This movie is responsible for my love of cinema!!!

Rating: 10/10 (27 June 2004)

I can't think of a movie that I 've seen more times than Jaws. It has every element that I love in a movie. Sure by todays fx standards it may seem dated to some, but it is a masterpiece of suspense and adventure. Steven Spielberg has been lauded for his other movies, he has made more serious movies of late, but I think this is one of his best movies. It is now known to most movie fans that the making of this movie was a nightmare. Steven Spielberg found a way to create a great film out of what in someone else's hands would have been a B popcorn film. True, at it's core it is a B movie, a great white shark terrorizes a New England Island town, three men go out to sea and battle the shark etc... What is great about this movie is its characters. Roy Scheider is great a Chief Brody, a Sheriff of the town who happens to be afraid of going into the ocean. He is not a hot shot know it all cop, he is an average Joe, doing his job to protect the town. Richard Dreyfuss is great as Hooper, a rich kid marine biologist who befriends Brody in his struggle to convince the town that they have a shark problem. And yes there is Quint, played by Robert Shaw, probably one of the most memorable movie characters ever. He is a salty sailor with a particular loathing of sharks. The movie takes its time to develop its premise, it doesn't rush to the battle with man and shark. The other great thing is that it is never pretentious, Spielberg could have filled the movie with metaphors of man against nature and the deep meaning of it, but he doesn't bother with it, it's an adventure film in the end. Most movie goers have seen this film, and I've seen a countless times, I always enjoy the movie. Jaws is credited by some to be the first bona fide summer blockbuster, it may have been , but it is better than most summer movies that come out these days. Summer movies nowadays are more concerned about CGI effects than storytelling, Jaws may have been made in 1975, but it holds up as one of the great adventures of all time. It lets us get to know and care about the characters before it thrusts them into the adventure, that makes the movie more entertaining. Great performances ,Great Director, Great script, Great Music, GREAT FILM!!!
My love for movies began with this!!!
Grade: A+