This is "THE" Summer blockbuster

Rating: 9/10 (20 July 2010)

'Jaws' is considered the pioneer of the Summer blockbusters. After all, its impact and success made it a much copied movie, by giving birth to 3 sequels and different movies inspired on it (such as 'Deep Blue Sea'). But 'Jaws' is definitely THE Summer blockbuster (and also the one to own).
Steven Spielberg was in the beginning of his career when he made this movie. Although he made other movies before, this was his first hit. Its success surprised even Spielberg himself. The movie is based on a 1974 book (same title) by Peter Benchley. I read the book and there are many differences...
Filming of the movie took much longer than planned. It was supposed to take about 2 months, but ended up taking more than 5 months (also due to reliability issues with the mechanical sharks).
'Jaws' is considered a classic in its genre. Indeed it is a great movie but also shocking. It is intense and combines strong suspense and horror. The shark is immense and intimidating. It is clearly over-sized, but that also makes the movie more terrifying. It looks a bit rubbery at times, but I don't think it looks as artificial as many do.
Nicely filmed, the movie takes place in a fictional Summer resort town (Amity Island). The place looks very appealing, the sandy beach is big, beautiful and very inviting. And that's where the brutal shark's attacks occur. It's heaven and hell at the same time.
The movie's got some of the most horrifying deaths ever in a movie. While not the scariest movie of its kind, it surely is scary when it is. In fact, I often read and heard that when the movie came out in 1975, never before had the cinemas been so full and the beaches so empty. It wasn't just because of the movie's euphoria, but also because of the shark's attacks seen in it (maybe more than the sharks's attacks in real life). Today the movie continues to marvel and shock audiences.
And the soundtrack by the genial John Williams is strong and powerful, very appropriate for the movie. It gives the sensation of being spooky and carried with suspense, the feeling that something terrible is about to happen.
Roy Scheider portrays the town's police chief Martin Brody. Richard Dreyfuss stars as the marine biologist Matt Hooper. Robert Shaw plays the rude fisherman and shark hunter Quint. Murray Hamilton is Larry Vaughn, the selfish Mayor of Amity Island. Ever since the beginning, Brody wants to close the beaches to protect beachgoers from the shark's attacks, but is overruled by the Mayor, who refuses to close the beaches because of his greed for money and also refuses to listen to or believe anybody. His selfishness costs lives, as we see in the film - including a child's life.
The first half of the movie focus more on the attacks and also lets us know Amity Island and appreciate its scenario. The second half focus on the attempt to hunt the great beast.
The movie's poster is great, even more so in the DVD cover.