Can I Rate It 11?

Rating: 10/10 (1 May 2009)

Jaws. Just saying the title makes John Williams' haunting score ring in my ears. When I first saw this movie when I was 7 years old, my life was changed. I'd never seen anything like it. It was breathtaking. For those who don't know, Jaws tells the tale of three men who set out on a perilous journey to try and stop a killer shark that has been terrorizing a small New England island. For the majority of the film, the shark is never seen. This builds up the tension until the big reveal. Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss play the three men who set out to catch the shark, and they all give stellar performances. However, Shaw stands out the most. His speech about the USS Indianapolis is riveting, and each line he gives is perfectly delivered. The film also stars Lorraine Gary as Scheider's wife and the perfectly cast Murray Hamilton as the persistent Mayor Vaughn. The screenplay is written perfectly, and the character development is simply fantastic. Jaws is a great movie, and it will always be one of my favorites.