Jaws (1975)

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers:

Peter Benchley (screenplay) and
Carl Gottlieb (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

20 June 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

The Nation's No.1 Best-Selling Book now the Screen's Super-Thriller

Plot:

When a gigantic great white shark begins to menace the small island community of Amity, a police chief, a marine scientist and grizzled fisherman set out to stop it.

Plot Keywords:

Shark | Beach | Island | Mayor | Fisherman

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 13 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Nov. 12	4:00 PM	HBO
Fri. Nov. 20	2:00 PM	HBO

Cast

Roy Scheider	...	Brody
Robert Shaw	...	Quint
Richard Dreyfuss	...	Hooper
Lorraine Gary	...	Ellen Brody
Murray Hamilton	...	Vaughn
Carl Gottlieb	...	Meadows
Jeffrey Kramer	...	Hendricks (as Jeffrey C. Kramer)
Susan Backlinie	...	Chrissie
Jonathan Filley	...	Cassidy
Ted Grossman	...	Estuary Victim
Chris Rebello	...	Michael Brody
Jay Mello	...	Sean Brody
Lee Fierro	...	Mrs. Kintner
Jeffrey Voorhees	...	Alex Kintner
Craig Kingsbury	...	Ben Gardner

Runtime:

124 min | USA:130 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (1995) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Iceland:16 | Spain:T | USA:TV-14 | Brazil:14 | New Zealand:M | Canada:14A (Canadian Home Video rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Denmark:15 | France:-12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15 | Israel:PG | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 (video rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Sweden:15 | Taiwan:GP | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1987) | USA:PG (Certificate #24175) | West Germany:16 | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

American Legion Memorial Bridge, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Zanuck/Brown Productions

Trivia:

The lighthouse in the film near the beach is an actual lighthouse on Martha's Vineyard where the filming took place. Because of the billboard in the scene, the lighthouse had to be "moved" with special effects in post-production.

Goofs:

Continuity: The design showing and thickness of the bandana Quint wears keeps changing between shots.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Tom Cassidy: What's your name again?
Christine 'Chrissie' Watkins: Chrissie.
Tom Cassidy: Where are we going?
Christine 'Chrissie' Watkins: Swimming

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Galaxy High School: Beach Blanket Blow-Up (#1.8)" (1986)

Soundtrack:

Spanish Ladies

If this movie scares you to the point where you can't go back into the water, then Spielberg has done job well done

Jaws is a movie the I grew up with, it's like the first real horror film I ever watched. What a great one to start with, right? This movie not only scarred me out of the water, I was afraid to go to the bathroom! I thought Jaws was going to pop up out of the toilet and bite my butt! :D I know it was silly, but that was how much Jaws effected me. I know also that it has not lost it's effect to this day. I'm questioning, because it seems like all the terrific horror films came out of the 70's.

Jaws is based on the best seller book by Peter Benchley. Steven Spielberg, before he was STEVEN Spielberg turned this horrifying book and made it into a reason to hate sharks. He brilliantly took what could have been a cheesy movie and turned it into a classic that will never be forgotten. To this day, I still need a friend to hold onto, it's that score! Duh na... duh na.... dun dun dun dun.... Oh, my gosh, that music just scares the heck out of me! On such a low budget, Jaws not only turned into one of the greatest horror movies of all time, it turned into one of the greatest movies, period.

Jaws starts off with one of the most terrifying scenes in horror movie cinema, a young pretty girl goes into the water and is brutally attacked and killed by an unknown creature in the water. The next day Chief Brody investigates suspecting a shark attack, and urges the mayor, Larry Vaughn, to shut down the beach, but afraid of a panic and less tourists, Larry ignores the chief's suggestions and keeps the beach open leading to another attack on a young boy. Brody calls in Matt Hooper, a marine scientist to see if they can find the shark. But when another attack ensues and almost kills Brody's young son, Michael, he, Matt, and a cocky man, Quint go out to find Jaws themselves.

This turns into several of the greatest cinematic scenes of all time, like the "Indianapolis" speech brilliantly given by Quint, how he describes seeing his first shark was just so intense and you couldn't turn away from the screen. Then, one thing that is interesting about this movie, you do not see the shark until Brody is just chucking blood to attract the shark over his shoulder and Jaws appears roaring out of the water! "We're gonna need a bigger boat!" he replies to Quint. And then the scene where Jaws jumps onto the boat and Quint is trapped sliding into Jaw's, well, jaws! That's the scene that nightmares are made out of! Jaws is one of my favorite films of all time. It's one of those films that should never be missed, because it is so important. To many, including myself, the shark looks fake, but it's your imagination that gets with you. Spielberg embraced that and you could tell there was just something special about him. Jaws will scare you out of the water just like The Exorcist scared you to the church!

10/10