JAWS
CAST
Roy Schieder, Richard
Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Bruce the Shark
DIRECTOR
Steven Spielberg
YEAR OF
RELEASE
1975
The
mechanical shark in Jaws, nicknamed Bruce by
it's creators, is to me, still the
realest and scariest movie creature used in
film. Some people argue that the shark looks
mechanical. These people have never seen a
real shark. Sharks are made of cartilage- the
rubbery stuff in your nose. They move
strangely and mechanically. And sharks also
have lifeless eyes, as does Bruce. Let's not
forget that classic score- the 'here comes
the shark' theme can be the subject of parody
a million times and still be effective in
this movie to those who watch it. The acting
is incredible, the story is quality, the
suspense is extreme. The movie is an
adaptation from a novel by Peter Benchley,
which it surpasses in every way. It's the
story of Sheriff Brody of Amity, a small east
coast fishing island town with summer tourism
as it's economic strong point. So when a
killer great white starts eating folks, the
people of Amity are hesitant to close the
beach, seeing as it's summer and all. Jaws
had many technical problems on the set during
filming, which led to Spielberg having to
take what shots he could while the shark was
working and fill in the rest-which leaves the
movie with a lot of eerie shots of open
water, where your imagination is enough to
scare you into thinking twice about going to
the beach. The effects are excellent
(understated) and the gore is so effective
that it doesn't need to be everywhere (hence
the 5 point rating in GORE by Mistershoes-
it's not that it's so gory, it's that it has
such effectively used gore). The whole thing
is such a great premise- the ocean is this
vast expanse that we haven't even explored to
the full. Each time you go in the ocean
you're facing up against something much older
than man himself- a situation where really
anything can happen. There have always been
stories of sea monsters and evils of the
oceans, and Jaws carries that legacy into a
great movie. Seriously, Jaws freaks me out
every time I see it. If you haven't seen it,
you're really missing out.
SHOCK/SUSPENSE
5
GORE
5
CAMP
0
OVERALL
5
