If [movie title] was a kind of skeleton key to the angst of the ’70s, from the puritanical fear of sex to the war in Vietnam, then its heroes were models of America’s wounded masculinity, who meet and join to face a test of character - Georg Seeslen
It spawned a number of imitations … most of which failed. But the formula has lived on in the ‘Alien’ series and most contemporary films with aspirations toward suspense – Chicago Reader
Like ‘The Exorcist,’ it deals with an essentially unknowable, therefore unpredictable and thoroughly spooky symbol of evil. – Time Magazine
Answer after the jump.
The 1975 thriller “Jaws” has a 100 percent “fresh” rating over at Rottentomatoes.com, and for good reason. I’ve watched it dozens of times and can’t remember a flaw of consequence.
It’s the perfect movie to watch this time of year, evoking the season’s glories as well as the nagging fears that go along with the carefree summer months.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
If I had read Georg Seeslen’s review before seeing “Jaws”, I think I would have skipped the movie. That guy must have been a barrel of laughs at parties.
Jaws is an excellent movie. It makes me miss the younger Spielberg that made movies that were spectacles. Robert Shaw in one of the best roles of his career.
I’ve watched it dozens of times and can’t remember a flaw of consequence.
What about Richard Dreyfuss’ haircut?
I bought the 25th anniversary edition of the “Jaws” DVD the day it came out. I drove 45 miles to a Best Buy in the middle of the ghetto, where I felt more than home, then whisked myself to my bedroom and watched the flick. I spent the rest of the night going through the three-hour documentary and the rest of the goodies.
Did this with “American Graffiti” as well. Looking forward to “Jaws” on Blu-Ray, “American Graffiti” not so much. The grainy, guerrilla-style feel won’t last the transformation.
What also didn’t last the transformation was Spielberg and Lucas. Lucas directed “Star Wars,” then set about making a toy and marketing empire. Spielberg at least rolled a couple more decades after “Jaws” before petering out, serving up the same level of greatness with “Jurassic Park,” B-movie schlock, suspense and horror transformed into greatness by uber-talented actors and director. Given the symmetry Lucas and Spielberg shared in their rise and creation of blockbuster filmmaking, their creative nadir with the Indian Jones abortion isn’t so much ironic as just plain sickening. John Ford was near dead and still making great films. The real murder story in Hollywood is what killed Spielberg and Lucas.
To quote Marty McFly, “Shark still looks fake”.
Seriously though, it is a good film. Robert Shaw is amazing.
Must be the movie’s spell … the shark’s fakery (fake-osity??) never registers in my head. Not a once. Movie magic, eh?
Most of the CGI stuff today looks fake.
Two of the big things that make Jaws great are also the reason why most younger people don’t like it and find it boring.
The main characters are all “adults”, not college or high school age kids. Secondly it has an actual story with some depth.
I agree with Mr. Toto: I have seen Jaws more times than I can count, and I have yet to see an imperfection in the movie, storyline, script, whatever. That 25th anniversary disc is a proud member of my DVD collection.
What I find interesting about the shark is that its difficulty to operate and film became a benefit for the movie itself. Because it would sink or malfunction, Spielberg made the decision to limit its use and bring it out only when necessary. That ultimately made for a better build up in the story and in the excitement.
One point further: I agree with Opus above. Most of the CGI “advancements” in recent movies tend to look fake and can break down that 4th wall, taking you out of the movie. Why they make movies where the main character is CGI, I don’t get it and can’t watch those movies (Ang Lee’s “Hulk” comes to mind).
Here’s a great example: Deep Blue Sea. Sucky movie, but it’s great Saturday afternoon cheese that I’ll belly up to every time. Partly because I’m a Thomas Jane fan, but also because I don’t mind seeing Saffron Burrows in her underwear (sorry, that was a totally male thing to type). But Renny Harlin spent a boatload of money to develop robotic sharks that look fairly real and moved almost naturally. The scenes with these robotic sharks actually came out very realistic and very entertaining. Then in other scenes, you have the sharks CGI’ed in and they tend to look very fake in comparison. That scene where Samuel L. Jackson meets his demise…just as bad as the CGI shark in “Back to the Future 2″.
Compare the CGI characters in Star Wars 1, 2, and 3 (the awful episodes) with the paper mache/rubber ones in episodes 4, 5, and 6 (the good ones). I will take the paper mache/rubber ones over the CGI ones every day of the week.