Spielberg's Best

Rating: 10/10 (7 February 2014)

What's there to say that hasn't been said in praise of this great film? Spielberg's classic about a great white shark terrorizing the small community of Amity Island. It's an effective powerhouse thriller with terrific direction and an iconic score by John Williams. It's based off of Peter Benchley's terrible novel. Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw give the performances of their careers. Let's not forget the underrated Murray Hamilton as the Mayor. He brings sympathy to a part that most would have played as a straight-up mustache-twirling heavy. Despite all the variations and ripoffs through the years, Jaws hasn't been matched. That's because it's not just a movie about a killer shark. It's a movie about people. All of the imitators seem to forget that and just try to make a movie about a shark or bear or fill-in-the-blank-animal killing as many people as possible in gruesome ways. Today's CGI-addicted filmmakers could learn a thing or ten about storytelling from Jaws. It's definitely a classic and, in my opinion, easily Steven Spielberg's best film.