Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"You're gonna need a bigger boat!", 19 Aug 2006
I first saw Jaws in 1975 at the tender age of 12 and had nightmares for a fortnight! Thirty one years later, the nightmares are gone, I have a fascination for sharks and Jaws is my all-time favourite film. Why?
Well, for a start, just watch the characterisation between the three male leads. These are extremely strong characters in their own right and, in any other film, would be fighting each other for dominance of the screen. Yet Spielberg makes these characters work together beautifully and the result is a joy to behold. Catch the interplay between Quint and Hooper on the Orca - Quint crushes his beer can and Hooper, not to be outdone, crushes his plastic cup!
For those of you who have not seen Jaws (where have you been?!) the basic plot is simple. A large great white shark stakes a claim off the local Amity Island beach and begins to snack on the tourists. The police chief, Brody, is the only one who suspects its existance, but his pleas to hire a fisherman to kill the shark fall on deaf ears - it's the beginning of the summer season and the locals are scared they will lose their income if he closes the beaches. In desperation, Brody calls in a young oceanographer to help and the pair set out to prove that the town has a shark problem, a scene which is brought about spectacularly when the shark enters the boating pool, capsizes Brody's son's boat, kills a rower and then escapes back out to sea. Brody is vindicated, Quint is hired to kill the shark and the hunt is on!
Jaws is almost a movie in two parts. The first half sets up the plot and characters, introduces the unseen menace of the shark and plays like a basic horror movie. Once Quint enters the fray and the trio set out to trap the shark, the mood moves up a notch, with some scenes playing almost as though from a comedy and the whole thing feeling like a jolly jaunt at sea! Even the appearance of the shark doesn't darken the tone, but adds to the adventure. Once the strange nature of the shark becomes apparent, however, the menace returns and the movie turns once more into horror mode, with our hunters becoming the hunted in a fight for survival.
Each scene is set up with the utmost eye for detail in this movie. Several are my favourites and are worth watching out for - the now famous reverse dolly shot as Brody sees a shark attack from the beach - Brody's son, Shaun, mirroring his father's movements as he ponders what to do - the stunning shot of the ocean through the bridge archway, which seems to echo the shape of the shark's jaws - and Quint's USS Indianapolis speech. And complimenting every scene is John Williams' outstanding score. Never,in the history of movies, have two notes sounded so threatening!
I could talk about Jaws all day, but I'm beginning to run out of space! I love this movie and I would like everyone to love it too! It's the ultimate man-against-nature movie and a rollicking adventure to boot! Absolutely well worth a viewing! And don't be afraid to go in the water!
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fab film but must fault the DVD, 22 Sep 2005
I completely agree with the review of the film, it is my personal No.1 but i must criticise the new DVD package. Originally a 2-hour documentary was made in 1995 for the 20th aniv. in the USA and in 1997 a docu. called 'In the Teeth of Jaws' was shown on British TV with some great extra stuff about Robert Shaw and what a force of nature he was, and also about the Orca.
In 2000 for the 25th aniv DVD, this docu. was shown as a 50-minute edit which was fine and the DVD had good trailers and a few outtakes and extras. Now for the 30th aniv, they have given us the full 2-hour 1995 docu. but left out the Robert Shaw and Orca stuff. Also they have taken out the trailers and added about 10 seconds of a deleted scene.
I have never seen a new DVD which took stuff out as well as adding it and it's obvious thay have plenty in the can which will come out slowly in time. The Robert Shaw stuff was brilliant. It talked about how he purposely needled Richard Dreyfuss to help the tension between the 2 characters and how he would drink Wild Turkey at 5am when he was picked up to go to the island and how they sent people to drink with him and keep him under control and when one passed out, they sent another!!!
In addition the sound effect of the whale that they hear in the cabin is suddenly different and the sound when the shark blows up is weak. Not sure about the Brody dialogue mentioned by someone else. Anyway, i'm giving the film 5 stars but the DVD 4. Enjoy the film anyway!!!!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
help I'm terrified, 20 Jul 2009
Spielberg himself has said that the opening of his 1975 hit drags. These days it would all be cut so that we get to the boat after 15 minutes or something. But I think it works. After all you know as soon as the girl is killed - well actually you know as soon as you see a poster called JAWS - what this film is all about. Excursions into the private life of the characters before they go off to kill the beast does drag, but it's not that bad.
In any suspense thriller the whole point is that you're waiting . . . and waiting, but the movie manages it all perfectly. I'm always impressed by this, given how many hundreds of people are involved in making a film, all giving their two cents. Mind you i am one of those people who fell in love with the shark and wanted it to eat the men. So perhaps they would not have made me welcome on set.
Go figure.
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