JAWS
A film review by David Landers
Copyright 1997 David Landers
RATING: **** out of **** - 8.5 out of 10.0 CAST: Roy Scheider (Martin Brody), Robert Shaw (Quint), Richard Dreyfuss (Hooper), Lorraine Gary (Ellen Brody), Murray Hamilton (Mayor Vaughan) DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg CERTIFICATION: PG (USA) for shark attacks and mild violence YEAR OF PRODUCTION: 1975 ACADEMY AWARDS: Music and Film Editing
JAWS is an unforgettable thriller, pioneer for future filmmaking, and the main cause for a fear of the ocean. Steven Spielberg's first big film, JAWS is one of those movies that you can watch over and over again and just not get tired of it. Based on the novel by Peter Benchley, JAWS is the story of Amity Island, a small resort on the Atlantic Ocean, that suddenly becomes terrorized by a Great White shark.
The movie begins in a fantastic, thrilling way. A group of teenagers are having at night, drinking and having fun. Two of the party-goers leave the group for a midnight swim. Chrissie (Susan Backlinie), who will be forever known as this role, is the girl who leaves. Once she begins to swim, she is attacked. In a scene that probably made a few movie-goers leave the theater, a lasting impression is left as to how vicious this shark can be.
Chief of Police Martin Brody, played very well by Roy Scheider, is assigned to investigate the mysterious disappearance of the girl. The only witness was a drunken man who can't really remember anything. When the remains are eventually found, the first assumption (by Brody) is a shark attack. But, many town officials don't want it to be classified as a shark attack, and feel that it is a "boat accident". The beaches are closed and many locals decide to take it upon themselves to hunt down the shark. Eventually, Hooper, a young scientist portrayed terrifically by Richard Dreyfuss, is brought in to investigate the possible shark problem. Once he sees the remains of the first victim, he is one hundred percent sure that this is no "boating accident" and that the shark they are dealing with is definitely posses a serious threat to the resort island.
The beaches remain open and the visitors are allowed to swim freely. Soon, another victim is attacked by the killer shark, this time a young boy. This sets off a manhunt for the shark, led by Chief Brody. A killer shark is killed and thought to be the shark responsible for the deaths of the two victims. When they find out this shark is not the shark they are looking for, Chief Brody, Hooper, and Quint (played by the late Robert Shaw), a veteran shark fisherman, set off to hunt down the shark that is plaguing the small resort island. After a while, the shark turns on the boat and its crew, and the men are left to not only eliminate the shark, but save their own lives.
JAWS is a seemingly non-stop action/thriller with countless unforgettable moments and quotes. Aside from the entire sequence of events when the crew is attempting to kill this very large fish, Quint's story of the U.S.S. Indianapolis (a scene written by Shaw) is a very detailed and memorable scene. JAWS is, by today's standards, probably not as suspenseful as most movies, but for 1975, it was a definite edge-of-your-seat thriller that left the nation petrified of the ocean.
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