JAWS (1975) (Special Review)

The release of 'The Shallows' this week has brought back to my mind my favorite film of all time and I thought of no better way to review 'JAWS' than now during the hot summer when the shark victims are fresh and numerous. 1975's 'JAWS' brought the world the first theatrical summer blockbuster, and the many that would come in its wake and made the film going public think twice before going swimming for many years to come. Now that my fanboying is mostly out of the way, let us review 'JAWS'.

'JAWS' is directed by Steven Spielberg and stars Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfus, and Robert Shaw as three men on the hunt for a terrifying Great White Shark that has been making a meal of their town's tourists. The film was only Spielberg's second feature film, and while inexperience may have felled many other directors at the time, it only strengthened Spielberg, and through the harsh filming on the actual open sea to the mechanical shark breaking down constantly, he worked it all in his favor. The shark not working gave him the opportunity to make a much more suspenseful film by editing the film so that the shark was physically seen as little as possible, but always being felt and heard thanks to the beautiful cinematography by Bill Butler and the Academy Award winning score by John Williams.

 The performances by the three main stars stand out as well, with each having their own distinct personality and behavior. They also each push and pull each other with their personalities as well, with Quints salty sailor roughly clashing with Dreyfus' clean cut, college boy attitude. The rest of the cast, while not nearly as memorable all have their purpose and are never wasted. They bring humor, sadness, love, and anger every time I watch the film and it helps to see these behaviors when the action is not on screen at the moment. 'JAWS' was truly a one-of-a-kind film that has NEVER been imitated since its 1975 summer release. The film's many sequels could not even get it down right (let's just not even discuss 'The Revenge') and I don't believe even Mr. Spielberg himself could ever quite figure out just what the magic ingredients were that makes this film just so perfect.

The film being as great as it is can only really be described as a film miracle. The terrible time the film crew had making this film, the technical difficulties, the issues with Mr. Shaw (IRS was chasing him at the time) just seemed like it would spell disaster for a modern film, but the Hollywood magic still had enough of a heartbeat in order to get this film into that hall of fame it so deserves. There is just really not much for me to say about the film other than its just a wonderful film with so much substance, so much re-watchability, and so much weight to it that it will never leave my mind and will never be de-throned as my absolute favorite film of all time.

JAWS GETS AN: (A+)

Guys, if you are wanting to see 'The Shallows' this weekend, please trust me and just re-watch this flick. The memories will crawl back and you will not be disappointed in your decision. JAWS always wins.