The head, the tail, the whole damn thing

Rating: 10/10 (26 February 2005)

Slightly less than 30 years ago as a teenager, I saw (on my second attempt--the first time the showing was sold out) what at the time was the first heavily hyped and marketed summer blockbuster. It was one of the most enthralling movie-going experiences I've ever had, and watching "Jaws" today on DVD misses something of that magic (nothing like seeing it on a 50-foot Panavision screen with 1,000 moviegoers screaming, applauding and laughing in all the right places) yet does not diminish the movie itself. Steven Spielberg would go on to projects of greater artistic ambition ("Schindler's List," "Saving Private Ryan") and would enjoy the services of much more reliable and convincing special-effects monsters (although less convincing humans) when he brought dinosaurs to life in "Jurassic Park," but has yet to make anything that's as perfect as "Jaws," on its own terms, was and is. Visually dazzling, marvelously suspenseful, and blessed with more character development and depth than most popcorn flicks, this is one for the ages.