an impressive film but not perfect

Rating: Null/10 (16 July 2001)

Although I have never been a particular fan of Steven Spielberg's work I admire some of his films. Esp. his first feature TV film "Duel" is a stunning piece of film. The main idea is brilliant (you never get see the enemy, the driver of the tractor-trailer, and you do not know his motif) and the effect is more frightening than most horror movies turn out to be.
It is a low-budget film in contrast to "Jaws" which became very expensive and broke the record at this time.
"Jaws" came out in 1975, 4 years later. Like in "Duel" the huge talent of the film maker is obvious. The first half of the film is so well done, that it must be impossible to do it any better. Not only the way the suspense is built up but also the way it is filmed... to give just one example: the scene at the beach when Roy Scheider is observing the sea.
In style and esp. in the style of the music there are a few minor similarities to Hitchcock (and his main composer Bernard Herrmann).
By the way: The music by John Williams is very strong and adds a lot to the film!
As I would rate the first half of "JAWS" for 9 or 10* of 10 points - but I'd give the second half of the movie probably 2* out of 10 points.
Maybe I am the only one who sees it this way but I really think it gets a lot weaker in the end.
The final on the small ship with the three men and the shark takes much too long in my opinion. It seems never-ending and always repeating and it is too explicit for my taste. There are one or two moments when you get the impression that you must be watching a B-horror-movie. (It is a lot like a horror film anyway, although you may call it a thriller or something else. There a lot some drastic shock moments.)
The shark imitation is not to blame, it looks pretty good. But after not seeing the shark at all in the beginning, there is too much of it in the end.
And why do I always think that some parts of the hunting were better done in "Moby Dick"? There are definitely some parallels.
I watched the film on video with the "Making Of" which was very interesting and is worth seeing.