water. You don't know what could be swimming three feet under you, and this film wonderfully plays on that fear, especially right in the opening scene. Another thing I love about the film is its versatility. One minute you're laughing about Brody's complete inability as a sailor, the next that giant shark head looms out of the water and scares the living crap out of you, right when you've gotten relaxed. The marriage of comedy and surprise is pulled off so perfectly, and brings such excitement and suspense to the film that it really proves Spielberg a film genius. Spielberg isn't the only talent behind this movie, however. Scheider, Shaw, and Dreyfuss are all perfectly cast and seem born into their roles. And, the musical score, written by John Williams helps tremendously with the suspense and lurking presence of the shark, not to mention also becoming one of the most-used and most recognizable clips of music ever used in a film. There are so many good things about this film that are all brought together so well, that this film has truly become a modern classic, and one of the greatest "monster" movies of all time.

Reasons for rating:

PG-13 for some questionable language and moderately violent shark attack scenes

Return to Main Page