Jaws

Rating: 9/10 (6 April 2016)

When you hear the name Steven Spielberg, a few excellent films come to mind: Saving Private Ryan, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Schindler's List, and last but most definitely not least Jaws. Jaws has been captivating audiences since it's release in 1975, the film has survived the test of time for a few reasons; for instance the structure of a strong cast. The film is lead by Roy Scheider who does a spectacular job of telling the story of lead character Chief Martin Brody, he is able to use his emotion in the film to tell the audience that there is more than what meets the eye of Chief Brody. The other shining light acting wise in this film is the star Richard Dreyfuss and his portrayal of Matt Hooper; Dreyfuss truly establishes himself as a top tier actor in this film even though it isn't a film where he has the lead role. Dreyfuss exhibits something that is truly difficult to show, and that is believable body language throughout the film, which is what separates high-caliber acting from just average acting. The acting itself isn't the only thing to carry this film into greatness, the score of this film is what truly brings this film into fruition. The score by John Williams is iconic in a way itself.
The score for Jaws is a score that will live on in film history as it is the perfect culmination of story telling and emotion inducing. Everyone recognizes the suspenseful music that goes on throughout the film, and it tells two stories one of the story of the main character, the Shark, and then one of the victims; it portrays the shark as an unstoppable force and it creates an atmosphere which is overpowering to us humans that aren't so relentless. What makes this film truly stand out is the subject manner in the film. Jaws brings out the wrath of one of mother nature's children and causes the fear that is generated from this film to be real; it does something many films have tried to do and some films are still trying to do and it creates a real fear using real-world monsters. Jaws is and will continue to be a contributing factor in the history of film for all these reasons and solidifies the thriller genre as a very important one.