Rating: 
Summary: Finally On DVD
Review: Jaws was Stephen Spielberg's first hit and after his initial reluctance to release his movies on DVD, it finally makes its DVD debut. We all know the story, a great white shark terrorizes the waters off of Amity Island. The movie is based on Peter Benchey's best-selling novel. This is one of the rare instances where a movie is actually better than the book it was based on. In Mr. Benchey's novel, there is are some extraneous sections such as an affair between Ellen Brody and Hooper that really don't add to the story. The movie streamlines the book and the changes made bringing it to the screen actually improve on the book. The performances of three stars are superb. Roy Scheider plays Chief Brody as an everyman. We can all relate with him as he is just trying do his job and the right thing but is caught in the middle. He wants to close the beaches to catch the shark, but the people he is protecting want them opened as the water is the source of their livelihoods. Richard Dreyfus adds some comic relief to the film as the wise-cracking oceanographer, Matt Hooper. The late Robert Shaw takes what could have been a cartoonish role of the shark boat captain Quint and turns him into an obessive, vengeful man in the mold of Captain Ahab. The real star of the film could be its score by John Williams. The music adds tension and fear to the suspense much like the music from Psycho. The DVD contains some extra material including deleted scences, trailers and best of all a documentary on the making of the movie. This is a must see for all fans of the film. We learn of all the problems the crew experienced while filming on Martha's Vineyard, some original casting choices and other behind-the-scences tidbits. These are nice bonuses, but the movie's first appearance on the DVD format is reason enough to buy it. After 25 years, this movie remains a classic.
Rating:
Summary: Stunningly acted and directed...
Review: Jaws has finally been released on DVD and it's been a long time coming in my opinion...a great film with an amazing cast. Roy Scheider plays the ambivolant Chief Brody with ease and finesse. Richard Dreyfuss plays the tussely-haired Marine Biologist Matt Hooper in what had now become his trademark halting delivery style. Robert Shaw's performance as the gnarly old sea captian Quint becomes haunting in his famous speech about the tragedy on the U.S.S. Indianapolis.The film is really two different films. The half of the movie that takes place on land, and the half that takes place aboard the Orca...hunting for the shark. One could not exist without the other. The direction is expert, courtesy of Steven Spielberg. The dreadful shoot, delayed by the faultering mechanical sharks, turned out one of the greatest films ever made. The pacing is perfect, following a slow-build pattern that ends with an incredibly tense climax. It's one of my favorite movies ever...always will be. The DVD offers a great interviews and a documentary on the making of the film. This is what DVDs were made for...the movie in all it's widescreen glory, great picture and sound quality, and tons of extras for the movie buff.
Rating: 
Summary: Suspenceful, but where is the realism?
Review: Jaws was the movie that made Speilberg a great hit. The suspence, fear, and brilliance it provided made everyone love it. My parents liked it, but when I watched it with them, I could only ask, "Where is the realism?" The story of Jaws is simple: A Great White is terrorizing the citiens of Amity Island, and the mayor is too heartless to stop it, so three men must go out and face it. Thrill scenes, screaming, blood, and all-around good qualities for a suspence movie could help Jaws if they would only give a little bit of thought to what a Great White really is like. The beginning of the movie was realistic. It was dark, the girl was swimming like a fish, and the shark was active. She was eaten, and was perfectly clear to be eaten. And I suppose the fishing boat later on, since found in the dark, MAY have held some realism, since Great Whites will ram boats. But most of the movie made me just want to shake my head. First off, would you be dumb enough to go into waters containing a Great White just because the mayor told you to? I don't think I would. Would you allow your kid into the water? Probably not. Heck, would you even go to the beach? If you knew the danger, most likely not. The behavior of the people in the movie was a little unrealistic. The panicking while attacked was realistic. Still going into the water was not. People can be clueless, yes, but that bad? But the worse of all must be the shark behavior. First off, Great White Sharks live in Australia. Amity Island is up in New England, USA. What's wrong with this picture? Jaws may have been a rogue shark, but since when does a tropical shark survive in cold water? The conditions may have been just good enough for the shark, but it is fairly unlikely. Also, the movie said Great Whites were most active at night. Then how come 50% of the attacks and action takes place during the day? Explaination, please! Continuing on, Jaws gets shot who-knows-how-many-times during the last few scenes. May I ask why his strength did not diminish? Why didn't other sharks (yes, smaller sharks do live in that area) come along and at least try to chomp on him? In fact, are there any fish there at all? It seemed as if Jaws was the only fish around and that he only ate people -- Very unrealistic. Believe it or not, sharks normally do not attack people unless provoked or if you are bleeding/swimming. "Jaws" sort of kept to that concept, thankfully, but the amount of shark attacks within a few days was a little much for me. Thank Goodness the shark was given a bit of cunning, but after bleeding for a while, I think the shark should've given out. There were also a few not-so-important-yet-still-annoying little things. First off, during the last few scenes, the researcher declared that he couldn't move the boat's wheel. The next scene, he was moving it fine. Also, the ship would be sinking in one scene, then not be as far underwater in the next. At some points the shark clearly looks fake, though I guess you can't expect much from the 1970s. Ultimately, I guess I don't have much to say. "Jaws" did a good job with suspence and action, but realism lacked, causing its ratings to drop in my eyes. If you want a suspenceful movie, look no further than this. If you want a realistic yet suspenceful movie, I advise staying away.
