Rating: Summary: Better than ever Review: There really isn't much about the movie that I could tell you because I doubt if there is anyone that hasn't seen it already.What I can tell you is that this DVD is excellent! The picture and sound quality is amazing with numerous scenes that were omitted from the original VHS versions. The added goodies to this disc is almost worth the purchase price on their own. The "Making Of" is very interesting and with interviews from most of the people involved gives it the added touch. In all the package claims 75 minutes of additional footage. I highly recommend this title as a must have for anyone interested in movies. If you are like me, this will be one of your favorite shows.
Rating: Summary: Great movie, loved the "making of" documentary Review: For those 3 people who haven't seen Jaws, here's the plot: rogue giant shark terrorizes small beach town, mayhem ensues, man triumphs over nature red in tooth and claw. It's a primal and classic theme, speaking to our limbic systems -- great direction and good acting provide a set up such that the watcher's blood chemistry takes over, and you don't think too much about the silly bits (like the ending). The score by John Williams is nothing less than brilliant. As an aside, I should mention, I've not gone swimming, EVER, since I first saw Jaws. Not even in pools. Makes me shudder to think about it, even. Regarding the DVD specifically, I really enjoyed the "making of" featurette. Although I had seen bits of the interviews before in discussions of the mechanical shark in other special effects documentaries, most of the interviews were new to me. I particularly enjoyed learning how the movie was cast, as well as all the great stories of what went wrong during the interminable filming. The "outtakes" were terrible, stupid, and few. I don't even know why they bothered. The film itself seemed to be excellent quality to me -- I'm surprised by the comments of other reviewers along those lines. Overall, I recommend this DVD for those interested in "behind the scenes" information. I found it very enjoyable.
Rating: Summary: The movie itself deserves 5 stars, but not this DVD! Review: First off, I really didn't care for how Universal decided to alter the sound effects of this classic movie, especially when there was no need for it. They could've just enhanced the original sounds for the DVD format, but no. Instead, there are completley new sounds replacing your old favorites throughout the entire movie. The changes that really got to me in paticular were the ones during the movie's climactic showdown between Brody and the shark. The new sound effects of Brody blasting his gun at the toothy terror, hoping to hit the air tank, that he lodged down its throat, sounded ridiculously weak, like a child fireing a cap gun. And the sound of the shark exploding when Brody administered that one final shot either made you laugh or want to cry. It sounded like someone dropped a coffee mug and it shattered into two peices. Now how climactic is that!? I also didn't care for the way this movie was presented visually. Though there was little grain and artifacts, this DVD was too dark! I already owned a copy of Jaws on VHS before I got a DVD player. So, I decided to run the same movie, on those two different formats at the same time, and on the same t.v., and the difference was staggering. You wouldn't believe how dramatic the difference was unless you saw it with your own eyes. The more I compared, switching my t.v.'s setting between t.v. and video, with just the click of a button, the more I wished I hadn't bought the dvd. All in all, this DVD proved to be a great dissapointment, and a movie this good deserves better treatment. It doesn't even have a commentary! All I can say is I hope Universal comes to their senses, and releases a definitive version of Jaws on dvd. As it stands, Jaws 2 is a far better DVD than the original. It wasn't a watered down laserdisc version. The deleted scenes were superior, the production photos were arranged better, showing all the shots of the shark first. I thought everything right down to the packaging of the Jaws 2 DVD was better than the first, and that shouldn't be. I'm not sure who was behind the making of the Jaws DVD, but I think they should re-release this title, and let the ones who did such a good job on the Jaws 2 DVD handle it.
Rating: Summary: Menacing Jaws Prevents True Enjoyment of Many a Beach Party! Review: Some of us felt a little less embarrassed when Janet Leigh recently admitted that she has only taken baths since viewing herself in the infamous "Psycho" shower scene some forty years ago. "Jaws" has a similar affect! Indeed, many a viewer (including myself) vowed never to swim in the ocean again! The first time I deviated from this bold proclamation, an undetected, but very long, sharp piece of driftwood hammered my left ankle on the first wave that rolled in! Twenty-five years later, this classic among classics retains its thrilling charm and status as a true (among other things) nail biter! Funny now to know that the technical crew was often so frustrated because the mechanical shark worked only intermitently. The DVD is over-rated but NOT the movie. Oddly enough with "Jaws", the FULL screen version seems to provide more of a sense of really being there!
