Stars: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss
Director: Steven Spielberg
There are years when choosing a favorite horror film is going to be difficult for me. This is not one of those years. Jaws isn’t just the best horror film of 1975, it is one of the best horror films of all time.
Brief synopsis:
A tourist named Chrissie is attacked and killed in the waters off Amity Island. After her remains are found, Police Chief Martin Brody is told she was the victim of a shark attack by the town coroner. Fearful for the people he protects, Martin attempts to shut down the beaches but his efforts are thwarted by the greedy mayor and town council. They pressure the coroner to change the cause of death to a boating accident and the beaches stay open for business. This decision proves fatal to a dog named Pippin and young Alex Kitner, who is attacked while floating on his raft in front of dozens of horrified people. Unable to deny the shark’s existence any longer, Mayor Vaughn agrees to close the beaches for 24 hours. Matt Hooper from the Oceanographic Institute comes to town to check out the situation while local fisherman Quint offers to get rid of the shark for $10,000.
Alex’s mother offers $3,000 for the capture of the shark that killed her child. The town becomes overrun with fishermen hoping to capture the shark and earn the bounty. A shark is caught however Hooper quickly determines it is not the shark that attacked Alex or Chrissie. The mayor refuses to listen and opens up the beaches for the 4th of July only to be proven wrong when the shark attacks again, almost killing Michael, Chief Brody’s oldest son. Finally backed into a corner, the mayor agrees to Quint’s demands and Quint, Brody, and Hooper set off on the fishing vessel Orca to kill the mammoth beast.
Spoilers below (you have been warned):
After multiple attacks, Hooper ends up at the bottom of the ocean in scuba gear and Quint is eaten by the shark as it destroys his boat. Martin ends up on the mast of the sinking ship with a gun and, hitting the air tank the shark has stuck in its mouth, blows it up. Hooper comes back to the surface and the surviving men swim home.
My thoughts (with spoilers):
Welcome to the first blockbuster and one of the first films to be sent out in wide release. Until Jaws, films were usually sent out in smaller releases to different markets at different times. If a film didn’t do well in one market, it may never make it to your town. That changed, for better or worse, with the film Jaws. The film opened in 450 theaters nationwide and went on to be the highest grossing film of all time for a couple of years until a little film called Star Wars took the mantle in 1977.
But why? What was it about Jaws that drove people to the theaters and away from the ocean? I would say that there are multiple reasons for this. For starters, most people have a fear of the unknown and the ocean is full of the unknown. There are creatures of all sorts in the water, many of which we cannot see until it is too late. Spielberg captures that fear perfectly, hiding the shark and using the camera to stalk his prey. Yes, he was forced to do so due to the malfunctioning shark, but the ability to pivot and create that deep sense of foreboding and fear without the creature on screen is something only a master of visual storytelling can do. As we go through films, you will see directors’ names and wonder whatever happened to them. This is Spielberg’s first major film and, 50 years later, we all still know who he is.
But even the best direction cannot prop up a badly written script or badly acted characters. The script is perfect, a prime example of taking the source material and improving upon it. Peter Benchley’s original novel is good but with too many unnecessary subplots that take the focus off of the shark and our three main protagonists. We do not need an affair between Hooper and Martin’s wife Ellen or the mayor being pressured by the mafia to keep the beaches open. In the case of Jaws the movie, less is more. Martin and Ellen are a believable and loving couple. We want to see him come home to her, to be her hero. That goes away if she is cheating on him with Hooper. Mayor Vaughn also comes off a little bit better without the mafia involved in his story. Yes, he is letting greed get the better of him but he is also looking out for his hundreds of citizens who depend on the summer tourists for their very lives. No money from tourists means that they may not be able to afford food or heat in the off-season. The mafia storyline took that nuance away from him.
Every role is perfectly cast in this film and I applaud Spielberg’s decision to use locals to fill out the smaller cast and background roles. Using locals adds a realism to the film that is needed to help immerse the viewer in the story. Roy Scheider is great as the hydrophobic Brody. We believe him as the Chief but also as a father and husband. Robert Shaw, who also helped script doctor the famous Indianapolis scene, is hard and grizzled as the slowly unraveling Quint. His speech near the end of the film is haunting and helps explain his need to kill all sharks. Richard Dreyfuss is good as Hooper but, if I am being honest, comes off a little brattier than I think was intended by the filmmakers.
However, Spielberg did not create this film in a vacuum. I would be remiss if I did not mention the brilliant and Oscar winning editing of Verna Fields. Each edit in the film is made for a specific reason and they work to keep the tension high. I watched the film in the theater just this summer with several of my friends. During the scene where Hooper checks out Ben Gardner’s boat under water and Ben’s head floats into view, one of my friends jumped and the other grabbed me in terror. This kind of reaction, especially in a 50-year-old film, only happens if the editing is perfect.
And last but certainly not least, we have the award-winning score of Jaws by the legendary John Williams. It starts off simple and low, just two notes slowly played back and forth. As the shark gets closer to its prey, the notes go faster and faster, adding in more instruments and building until the attack happens and the orchestra is in a fury, gnashing back and forth between the notes like the shark tearing apart its prey between its teeth. It is also never used for a false scare. If the theme is playing, the shark is coming. I will ding the jaunty music during the initial days that the three men are at the sea, it does not work for me, but the Jaws theme is a classic.
The sequels are various degrees of declining quality. Jaws 2 is basically a teen slasher with the killer being the shark and couple of good kills. Although Jaws 3D is bad, the bad movie lover in me has a soft spot for it and its stupid plot of the shark invading Sea World. Jaws the Revenge is just awful and I do not think near as fun as Jaws 3D.
Truthfully, there is only one film in the series that you ever need to see and that is the original 1975 classic. All the others are just chum.
Other films from 1975 to check out:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – The film that rightfully beat out Jaws for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Louis Fletcher’s Nurse Ratched almost beats out Bruce the Shark as most terrifying villain of the year.
Escape From Witch Mountain – Lost alien kids with telekinetic powers trying to get home. Underrated Disney film with Eddie Albert and Kim Richards, older sister of Kyle Richards aka Lindsey from Halloween.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail – Hilarious and endlessly quotable. This is my personal favorite of the Monty Python movies.