Still one of the best films ever made, Baby!!

Rating: 10/10 (22 January 2002)

JAWS (1975) **** Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Murray Hamilton, Lorraine Gary. One of the most successful and terrifying American classics that single-handedly coined the phrase "blockbuster" and did for swimming what "Psycho" did for taking a shower. Picturesque summer resort community Amity Beach is suddenly turned into a great white shark's feeding buffet with only source of reason Sheriff Martin Brody (Scheider) wanting to close down the beach prior to the profitable Fourth of July with the aid of shark scientist Matt Hooper (Dreyfuss) and salty shark hunter Quint (Shaw) on one of cinema's most memorable journeys into fear. Masterfully directed by a young punk named Steven Spielberg in his big-screen sophomoric turn helming the first of many successes in Hollywood. Based on Peter Benchley's (who has a cameo as a TV reporter) best-seller the storyline hooks you from its horrifying opening moments to its breath-taking finale of pure adrenalined, visceral terror. Oscar-winning and memorable soundtrack ("dumdumdumdum") by John Williams and production design Academy Award recipient for its genuinely scary and realistic shark nicknamed "Bruce" by the film's crew after Spielberg's lawyer. Classic line: "You're gonna need a bigger boat" by Scheider with a Pall-Mall doing a mad, dry-lipped jig on his close encounter for the very first time with the shark.