A chilling account of what happens when a shark strikes

Rating: 10/10 (2 December 1998)

I saw this movie on telly when I was quite young, and from then on it gave me an obsession with Steven Spielberg and sharks. Since then my obsessive nature with anything to do with sharks has died down, but I still love Spielberg and his work. This film started the whole summer blockbuster and along with it started the whole hook thing where the first few minutes of a film leave you hooked and wanting to see more. Those first few minutes had me on the edge of my seat with my heart pounding. I later found out it was so convincing, because Susan Backlinie who played the helpless victim Chrissie was being yanked too hard on her feet by the divers underneath and those were real grimaces of pain. Roy Schneider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw make a perfect trio and the film really starts to focus on these 3 characters and really starts to get thrilling as they leave land to kill the dreaded 25-footer. What follows is a fascinating portrayal of the 3 different ways these men handle what is before them. Roy Schneider's classic line 'You're gonna need a bigger boat' has been ripped off time and time again most recently with Godzilla 'We're gonna neeed bigger guns' A classic chilling film masterpiece from beginning to end. This does for water, namely oceans but large swimming pools can have the same effect what Psycho did for motels and showers. If you haven't seen it yet, what are you doing get off your butt and rent it now!!