Don't go near the water, children!

Rating: 8/10 (28 December 2006)

A contemporary viewing of 'Jaws' is quite a nostalgic experience, taking one back to the days when men were men (and fishermen smashed up their radio equipment, just to prove it), the killing of an endangered species was considered a suitable subject for heroic endeavour, and Steven Spielberg could make movies not weighed down by sentimentality or moralising. Although not quite as brutally effective as his earlier 'Duel', 'Jaws' is still a fine, minimalist thriller based on a very simple idea (namely, "big shark"), notable also for the absence of a single obvious hero (all three human protagonists have flaws). On the downside, John Williams' famous score is a little proscriptive at times, and although the shark is very frightening, the man versus shark fight is realised with only partial success: one never quite believes that all participants are in the same environment. Nonetheless, this is still an entertaining and scary movie, deserving its reputation as a classic of its type.