Rating: Summary: Jaws Review: Based on Peter Benchley's bestselling novel, Jaws centers around the events depicted in Benchley's book where a great white shak terrorizes the beach resort of Amity Island. Its up to local Police Chief Martin Brody, icthyologist Matthew Hooper, and salty shark fisherman Quint to kill the beast. Easily the best shark film ever made, Jaws was a box office blockbuster and placed rightly so on the American Film Institute's 1OO Greatest Movies. In the lead role, Scheider rightly underplays Chief Brody, displaying admirable charisma with a sense of darkness. Richard Dreyfuss brings in much of the film's comedy as a bright but somewhat naive Oceanographic Institute student sent to help deal with the problem. Robert Shaw is simply excellent as Quint, giving off a sense of ruggedness and intimidation. He emits a commanding presence especially during the Indianapolis and courtroom sequences. Lorraine Gary does a fine job as Ellen Brody, and Murray Hamilton portrays stubborn mayor Larry Vaughn just right. Spielberg's direction is excellent, he was snubbed at the 1975 Oscars when he didn't receive a Best Director nomination. The script by Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb is occasionally spotty but overall well done. Bill Butler's cinematography is beautiful, it captures the suspense and the terror very well and was suprisingly not nominated at Oscar time. Joe Alves' production design is small-scale but simply brings out the aura of an old-fashioned town like Amity. The soundwork by John Cater and Robert L. Hoyt won the Oscar as well as Verna Fields' sensational editing. I can remember in the documentary in the special edition saying that the sound crew's boat was sinking once and one of the crew members was yelling to save the equipment.John Williams' music score is one of his best work along with, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the Star Wars films, and the Indiana Jones films. It brings out the horror and suspense perfectly while displaying beauty and genius. My favorite scene in the entire movie would have to be the night sequence on the boat with Quint's USS Indianapolis speech, the exchanging of the scars and singing, and the gut-wrenching finale with the shark pounding the boat. The end-shot is beautiful, with the boat silohoutte, the water sparkling, and the music and the shooting star. Overall, Jaws is Spielberg's best film and is my second favorite film of all time. Highly recommended.
Rating: Summary: Jaws at its best Review: For the 20 years since i have been watching films, one film has stood out from the rest.That film is JAWS.People always talk about Star Wars being the mother of all films, well if thats the mother then JAWS is the Grand daddy.When first watching it at the age of 5 i just loved the shark scenes but over the years i have learnt to appreciate the finer aspects of the film and the attention to detail to which Spielberg and his crew went to.Everyone knows by now that what makes the film so frightning is the music by John Williams(SUPERMAN,JURRASIC PARK)and what you dont see. Remember using your imagination is the best tool to scare yourself.In my opinion JAWS is is near enough the perfect film.Firstly you have the 3 main characters who are beutifly constructed. Roy Schieder is so right for his part and was born for the role as the chief of police in Amity island.One of my faverite lines is 'Its only an island if you look at it from the water'.Hooper and Quint although sharing the same passion have incredibly conrasting personalities which makes their screen time together all that more memorable.All 3 characters have very different relationships with each other and this is shown by what they call one another.Hooper calls them Martin and Quint where as Quint calls them Chief and 'Hooper yer idiot'.On the other hand Brody uses the names Quint and well this is interesting because only on the odd occasion does Brody use Hoopers name, the only occasion i recall is 'Let Hooper take a turn'.Strange but true.What sets JAWS apart from other films of similar type is that the film builds up to a grand finale.In deep Blue Sea you see the the shark in the first 5 minutes need i say more.As you readers may well know the making of JAWS didn't go to plan, but that in my view wasn't a bad thing because they had to work round this and develop the characters on land making them more humain and normal people whom which we could relate to. I myself ended up really liking the 3 characters in different ways.The way Brody was always worrying,trying to do the right thing and him hating the water was a terrific combination.Hooper who although rich ,really did love and was dedidacted to his work. All he wanted was to be given a chance to explain himself and put