Spielberg's original blockbuster

Rating: 10/10 (29 August 2016)

On the fictional New England resort island of Amity tourism is the main industry and each summer the beaches are backed with people hoping to swim in its beautiful waters the last thing the authorities want is news that a shark has killed somebody. When I girl disappears at sea it is first assumed she just drowned but when her body is found the Island's new Police Chief, Martin Brody, wants to close the beaches but the mayor is determined to keep them open and pressures the local doctor to certify that she was killed by a boat a second death, just off a crowded beach, causes a major panic and the mother of the victim offers a three thousand dollar reward to whoever catches the shark. This attracts everybody with a boat but doesn't impress local fisherman Quint, who demands $10,000, or shark expert Matt Hooper, who Brody invited to the island. After further deaths Brody, Quint and Hooper set of in Quint's boat, the Orca, to hunt down the great white shark that has been terrorising the island. Once they find the shark it becomes clear that catching it will not be easy.
This iconic film has certainly stood the test of time and is as gripping as ever. The story is relatively simple without any real twists and that is one of its strengths. It is very much a film of two halves; the first land based as Brody tries to get the town authorities to take the shark seriously and the second out at sea as Brody, Quint and Hooper hunt down the shark. These three, brilliantly played by Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss respectively, are great characters and the scenes between then on the boat are a delight; sometimes tense, sometimes funny and, when Quint tells the story of what happened when the USS Indianapolis was sunk positively chilling. The shark effects are pretty impressive, only in the final scenes does in took a bit rubbery; of course it helps that we aren't shown too much of the shark early on. The music, by John Williams, is great not just the famous 'shark theme' but also the other music. There are plenty of scary moments throughout the film; some at least as frightening as horror films largely because of its familiar setting and the fact that even though shark attacks are rare we all know that they do occasionally happen. Overall this is a great film that can be enjoyed by most people if you don't mind a few scares. It is a must see for anybody who enjoys classic movies.