Still works on many levels...

Rating: 9/10 (7 July 2005)

Having seen Jaws again for what must be the 37th time, I'm still pleased with almost all aspects of the film. The pacing is nearly perfect, the story is strong, still fairly frightening (really, after 37 times?) and the acting is good. Many of Spielberg's trademarks grace the film. Solid cinematography all around, some of which has since been taken for granted. Viewed against "Duel", its easy to see why he felt he could pull this one off, despite obvious limitations. Knowing the history of "Jaws" and seeing it again, it is hard to believe that it was as difficult to make as everybody working on the film has since stated. It feels very natural. I would speculate that it's status in film history would arguably be the same if some of the bumps along the way were apparent in the film. In retrospect, I do see moments in the film where one might suggest its hit a rough patch, but the story itself isn't perfect so I find it difficult to tell. At the same time, I don't feel that I'm doing the film justice by thinking about it heavily. Spielberg later made plenty of those, "Jaws" not being one of them. Still, it doesn't leave you brain-dead like the standard popcorn flick (i.e. "The Lost World"). This is still very much a cut above most anything like it that followed and only a bit better than "Duel", both of which are very close to my film-going heart. Spielberg has not since given us such a shock or such a fright, but almost certainly better films and better stories. I'm giving "Jaws" a 9 because it's really a sum of it's parts, and it still works on many levels.