Slightly overrated...but definitely a trend-setter!

Rating: 7/10 (7 May 2005)

"Jaws" is a tense, intelligent and compelling adventure that still counts as Steven Spielberg's second best film, after his downright brilliant debut "Duel". Nonetheless, apart from the terrific idea to introduce a "creature of nature" as an invincible nemesis, this movie lacks a few essential aspects to be labeled masterpiece, in my humble opinion. That, of course, doesn't mean that it isn't a must-see film! "Jaws" is an exhilarating movie-experience and also an excellent reminder that Spielberg used to make gripping films for adult audiences, rather than dull and childish epics with an overuse of sentiment. The clever screenplay (mostly written by Peter Benchley) neatly divides this film into two parts. The first part is really splendid, with the quiet island community of Amity slowly growing aware of the fact that they've got a serious water-problem on their hands. The first (and severely mutilated) bodies of shark-attack victims begin to wash ashore but the obnoxious mayor initially refuses to acknowledge the problem out of fear tourists will stay away during the summer-opening weekend. This first half is very suspenseful (the opening on the tunes of John Williams' world-famous score!!), the camera-work is exquisite and there's some nice hillbilly-humor in the script. The second half has three specialists going out to sea in order to hunt down and kill the great white shark. Police chief Brody (Scheider), independent sea-hunter Quint (Shaw) and oceanographer Hooper (Dreyfuss) play cat and mouse on open water with an impressive monster they yet don't properly know the enormous proportions of (hence the classic quote "You're gonna need a bigger boat" when Brody first beholds the shark). Personally, I think this second part is a bit overlong and overall not as involving as the first. However, the character-drawing of our 3 heroes is brilliant and Shaw's "Indianapolis"-monologue is still very chilling (it took three additional scriptwriters to perfection this legendary speech). The film's climax is very bloody and therefore a rewarding ending.
I guess the main reason why I love this movie is because of the trend it started. Steven Spielberg and his film single-handedly launched an endless series of ripoffs and outrageous creature-features that nearly turn every animal on this planet into ravenous monsters. I make a hobby out of tracking down the films that were obviously inspired by this milestone. The sea-monster movies remain the coolest, for sure. There are a lot of worthwhile rip-off's to be found; like "Orca Â– Killer Whale", "Pirahna" or "Alligator" but even more stinkers like "Tentacles", "Tintorera - Tiger Shark" or "Killer Fish".