I have mixed feelings about this movie.

Rating: 5/10 (18 September 2000)

I still have mixed feelings about this movie. When I first saw it - on TV, in about 1985 - I was 9 years old. Having seen it, I immediately (together with my friend) love those fascinating, majestic fish. I started reading, learning and collecting everything I could find on sharks. I learned their Latin names, even though, obviously, I didn't speak Latin yet! I filled many copybooks with my notes, my drawings (and I *could* draw :), sketches and cutouts - everythingI still have mixed feelings about this movie. When I first saw it - on TV, in about 1985 - I was 9 years old. Having seen it, I immediately (together with my friend) love those fascinating, majestic fish. I started reading, learning and collecting everything I could find on sharks. I learned their Latin names, even though, obviously, I didn't speak Latin yet! I filled many copybooks with my notes, my drawings (and I *could* draw :), sketches and cutouts - everything I could find on sharks (And the task wasn't so easy for a 9 year old - these were 1980s and it was not USA with its superb libraries available!) I was fascinated by sharks - to this day they remain among my favorite animals and remember everything about them, even though I'm as far from biology and zoology as can be! And then I learned that most people's reaction to "Jaws" was not admiration and respect for those wonderful creatures that sharks are, but fear and hatred! I was shocked - how could anyone hate sharks? I was sure everyone would realize how false the very idea of "Jaws" was, and understand that the movie is nothing but a 100% untrue, unrealistic fairy tale with horror elements - a modern Brothers Grimm equivalent! But obviously, many people believed it and as a result, supported the criminal idea of killing sharks. What a sick thing to do, I thought! Couldn't they separate the truth from the movie? Didn't they know how fabulous and actually not at all aggressive toward humans sharks had always been? Apparently, they didn't... and many grew to hate sharks *because* of "Jaws"!
To sum it up - I would give the movie 9 stars for its value entertainment and minus 100 stars for what it did to sharks. My final verdict, then? I give it (? :) stars. As for the advice, I would tell you to read a few good books on sharks and watch a few good documentaries before seeing "Jaws", especially if your opinion on sharks is not favorable.