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Summary: JAWS- directed by Steven Spielberg
Review: Jaws is an excellent movie. The specials effects are superb. The fisherman is weird. The mayor is wearing a topet. But see this movie.
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Summary: Your gonna need a bigger boat
Review: This movie has been copied, with sequels and other killer shark movies, but none can compare with this masterpiece. Ive seen this movie several times since 1975 and never tire of it. This DVD format plays wonderfully with great picture and sound quality. If you havnt seen this movie or if its been awhile since you have, perhaps its time for another look.
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Summary: Spielberg's classic shark-fest-and-save-the-shrimp
Review: Steven Spielberg's breakthrough hit gave audiences a glimpse at the future of one of the best directors in Hollywood history. A man who almost single-handidly made movies what they are today.
Jaws is still considered his best movie by some fans and critics, it's acting, pacing and suspense are something movie fans should never forget, it's too bad films like Deep Blue Sea couldn't capture the magic quite as much as Spielberg did on this movie. Perhaps it was because Spielberg hid the creature so well and the fact the creature was a classic movie monster, a fake reality, whearas today's CGI is becoming too cartoony. Back in 1975, Jaws utilized a mechanical shark, which was often noticable, but still a reality, and far more realistic than the sharks in Deep Blue Sea. I don't think some filmmakers today are really making great movies like they use to, I think the movie scene is kind of falling apart, where people are interested in seeing Drama movies with boring resolves, instead of great entertainment. Spielberg is one of those who knows how to give movie fans a good time at the movies, and Jaws will forever hold a candle up for blockbuster-filmmaking.
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Summary: A Bit Dated, JAWS Still Has Bite
Review: Sadly, the definition of a true original in Tinseltown today is that a film must inspire either (a) a franchise or (b) a series of less intelligent [imitations] ... JAWS happens to fit both definitions.While appearing just a touch dated (the most of the Spielberg flicks) in terms of costuming and situations, JAWS still manages to maintain its bite after 25 years. The disc boasts an excellent Dolby 5.1 soundtrack, a reasonably entertaining documentary MAKING OF, and some deleted scenes and outtakes. Definitely not for the hydrophobiac, JAWS is still silver screen entertainment that delivers the promised chills and thrills. A big budget monster movie bolstered by credible actors such as Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider, it is safe to go back into the water.
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Summary: Best movie ever made
Review: It really is the best movie ever made. Great everything.
If you dont own it, hurry hurry hurry. The last scene is classic.
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Summary: Don't miss this thrill ride
Review: One of the best movies ever created. It will grab hold of you from the opening sequence and hold until the end.An amazing piece of storytelling that will have you rethink that next trip to the beach.
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Summary: An classic Adventure-Thriller.
Review: In a quiet peaceful town named Amity. When a young woman decide to go swimming, she was attacked and Killed by a great white Shark. Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) contacts a man from National Geographic (Richard Dreyfuss) for help and A hired Fisherman (Robert Shaw) are going to haunt down the great white Shark. Directed by Four Time Oscar-Winner:Steven Spielberg (Close Encounters on the Third Kind) and Based on the Novel by Peter Benchely (The Deep), written for the Screen by Benchely and Carl Gottieb. This film has Outstanding Performances by Scheider, Shaw and Dreyfuss. The Highest Grossing films of 1975. Oscar Winners for Best Film Editing, Best Music Score and Best Sound Effects. It was also Oscar Nominated for Best Picture. One of the best Popcorn movies ever. DVD`s has an sharp anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) transfer and an Clean DTS 5.1 Surround Sound (Also in Dolby Surround 2.0 Sound). The DVD`s Extras are:A Documentary (Which it was Originally 2 Hours on the Laserdisc), Travia Game, Deleted Scenes and More. This is an Exciting Film. Panavision. Grade:A.
