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Jaws (1975)

★★★★ — Jaws (1975)

Steven Spielberg came to Jaws (1975) having made Duel (1971) and The Sugarland Express (1974), two films that marked him as a director with a sharp instinct for sustained tension, but neither had prepared Universal Pictures for what followed. The film adapts Peter Benchley's 1974 bestselling novel of the same name, and the shoot on Martha's Vineyard became notoriously troubled, with the mechanical shark (nicknamed "Bruce" by the crew) failing so persistently that Spielberg was forced to suggest the creature far more than he showed it. The budget ran to around seven million dollars, modest for the ambition involved, yet the film returned nearly half a billion dollars at the box office and is widely credited with inventing the modern summer blockbuster as a commercial and cultural phenomenon. Scheider, Shaw, and Dreyfuss were all at relatively early stages of their peak Hollywood years.

Big shark. People hunt it. BUT IT'S GREAT! It’s just a big shark eating people… and yet, it’s one of the greatest films ever made. That’s Spielberg’s genius. The simplicity of Jaws is exactly what makes it so gripping. The characters are instantly memorable, the tension is unbearable, and despite a mechanical shark that barely worked, Spielberg turns every scene into a masterclass in suspense. You feel the fear, you feel the dread, and somehow, you feel completely attached to a trio of guys on a boat trying to kill a sea creature. And the soundtrack? Two notes. That’s all it takes. EVERYONE knows it. EVERYONE fears it.

Rating: ★★★★ | Year: 1975 | Watched: 2009-07-03

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