Bruce almighty. Give me a mechanical shark over CGI any day.

Rating: 10/10 (14 August 2012)

Much has been made over the years since Jaws first took the world by storm of the overall naffness of the mechanical shark, a.k.a Bruce. Watching it back in the year 2012, nearly forty years since it's release, it's amazing how good it actually looks. In a world overrun by computer generated jiggery pokery, seeing the raw ambition and physicality of an actual on location effect is an infinitely more rewarding experience than seeing some weightless digital manipulation which is an all too present feature of many modern mainstream blockbusters. Jaws is and always was far more than just a film about a giant shark terrorising a vibrant beach community. Based on Peter Benchley's bestseller, it owes a huge debt to Hitchcock in the way it implies threat and employs clever camera techniques to heighten tension. In collaboration with Benchley, Carl Gottlieb's superb screenplay is fleshed out beautifully with great performances including some wonderfully improvised moments that ground the film and give it surprising humanity. Richard Shaw's 'Quint', the stubborn old sea dog, Richard Dreyfuss' 'Hooper', the nerdy enthusiastic science puppy and Roy Scheider's 'Brody', the slightly neurotic worrier create a hugely likable trio that in the second half of the film come into their own in the hunt for the monster. A Jaws review without mention of John Williams' genius musical score is not a proper review. As with many other celebrated classics, Williams' music is the star of the film. With a few simple notes, Williams created something truly iconic that lives strong today in the vast subconsciousness of the world. I have nothing negative to say about Jaws, it still shocks, it still surprises and it'll forever be a classic piece of cinema from a talented director with the ability to use his influences to create his own brand of magic.