his views across and the Mayor and Quint didn't like this.While on the Mayor he plays a very good part as a stubborn son of a a bitch.Quint in many ways is also stubborn.He is very intimidating and has a strong presence around the room in the the very first scene we see him and ihe Indianapolis classic scene. Without doubt that second scene i have just mentioned is a show stopper and is acted masterifly by Shaw.The character Ben Gardner who helped write that scene has a small part in the movie and it is his head that pops out of the hull of his boat. That was probably the bit of the movie which made me jump most first time around.What made me die with laughing was on a documentary about JAWS the character who plays Ben Gardner talks about that scene.He talks about how smart and tidy the shark was to leave just his head by the hull of the boat and the sarcastic manner at which he says this is too funny to put into words.I recommend you see that documentary if you are an avid Jaws fan.Thats about it ive spoken my mind in the last half hour and i hope you enjoyed my review.Thank you for making the film, Jaws Mr Spielberg is the best piece of work you have ever done.In fact its just the best piece of work.
Rating: Summary: Jaws with an Additude! Review: Everyone knows the story of jaws and everyone has seen the movie...now get the DVD version. Not only do you get a classic tail of a dangerous shark incident, you also get a digitally remastered version of the movie including rare interviews and never before seen footage that will blow your socks off. This version of jaws ranks much higher then the original VHS movie. The digital picture really makes the movie more life-like and believeable. I have loved this movie all of my life and finally finding this movie makes the overall view of jaws in my mind a whole lot better. I recommend this movie to anyone that has already seen the movie but hasn't seen this version of the tale yet. I don't want to get you people confused making it sound like a whole new movie...but with the great technology that we have today, you, the people, are allowed to view this classic like you ever thought possible. Honestly folks, you gotta check this one out. You'll love it! Thanks for reading my review and have a nice day!
Rating: Summary: Spielberg's first big blockbuster! Review: Steven Spielberg's Jaws is one of the all time greats,and even though it's 25 years old it can stand up to anything they're putting out today.The movie is very suspenseful,and especially in the second half of the film there's a lot of action.It's got a great(and very recognizable)music score by John Williams.Robert Shaw,Roy Scheider,and Richard Dreyfuss play the three main characters,and they are excellent.They rest of the cast,including Lorraine Gary and Murray Hamilton,is very good,too.As for the DVD it is one of the best.There are a ton of extra features,(including loads of still photos,some deleted scenes,and a very interesting making of documentary)and the picture and sound(in digital stereo)are outstanding.
Rating: Summary: The movie that set the standard Review: I think pretty much everybody can agree that this movie started the whole Blockbuster thing and also the big monster genre in general. It has spawned countless monster clones that have not touched this movie at all. After 25 years it is still a chillingly good piece of work. It hasnt lost any of its edge. Even the shark looks surprissinly good for its age. When Jaws showed on tv a while ago I wasnt that excited. I thought maybe I'll watch a few minutes of it. Boy was I wrong! I watched the whole thing. not budging from my chair, my eyes glued to the television. The plot I think everybody knows so Im not gonna go over it. But If you expect it to show the shark in five minutes of the oppening credits. then you might want to skip it. naaa watch it anyways to see how monster flicks should be done. Without flashy special effects but with a little something called tension and suspense. The dvd is very good and a staple for any collection. The picture is very clear for its age and the colors are bright. Its got several trailers which are interesting to see since they are after all 25 years old. Also included is a interesting documentary which shows how they got the shark to work. Trust me its a must buy!
Rating: Summary: here lies the body of mary lee Review: one of the greatest movies of all time. i taped it off of TBS one night and i watched it so many times i wore the tape out. this addition is great. the second tape contains a making of documentary, original trailers, and deleted scenes. i am quite fond of the deleted scene where quint terrorizes a small boy in a music store. i wish it was in the actual movie.
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