The father of the Summer Blockbuster and one of the greatest films ever made. Directed to perfection by a 29 year-old Steven Spielberg and edited by the legendary Verna Fields who would go on to win an Oscar for her work on Jaws. Indeed it's her masterful editing that helps to elevate this film to the level of a masterpiece.
The film, whose plot must be known by every living person in the world, sees the New England island of Amity terrorised by a 25ft, three tonne Great White shark over the course of an Independence Day weekend, forcing the town's ocean-phobic sherif Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) team up with an oceanographer Matt Hopper (Richard Dreyfuss) and professional shark hunter, Captain Quint (Robert Shaw) to set sail on a rickety old boat called the Orca and hunt down that smiling "son-of-a-bitch" and kill it. What follows is a two-hour masterclass in suspense, drama and tension. It's a film that manages to not only give our characters story arcs, but in the case of Brody, create a very moving and utterly believable portrait of a family man desperately trying to do his best in the face of powerful opposition. In between the shark attacks the film still has time to offer moments of humour and introspection and the scene at the dinner table between Brody and his son is very moving. There is one scene in particular, that even today, still has me holding my breathe in anticipation and tense, and it's when the two fishermen thrown an uncooked Sunday joint off the the pier in an attempt to catch the shark.
I have lost count of the number of times I've watched this, I first saw it in the ABC Cinema in Ealing with my family at the age of 12 and was traumatised, particulary by the death of Robert Shaw's 'Quint', and genuinely believed that he had actually been killed by that shark. It always been a part of my top ten films of all times and despite knowing each and every line of dialogue and what's about to happen next, I'm not ashamed to admit that both my daughter and I jumped in our seats when Ben Gardener's head bobs into view. I seriously cannot think of a single thing that I don't like about this film and consider that if this was ever remade, it would be an hour longer and we'd get not only the back story of Brody, Quint and Hopper, but also the shark who we'd discover is just trying to protect its family.
The film has a visual quality which is not only unmatched, but helps to make this film utterly timeless, it might be set in the 1970s but manages to look as fresh as a daisy today. Spielberg's choice of avoiding big name actors in casting of the lead roles and of using actual inhabitants of Marta's Vineyard to fill the cast helped to create a convincing air of believability, add to that John William's deeply iconic soundtrack and you simply what is one of the greatest films ever made.
This weekend in America Jaws took over $8 million and claimed the number #2 slot at the boxoffice beating out three new releases. Not bad for a film celebrating it's 50th anniversary.
Let's raise our glasses and toast a timeless classic that has lost none of its bite. 10/10
