Jaws (1975)
My Grade: A+
It's interesting to in the same weekend watch two movies with Spielberg behind them. Granted, he was director of Jaws and obviously much more heavily involved in it than he was as senary executive producer. But it none-the-less shows how much the Summer blockbuster action movie has changed from inarguably the very first one to the latest one.
It makes one wonder if Jaws would work if released for the first time (unchanged) today and, similarly, if Jurassic World had been released in 1975 (sending it back in time as it currently is, shock audiences!) if it would have kicked off the concept of the Summer Blockbuster. (Summer movie season in 1975 often considered the dead-zone for movie releases much like the mid-winter season is today.)
The movie Jaws was released in 1975 and directed by a then unknown untested director, a cast of largely unknown stars and plagued with numerous problems with the mechanical shark and operating it on seawater. (Necessitating many of the shark scenes to be carried out without a shark around and rather the theme and objects attached to the shark to reveal its position, coupled with actual footage of sharks.)
The movie, if you don't know, centers around an island hamlet in the North East preparing for the beginning of their busy time of year, the 4th of July, when tourists rush to the quaint beach town for relaxation and beach shores a critical time of year for the island's residents as it makes-or-breaks their finances for the next year. Everything is put into jeopardy when it seems that a shark has staked a claim on the waters around the island endangering swimmers. The chief of police, Martin Brody, is recent transplant from New York City who quickly decides to close the beaches after a young woman dies from an apparently shark attack. He butts heads with the mayor and other locals who know the desperate need for the beach traffic over the Summer. The medical examiner recants his findings and the mayor insists the beaches stay open.
More accidents occur and Chief Brody calls in an oceanographer, Matt Hooper a rich man with intense interest in sharks, to help them with the shark problem. Eventually Brody gets fed up with the accidents and forces the mayor to allow him and Matt to hire a local shark-hunter, Quint, to go out and kill the shark. What results is more of a character drama than any strict action flick as the personalities of three men clash (particularly between the working-class Quint and the rich Hooper) over how to handle the situation as the shark reveals itself to be much more than they can handle.
For the time, and even to extent even for today, the shark scenes still look great and the movie's inability to use a shark on screen much plays to the tension much more than if we'd seen it the entire time. POV shots, the infamous Jaws theme, and a series of barrels attached to shark provide all of the tension needed to fear the shark and when we do get to see it, it is a sight to behold and we see this in the reaction and awe in the characters' faces.
Our three male leads are remarkable and when the three of them finally bond over comparing old wounds and singing sea shanties you're ready to see these men face their aquatic Mt. Everest.
What needs to be said? This movie started the Summer Blockbuster and for good reason. It's a remarkable movie that really shows the genius that's Spielberg, or at least the Spielberg that existed back then, as he was able to accomplish given his lack of clout as filmmaker back then and the bevy of problems the movie faced during filming. The movie, naturally, gave birth to numerous sequels the likes of which are best forgotten.
Jaws for me remains one of my most favorite movies, probably in my Top 5. Lots of great scenes in it, particularly Quint's recounting of his experiences on the doomed WWII ship the Indianapolis. It's hard to watch that scene and not be utter wrapped up and hanging on every single word Quint says.
Remarkable work, Mr. Shaw.
A fantastic, fantastic movie. Nothing else need be said.