A great sea tale that never gets old. This is man versus nature at it's terrifying best.

Rating: 10/10 (28 February 2005)

Spielberg, cast, and crew still say making this film was a nightmare. Problems with the mechanical shark caused the film to go over budget and way over schedule. However, the end result was worth it. There has never been anything like JAWS and there never will be. It was the film that kicked off the summer blockbuster in the summer of 1975.
A great white shark stakes a claim off Amity Island, really Martha's Vineyard, and Roy Scheider's Chief Brody tries to stop it. He has the help of Richard Dreyfuss's amusing Matt Hooper, shark expert and nothing at all like Peter Benchley's handsome and pompous creation from the book. Both men are trying to prove to the stubborn town Mayor, brilliantly played by Murray Hamilton, that there is indeed a killer shark out there.
There is some real suspense and terror in this film which has proudly stood the test of time. People can relate to Brody's everyman hero, enjoy Hooper's wisecracks, and become enthralled and miffed with Robert Shaw's brilliant turn as Quint, the sea captain whose seen it all. Quint's story about the U.S.S. Indianapolis is pure terror.
John Williams's score is tense and frightening. Spielberg has made a career of working with this man and I can see why. Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T.,etc. Williams knows how to set the mood and to this day when I swim in the ocean I hear his score in the back of my mind.
There are so many great scenes in this film. The horror of the opening scene grabs you and doesn't let go as we watch a beautiful, young woman take her final swim. Quint's introduction at the town meeting scratching the chalkboard is one of a kind. Brody and his son's mimicry at the dinner table. Just watch the camera move into Brody as he realizes a young boy is being attacked on the beach. Hooper is hilarious at the dinner table at the Brody house. Who could forget the shark's surprise appearance and Brody's reaction while he's chumming. Robert Shaw steals the film in it's final hour and you can't take your eyes off him.
There's also a great number of memorable lines. Roy Scheider's improvised,"We're gonna need a bigger boat." Richard Dreyfuss telling Murray Hamilton,"Your gonna ignore this particular problem until it swims up and bites you in the a$$!" And no one will ever forget Brody's last line to the shark.
Benchley's book was excellent but the film was smart to eliminate the affair Chief Brody's wife had with Hooper. It was also wise to tone down the political angle. In the book Brody's young son is threatened and his cat's neck is broken. Also, the final three man shark hunt consisting of Brody, Hooper, and Quint was condensed into a few days rather than a series of weeks. Quint's demise in the book is also more fitting though the movie gives him a truly horrific and gory demise.
The conclusion is pure Hollywood and really deviates from the book. Spielberg told Benchley,"I got them where I want them so I can do what I want." He sure can and did. Jaws is still one hell of an experience.