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1975
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JAWS
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STARRING:ROY
SCHEIDER,RICHARD DREYFUSS,ROBERT SHAW,LORRAINE GRAY,MURRAY HAMILTON,CARL
GOTTLIEB,JEFFREY KRAMER
BASED
ON THE NOVEL BY PETER BENCHLEY
SCREENPLAY
BY PETER BENCHLEY & CARL GOTTLIEB
PRODUCED
BY DAVID BROWN & RICHARD D. ZANUCK
DIRECTED
BY STEVEN SPIELBERG
GENRE:ADVENTURE/HORROR
RATED:AUSTRALIA:M/UK:PG/USA:PG
RUNNING
TIME:124 MIN
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The
movie which spawned the summer blockbuster and launched the career
of a then unknown Steven Spielberg, Jaws still remains the
definitive monster movie, a horror classic which is backed by a great
screenplay, fine performances, John Williams' pulsating score and
Spielberg's brilliant direction.
Based in the small beach community of Amity Island, Jaws stars
Roy Scheider as Chief Martin Brody, a former New York police officer
who must contend with the threat of a monstrous great white shark
who has claimed the beach as his new stomping ground feeding on the
local residents. Clashing against the town's politicians who want
to keep the beaches open and the tourist dollars flowing, Brody enlists
the help of marine biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and grizzled
shark hunter Quint (Robert Shaw) to track down and kill the beast.
Spielberg has directed a film which contains many unforgettable and
suspenseful moments. While many monster movies have the actors playing
second fiddle to their creature counterpart, Jaws contains
strong characters which are played very well by its cast. Roy Scheider
is great as Brody, one of the more complex and mysterious characters
in mainstream cinema. Throughout the film he drops hints about his
life as a police officer and how the dangers of living in a big city
lead him to move his family to a small island community (regardless
of his fear of the ocean).
Richard Dreyfuss is excellent as the wealthy shark expert called in
to help the overwhelmed Chief Brody and Robert Shaw shines as the
obsessed shark hunter hired to slay the great white. Both Hooper's
and Quint's personalities wonderfully clash with their old school
VS new school conventions constantly butting heads with poor Chief
Brody stuck in the middle. In a well written and acted scene both
men find common ground while comparing battle scars as all the while
Brody motions towards his belly (perhaps a gun shot wound from his
time in the Big Apple?).The scene also contains a chilling monologue
written by Howard Slacker, re-written by infamous writer/director
John Milius and then brushed up and delivered exceptionally well by
Shaw (all three men were not credited for their work.)
The movie can be seen in two parts. The first is a very effective
horror thriller, which wisely does not show the shark and instead
ops in developing a solid story, fleshing out its characters, creating
a chilling atmosphere and containing some truly blood curling scares.
The second part is very much an adventure monster movie and while
it is not as effective as the first half of the film it still contains
some rip roaring sequences and the films best dialogue with the before
mentioned Quint monologue and the now infamous "We're gonna need
a bigger boat" line (ad-libbed on set by Scheider).
The shark is shown prominently throughout this half of the movie.
Designed by Bob Mandee (0f 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
fame), the shark - affectionately named "Bruce" after Spielberg's
lawyer - hardly worked driving the cast and crew nuts as it continued
to breakdown, delaying filming on a constant basis. Looking at it
now you can almost hear it gears creaking in the background but while
it does not match to the CGI and animatronics of today, it is still
a convincing piece of machinery which works very well within the movie.
The influence Jaws has had on every monster film from Alien
to The Host
is self evident and it has yet to be bettered since it was released
over 30 years ago. |
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