Category Archives: 1975
Jaws (1975)
I’m not going to waste my time arguing with a man who’s lining up to be a hot lunch.
— Hooper
Jaws is a movie that I’m embarrassed that I have never seen in its entirety. I caught a piece here and a piece there over the years. I have never seen the whole film in one setting. Being #110 of the Top 250 Films of All-Time, it is quite a testament for when the right actors, director, writing and score come together to make a thrilling viewing experience.
During the Fourth of July weekend, a tiny New England community Amity Island is terrorized by a shark that is picking off some of the people in the water.
The frazzled new chief of police, Brody (Roy Schneider) is left with the task of trying to get rid of the menace in the ocean. Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), an oceanographer is sent to town to determine what kind of shark is hungry for human flesh. He deduces that a twenty-foot great white shark is responsible for the damage.
Mayor Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) only mission to have the beaches open so the town could get the revenue from the vacationers that visit them, thus endearing their community further.
An eccentric fisherman, Quint (Robert Shaw) offers his services to kill the shark for a certain amount of money. The town thinks that he is crazy that one person could take on a shark on his own.
Eventually, the mayor agrees to let Brody, Quint and Hooper to go and try to kill the shark before it kills again.
Everybody knows that Spielberg was having problems with the shark to work right. It was an ingenious idea not to have the shark that much in the movie. John Williams’ score perfectly compliments the suspense that is conveyed on screen with having the animatronic shark ruining the movie.
Having the knowledge that the shark was fake, I was still scared at certain portions of the movie. Scenes with detached limbs almost made me lose my lunch. It was still a good suspenseful movie.
Judgment: If you want to know why Black people don’t swim, this is a perfect example of that.
Rating: *****