Rating:
Summary: A great film, supplemented by great extras
Review: The Film:
Jaws, as most of us know is the story of a lonely shark looking for love ... or it is the story of a vicious eating machine with a penchant for the dramatic. Hailed as an all time classic by most, this is the film that put Spielberg on the map. The emotion from the characters jumps out and grabs you. You can feel the fear and the sorrow in everyone. Not much can be written about it here that has not already been seen elsewhere. I would qualify this as a horror movie. The dramatic tension and the build up creates a real presence of fear and horror, that today's special effects driven splatter fests cannot even dream of achieving
About the DVD:
While this is only a one disc edition, they still had room to include a making of featurette, deleted scenes, outtakes, trailers and a trivia game and a screen saver. A fine assortment of toys that would round out any film, but accent this one perfectly. T
Rating:
Summary: One of the best classics of the seventies.
Review: Am surprise the DVD version of Jaws is Impressive. It has a great anamorphic Widescreen Transfer 2.35:1 and Incredible DTS Sound 5.1 and also on Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Soundtrack. DVD has good extras:A 60 minutes documentary(Actually the 1995 Laserdisc Version was 2 Hours!), different kinds of traliers are more. But some of the Deleted Scenes are fun to watch and the another scenes are joyless. Too bad, there are not much of Outtakes. DVD could have used a isolated music score or audio commentary on anyone, who`s working on the film. That could have been a fun plus. The film still holds up for twenty five years, a great looking shark in the movie. Great performances by Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss. The film has some mistakes near the last 10 minutes like the scene, where Dreyfuss is inside the cage and the shark is actually small(Some scenes, they used a real shark) or we can see the mechanical wires on the shark. We are so entertain by watching whole movie. One of the Best Pop-Corn films Ever! Grade:A. Panvision.
Rating:
Summary: JAWS
Review: Steven Spielberg has brought countless excellent movies to the screen: Close Encounters, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, A.I Artificial Intelligence and, of course, Jaws. Taken from Peter Benchley's best selling novel, Spielberg's masterpiece remains his best and one of the most amazing cinema experiences of all time. Despite the troubled production, the film was released to critical acclaim and box-office success.
Starting off with John Williams's classic "dur-dur, dur-dur" music, to the first shark attack (easily the best opening scene in a movie ever), then to the central trio of Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss (all brilliant performances) all involved in one great adventure.
With every scene, Spielberg installs a sense of fear, thrills and excitement that still works as well now as it did back in 1975. Critics who blamed Jaws for ruining Hollywood should be silenced. Jaws is movie making at it's finest. A brilliant film from the greatest storyteller on our planet.
Rating: 
Summary: a classic that never gets old!!
Review: I think everyone will agree that this movie is a classic. I grew up watching these movies and still enjoy them. I think that it's a fear that everone has (The ocean, huge shark, broken down boat etc...) that's why it's such a good movie. The special effects are pretty good given the age of the movie. All in all this movie is great and will continue to be so for a long time. Well worth the purchase!
Rating:
Summary: You're gonna need a bigger boat!
