One of the Greatest Films of Our TIme

Rating: 10/10 (29 October 2006)

Most people today do not see the genius of this movie and it saddens me. Now saying that, you may think that I am a middle-aged man who saw this film when it came out in theaters and remembers the hype of the day. I'm not. I'm 17, was born in '89, and saw this film six years ago, and loved it ever since.
Being 11 when I first saw this film, I only liked the gore and cool shark scenes. Being older and a bigger appreciator of cinema, I understand the amazingness and complexity that goes into this movie. If you are anything more than the average movie-goer, you know this movie is more than a "Dun-dun-duh! Shark is killing everyone! Dun-dun-duh!" The movie is about the responsibilities of the town's police chief and a marine biologist. Or, more simply, it's about characters. Without the amazingly written characters, this film would probably be nothing.
The characters are what drive the plot of the movie. The characters are so amazingly written that some of the most memorable scenes in the film don't involve the shark at all. The boat night scene is one of my all-time favorite scenes in movie history. In case you can't remember, it's the scene in which Hooper and Quint share the scars they've received in shark hunting, then Quint tells his story of being on the USS Indianapolis, and the men sing "Show me the way to go home." The scene provides laughs, chills, and tears. Laughs at the cracks the men make while showing scars, chills when you hear Quint's terrifying story on the sinking boat, and tears when you feel the men's desolation on the boat as they sing. And you thought this was a shark movie.
But I don't say that in mockery of the movie's shark scenes. The shark is what drives the movie and it provides some of the greatest horror moments in cinematic history. The shark, nicknamed Bruce, is one of my all-time favorite horror icons. But although this movie is driven by and focused on a shark, I do not think it's right to consider this a shark movie. Again, it's about characters reacting to the shark, and how they try to live their lives with this fear of the unknown in the water. Creating a story in that context, creating a movie not about the creature, but the FEAR and the COPING of the creature...that is a challenge. Steven Spielberg, Carl Gottlieb, Peter Benchley...all the writers participated, they delivered that concept in the perfect way ever done. This movie is a triumph that will always stand the test of time.
10/10. My absolute favorite horror movie.
P.S. Don't see the sequels. Or just don't expect a millionth of the same brilliance.