The premier summer blockbuster is still up there as one of the ones to beat.

Rating: 8/10 (19 March 2018)

The premier summer blockbuster is still up there as one of the ones to beat when it comes to big-budget entertainment, representing relatively thoughtful and character-focused film-making which favours slowly ratcheting up the suspense over overtly shoving it's plastic shark down the audience's throats. It's this restraint that allows 'Jaws (1975)' to hold up as well as it does, with the stellar score combining with brief glimpses of the beast to tick us over until a woman is whisked beneath the waves or an unsuspecting swimmer's blood bubbles to the surface and by the time the animatronic actually pops up in full, we fully believe it because we're immersed into the world and invested in the characters that occupy it. It's a roller-coaster ride that fills you with every emotion on the spectrum, one that's impeccably crafted despite all its behind-the-scenes chaos, and the fact it can take its time to include a harrowing war story but still end on the explosive, frankly quite silly, note it does is actually rather commendable since it does all of it so utterly successfully. 8/10