Jaws (1975)

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

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

Also Known As:

Hajen (Finland: Swedish title) (Sweden) [sv]
Les dents de la mer (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Tiburón (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
вЕКЧЯРХ (Soviet Union: Russian title) [ru]
Ajkula (Serbia) [sr]
Celisti (Czechoslovakia: Czech title) [cs]
Celuste (Czechoslovakia: Slovak title) [sk]
Dødens gab (Denmark) [da]
De zomer van de witte haai (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
Der weiße Hai (West Germany) [de]
Haisommer (Norway) [no]
Jaws - Denizin disleri (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Lo squalo (Italy) [it]
Melta'ot (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
O Tubarão (Portugal) [pt]
Ralje (Croatia) (DVD title) [hr]
Szczeki (Poland) [pl]
Ta sagonia tou karharia (Greece) [el]
Tappajahai (Finland) [fi]
Tubarão (Brazil) [pt]

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:

According to Steven Spielberg in the DVD 'making of' documentary, his original idea for introducing Quint was to have him in the local movie theater watching Moby Dick (1956) starring Gregory Peck. Quint was to be sitting at the back of the theater and laughing so loudly at the absurd special effects of the whale that he drove the other viewers to exit the theater, leaving Quint by himself. Spielberg says that the only thing that stopped him from doing that scene was Gregory Peck. Peck held part of the rights to that movie and when Spielberg approached him for permission, Peck turned him down. Not because he thought it was a bad idea to use the film that way, but because Peck didn't like his performance in Moby Dick (1956) and didn't want the film seen again.

Goofs:

Continuity: The death certificate that Brody is typing for the first victim states that her death occurred at 11:50PM, but the sun was obviously shining when she entered the water. Also, the time of discovery of the body is stated as 10:20PM, but it is obviously the next morning when her body is discovered (Brody had just gotten out of bed when he received the phone call at home).

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:

Referenced in Analog Hero in a Digital World: Making of 'Live Free or Die Hard' (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Spanish Ladies

Spielberg at the top of his game

My Rating: **** out of ****.

Steven Spielberg is one of the best American directors working today. He has made many films that have been hailed as classics. Yet before the Dinosaurs, Holocaust, Peter Pan, UFO's, and Indy there was the Shark. Jaws represents one of the masterpieces on Spielbergs resume. It is also probably the "Quintessential Spielberg Film."

Jaws was very popular when released, it was the gighest grossing film of 1975. It spawned three sequels, which were all inferior. In fact, no film about Sharks or any killer fish has been able to come close to the level of Jaws.

The genius in Jaws is its ability to build suspense. The Shark is never really shown till near the end of the film. When ever the Shark is approaching its victims, we get the Sharks point of view, instead of seeing the Shark. These POV shots combined with John Williams very effective score, make the scenes when the Shark is about to devour his victims much more effective.

Evry actor does a nice job with their performances. Roy Scheider brings Martin to life. Martin is not a showy character but Scheider is able to make us like him. Richard Dreyfuss exhibits energy in his performance as Matt Hooper. Robert Shaw is very effective as Quint, that Indiannapolis speech is still very chilling to me. Lorraine Gary and Murray Hamilton also give solid support.

People always talk about how fake the Shark looks. I think its passable but today it would definitely be done by CGI. However, the Shark is not seen that much in the film so its not that big of a deal.

I would like to say Jaws is Spielbergs best film, Schindlers List closely follows. But I would like to see Close Encouners and the Indiana Jones films again. I did not like Close Encounters the first time, and I like the Indiana Jones films but they never stood out to me. If these films dont surpass Jaws, then it is definitely Spielberg's best film.