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Summary: Strange and somewhat unsatisfactory remastering of a classic
Review: It almost feels pointless to review the movie here: unless you've been living on Neptune for the past 25 years you've probably seen it, probably can quote lines from it, probably know it inside-out. And that's why I'm partly annoyed by this new DVD release. The music and sound effects have been reworked for modern home stereo systems, which is not bad in itself, but while John Williams' justly famous score is greatly enhanced (in gorgeously clear stereo; the theatrical mastering was rather murky and of course in mono) some of the sound effects have been re-recorded or re-created. (Few movie viewers realize how many sound effects--door slamming, footsteps, even background voices--are overdubbed long after the scenes are shot) I assume this re-recording was because the sound elements had to be be remixed to give us stereo, but with a film this old it's probably impossible to find all the original bits of sound after all this time. So many of the sounds are new to this release. To someone who's not that familiar with the film it's probably not a big deal, but some of the new sounds are oddly chosen--the shark doesn't explode with much of a bang now but with a dull thud; there's a bright side, though: the bullet no longer ricochets!) The sound as the shark smashes through the glass window of the boat near the end is closer to a coke bottle breaking than a large window shattering. Some sound effects are missing completely: a car door in Mrs. Kintner's second scene, the gun being cocked as Brody's about to fire on the shark at the end of the film. The whale sound they hear inside the Orca at night has been *completely* changed--they didn't even try to find something that sounded like the original whale! The splashing and thudding as the shark is ripping the cleats out of the boat has been toned down considerably, and the ripping sound as the cleats give way is absent. We hear the dialogue in the scene better--something I never could do either in the theater or on VHS--but it also makes the event less ferocious. Some of the music cues are actually different takes than those used in the original mix, with slightly altered orchestrations and entry-points. (It's not unusual for composers to rework orchestrations on the spot while they're recording the soundtrack.) Some sound effects have been added that enhance nothing and seem to be there just as stereo effects to make the movie feel more contemporary. The most annoying to me personally is the scene where Mrs. Brody is quietly trying to clear the table after dinner while her husband sits deep in thought and troubled. She's obviously trying to not make noise, yet they've added loud stereo "scraping" of plates being lifted off the dining room table. Spoils the wonderfully pensive mood of Williams' music at that point and is completely unnecessary. It feels like they just have to remind you every moment that can that this is a STEREO remastering. Woo-hoo. This may seem picky, and many won't notice or care, but at the same time I don't appreciate them messing with a classic, especially when they don't offer a choice of a second audio channel with the original Dolby mix, as is given with many DVDs. And I don't hold with the trend when remastering movies today of making ordinary gunshots sound like cannon fire. (And one of the new gunshots is actually not synched with the smoke that comes from Brody's gun.) If I've harped too much on the negative, I should say the video part looks beauiful (a cinematographer's small gaff with the aperture has even been fixed--I assume digitally--for this version) and the music has been, as I said, superbly restored. (This is particularly effective in the underwater music when they find Ben Gardner's boat.) But some key sound effects were dealt with poorly, and I'm surprised 1) the film received such cavalier treatment, and 2) nobody but me seems to have noticed. The disc also includes several theatrical and TV trailers, a "making-of" documentary, and the usual goodies--production photos, storyboards, etc. There are outtakes (just a few and I know there were far more than this in the film) and deleted scenes, including three scenes that *were* included when the film was shown on network TV to add extra running time. But even one of these scenes is not complete on this DVD. I'm referring to Quint's original introduction, where he hums the Ode to Joy while a schoolboy plays it on a clarinet. That scene starts not where the DVD begins but with a shot of Quint exiting his truck, which has his name painted in big letters on the door. This is shown on the DVD as a production still but not in the deleted scenes themselves, for some odd reason. I just wonder why they give you *some* of a deleted scene but not all. As for the story itself, a few things stand out: this film had some terrific dialogue and insightful scenes of family life, throwaway bits that show Spielberg once had a heart and soul. He'd never direct the film like this today, with 2/3 of it over before we get any real action and with endless pages of character exposition. Perhaps this is why I haven't been interested in a Spielberg movie in 20 years. The shark looks very fake in some scenes, but somehow we never seem to care--it still works. There are the usual maddeningly irrational plot points in a Spielberg film: why does the police chief go out with Hooper to look for the shark (when they discover Ben Gardner's boat)? Why does the mayor make such a big deal out of the fact that Hooper can't produce the giant tooth when there's a boat that's clearly had the crap chewed out of it by something? Why does the chief go out with Hooper and Quint at all in a town filled with professional fisherman who cold serve as deckhands? And once on the boat with an increasingly mad and unreasonable Quint, who is endangering everyone, why doesn't Brody put Quint under arrest and with the help of Hooper guide the Orca safely back to shore before Quint trashes it? Would a law enforcement officer really be so passive in that situation? Well, the answer to all of these is because otherwise we'd have a far shorter film and less fun with the shark. Most people will just be thrilled to have Jaws in widescreen (this was the first VHS cassette I ever bought, many years ago, and the dub was horrible), and in larger-than-life sound. So am I, but I wish they'd preserved the original soundtrack mixdown as well. (Note: Watch for quick cameos by author Peter Benchley as a TV reporter and "Blues Brothers" director John Landis as a skinny denim-shirted fisherman who's one of those trying to win Mrs. Kintner's bounty.) (This review refers to the Widescreen 20th Anniversary stereo edition, NOT the DTS edition, which I have not heard and have no knowledge about.)
