"Love to prove that wouldn't you? Get your picture in the National Geographic"

Rating: 10/10 (8 August 2006)

The best way to start my review of "Jaws" is to just get right to it and say that this film is one of the greatest movies ever made. I love this movie, and that is that. Located somewhere in the northeast, the fictional town of Amity is run by a bureaucratic city council that has tunnel vision with nothing but the bottom line of dollars and cents in mind. The deputy is lost in his mind and the sheriff is one Martin Brody, a man who hates the water but lives on an island. "It's only an island if you look at it from a boat" Brody says. Amity also has a shark problem. A 25 ft long Great White shark has just staked a claim off the coastal waters of the island, and the shark has decided to feed on hapless beach goers.
Sheriff Brody wants to shut the beaches down until the matter can be resolved with the proper shark experts, but the mayor and city council fear that shutting the beaches down will impact the vital summer tourist economy of Amity. It doesn't matter how many people get devoured by the shark, the people in charge don't want to lose their summer dollars. The beaches must remain open and Brody is in a constant volleying act between the suits that run Amity and the shark itself. This film is what I consider to be one of the first "modern" movies. It was made in 1975 and it simply feels much more modern then anything that came before it. Filled with one liners, this is an action movie that predates the current action flick genre. The plot is fantastic and the acting is excellent. But not only did this film have a well oiled story that was tightly directed, and an esteemed cast of actors, but the film had such a profound impact on pop culture that will be timeless. Jaws is loaded with quotable fun lines that resonates and stays with you:
"You yell barracuda and everyone says 'hunh, what'?. You yell SHARK, and we got a panic on our hands on the 4th of July".
"We're gonna need a bigger boat".
"That's one bad hat Harry".
"I don't think you're going to understand this problem until it swims up and bites you in the ASS!"
The line I quoted for my summary heading is probably my favorite, just because it adds insight into the mentality of the sleaze bag mayor of Amity. Mayor Vaughn is out to protect the financial interests of his town and he views the brash young oceanographer Matt Hooper as someone who has arrived in Amity with nothing but his own rich boy interests working for him . Hooper couldn't possibly be here to do anything but lobby himself for a possible National Graphic cover could he? The notion that Hooper would want to help Brody protect the people of Amity doesn't even seem to cross Vaugh's mind. No Hooper must be here to be a glory hound and nothing else. Such is the mindset of the bureaucrats that run Amity.
The mechanical shark in Jaws (nickamed "Bruce") reportedly would not work very well for director Steven Spielberg, subsequently Spielberg resorted to point of view shots to achieve the terror he desired. This was an inspired piece of genius, far better then actually seeing the shark. The shark later is represented by an assortment of different floating objects, from dock piers, yellow keg barrels, and of course it's own dorsal tail fin. We don't always see the animal, but we are convinced it is there. When we finally do see the shark towards the end of the picture, it doesn't matter that it looks fake as hell, it's real within the context of the movie and that's all that matters. Probably the aspect of this film is bringing together three different characters to take part in the journey of man vs. nature. Brody is the level headed family man, Hooper is the intellectual college grad, and Quint is the gruff old seamen with his own vendetta against sharks. Perhaps the single best moment of the movie is near the end when the shark has 3 barrels attached to him but still won't drown, the engine of the ship is burnt out and Quint calmly comes out and throws a couple of life preservers to Brody and Hooper. Quint however does not put HIS life preserver on (because of his own creepy tale with sharks). Quint knows very well what sharks can do to a man and this moment all 3 men realize the ship is sinking and they are running out of options. Just a fantastically shot and brilliantly acted moment. I was born on July 3rd of the year this film was released, and every 4th of July it has become a habit of mine to watch this film. Watch this film, and don't hold the mechanical shark against it, I promise you won't regret it.