Review: Forget the water. After seeing "Jaws," you'll be afraid to go in the shower! At the ripe old age of 26, Steven Spielberg managed to redefine the economics of Hollywood forever (ushering the era of the Summer Blockbuster) AND create an all-time classic at the same time. Even without "E.T.," the Indiana Jones movies, "Jurassic Park," "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan," this film alone would make Spielberg's resume significantly better than that of 95% of Hollywood directors (I checked my figures of course). A quiet New England summer town is terrorized by an enormous Great White Shark whose appetite for human flesh seems to know no limits. The new police chief (Roy Scheider), bending to pressure from the Mayor and City Council, fails to close the beaches even though he knows there is a shark out there. As a result of his negligence, a little boy is killed. Racked with guilt, he becomes obsessed with killing the shark and immerses himself in the study of the animals, aided by an icthyologist from the mainland (Richard Dreyfuss) who comes to provide expert advice. When a smaller shark is caught and mistakenly believed to be the aggressor, the Mayor orders the beaches to stay open for the 4th of July weekend, with predictably disastrous results. The cop and the scientist must then team up with a salty local fisherman (Robert Shaw) to go hunt and kill the shark, which results in an exhilirating battle of will, wits and guts. The three leads all deliver unforgettable performances, but the real star of the show is Spielberg, who deftly plays on the fears of the audience to create a thriller worthy of Hitchcock (yes, I realize how original it is to bring this up when talking about this movie). Cranking up the suspense by more than a few notches is the classic, inspired soundtrack by John Williams. Even the fact that the long-awaited appearance of the shark turns out to be something of a letdown does not detract from the overall effectiveness of the film. Spielberg manages to create an atmosphere so tense that the mere sight of the ocean is almost enough to make you jump out of your seat. Having seen it only on video, I can only imagine how chilling it must have been to watch this film in a movie theater. Not only does Spielberg trim away all the pedestrian melodrama from the novel, but the last act of the film, in which the three men hunt the shark (or is it the other way around?), once it kicks into overdrive, never lets up. The subsequent appearance of "Star Wars" often makes people forget that the Blockbuster mentality was actually an aftermath of the success of "Jaws." It's just as well, because this is a true classic, regardless of the bastardizing effect its box office had on Hollywood films. Spielberg has said that although he hated making the film, he loved planning the film, implying that the mere thought of scaring the bejesus out of the audience was an immensely enjoyable experience for him. Well, it shows, and for that we should all be greatful.
Rating:
Summary: Jaws is a fine example of film at its finest.
Review: Jaws is nearly perfect in every way. It was the first real summer blockbuster, and to this day it's still the best. Unlike most of today's blockbusters, Jaws was blessed with a superb cast, a fantastic director, and a good screenplay. Most of Jaws's success can be attributed to Steven Spielberg's masterful direction. He brilliantly utilizes the Hitchcockian method of showing less, thereby giving the audience more. By not showing the shark for the first hour of the movie and only showing the evidence of its strength and the aftermath of its attacks, Spielberg triggers the audience's imagination making the film all the more thrilling. Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb's screenplay is well written. Now granted, this is not a brilliant character study but the script is more character driven than most of today's blockbuster scripts. Evidence of the screenplay's strong characters can be found in the extraordinary chemistry between them and their motives for their actions. The cast does a fantastic job at giving life to the characters of the script. Roy Scheider wisely underplays his character, Martin Brody, making him very believable. Robert Shaw is absolutely wonderful as the sea-worn fisherman, Quint. Richard Dreyfuss is very convincing as the energetic, young scientist, Matt Hooper. Lorraine Gary gives a very naturalistic performance as Brody's wife, Ellen. Murray Hamilton does a nice job at playing the greedy mayor of Amity; the town endangered by the shark. Many people complain that the shark looks too fake. Do sharks really look all that life-like to begin with? I personally think the shark effects could have been much worse; they weren't that bad. Bill Butler's cinematography is first-rate. He brings the ocean right into our laps by placing the camera at the water's level. Although there are a few continuity errors, Verna Fields's editing is very fast paced. Despite the fact that the shark is not seen for the first hour of the film, the movie still manages to be suspenseful and interesting. John Williams's musical score, for this film, has reached legendary status for good reason. His simple use of a few notes to characterize the shark was ingenious. He brings the suspense/action scenes to life with his energetic score. All of these fine qualities are why Jaws has remained one of my favorite films for quite some time.
Rating:
Summary: The best of the best
Review: When I first saw the movie "Jaws" when I was 6 years old, I thought it was just another same old story that my father likes to watch. After I watched it, I was overcomed by fear of the sea. To this day, I still don't want to swim in the sea! This same effect has occured in the world in the mid 70's for six straight years immediately when "Jaws" started showing in theatres. The story is written by a brilliant author, masterful performances by Roy Schieder, Robert Shaw & Richard Dreyfuss, and a realistic and voracious Great White Shark. Now, I'm 12 and to this day Jaws remains in my top spot for horror movies. For all horror and shark fans alike, this one is for you. It will remain a classic and will still be able to make entire generations be afraid to go into the water.
|