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Summary: The Film You Can Really Sink Your Teeth Into
Review: In the pantheon of all-time great horror and suspense films, JAWS is not merely a quarter-billion dollar box office blockbuster, but excellent cinema to boot. From a popular novel by Peter Benchley, this quickly became a legendary film--and it's not hard to see why. With Steven Spielberg as director, and a trio of leading men who give high-caliber performances, it's no wonder that this remains one of the top movies of its kind. The film's plot is well known: Amity Island is beset by a series of attacks carried out by a mysterious Great White shark, and the powers-that-be don't want to cause a panic and destroy the summer tourism season. Roy Scheider is Amity's police chief Martin Brody, whose calls to temporarily shut down the beaches until the shark can be killed are thwarted by a mayor (Murray Hamilton) and a town council more concerned with making bucks than saving people's lives. Richard Dreyfuss is the shark expert who confirms the presence of a Great White in the local waters. Robert Shaw is Quint, the local fisherman who is half-crazy from the start and just itching to have his own Moby Dick-like showdown. When the shark causes a total panic on the beach on the 4th of July, it is up to these three men to hunt down the elusive fish. But once out on the open water, these three hunters also become the hunted; at one point, the shark jumps out from the water, and frightens Scheider so much that he tells Shaw, famously: "You're gonna need a bigger boat." After taking an endless pounding from the shark, Shaw's boat the "Orca" begins to flounder. Shaw is eventually eaten whole by the shark, and Dreyfuss is temporarily lost under water. It is up to Scheider, a man with a severe case of hydrophobia, to kill the shark. He shoves a scuba tank into the fish's mouth, aims, fires, and blows the shark into a million pieces. The making of JAWS was extremely arduous and difficult. Spielberg was faced day after day with problems involving the mechanical shark that was used on location; the thing refused to function properly half the time. The budget and schedule swelled to the point that Spielberg almost got fired. Ironically, even though the shark was to be seen throughout the film, because of the technical problems, Spielberg resorted to the tried-and-true method of mere suggestion. This turned out to be the smartest thing. Now JAWS was no longer a standard-issue monster movie. Like Spielberg's 1971 suspense masterpiece DUEL, it was now very much in the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock, specifically the Master's 1963 film THE BIRDS. Spielberg's use of Hitchcock's suspense-building techniques, combined with the fine performances of Scheider, Shaw, and Dreyfyss, helped to drive JAWS to the top of the box office charts and onto three Oscar wins: editing, sound, and John Williams' now-legendary, cello-driven score. Although followed by three vastly inferior sequels and a lot of lousy imitations, JAWS has lost none of its gut-grabbing power. It is essential viewing to this very day, especially for horror and suspense film buffs.
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Summary: The Horror! The Horror!
Review: This film was a masterpiece of suspense. I remember seeing it in the summer of '75. I lived in Northeast Massachusetts, not far from where the movie had been filmed. There was a lot of hype floating around, everyone was excited. As a result, the movie theater was packed!!!! We all fed off each other's fear, as a result when the shock scenes came (like the floating body), we all hit the ceiling! When the shark was finally done unto, the cheering nearly brought the house down! After the movie, I had to rest.
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