140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW
Now safely past the 4th of July, we can watch what is arguably Spielberg’s best film. Jaws is so much more than a blockbuster monster movie.
140 Character Movie Review #2 – #140RVW
(NOTE: Would you believe that I sat down to write a review of Jaws for its 40th anniversary, completely forgetting that I’d already written it last year? Oh well, here’s the new #140RVW anyway…)
Impossible to overstate the importance of this film to our modern culture. Yes, that cuts both ways, but I’m mainly referring to positive…
Spoiler-free Movie Review of Jaws:
Now that the 4th of July is behind us, I think it’s safe to review this one. I had planned to release this review during 4th of July weekend, to recreate the terror that the film characters experience over that same holiday, but I selfishly held it. Why? Because I wanted to go swimming and knew I wouldn’t get in the water after writing this…
Jaws is such a popular film that it probably doesn’t need much in the way of a review, anyhow. If you somehow haven’t seen it, you should start now – right now – and then come back. If you have seen it, that’s still good advice…
Much has been written about the making of this film – the difficulties in every part of production, mechanical problems, going over budget by 100 days. I’m not going to get into that stuff. For the best account of the making of the film, try The Jaws Log by co-screenwriter Carl Gottlieb.
Jaws really isn’t about a shark anyway. This is a human story, populated by some truly great characters. The knock on Peter Benchley’s debut novel has always been that the characters weren’t likable, and it was this problem that led to the massive rewrite of Benchley’s screenplay by Gottlieb. (There were also a number of uncredited script “polishers” like John Milius, Matthew Robbins & Hal Barwood.)
It’s impossible to imagine what the film would have been like had things gone according to plan. Without the delays, the on-set rewrites would never have happened. Without the mechanical problems, the clever characterization wouldn’t have needed to stand in for effects wizardry.
This last fact, of course, is why the film is so great. Jaws is the best film example of a happy accident. If the mechanical shark works well, this movie would have been nothing. Gone would be the suspense that makes the film a classic. Spielberg has always been happy to admit that his picture would have been a b-movie monster picture if the technical problems didn’t require a completely different approach.
Even if he had ended up making a gratuitous monster picture, though, it certainly would have been best in class, as it’s a gorgeous film by any standard. If it were shot today, we’d be talking about production design. The beauty of this picture is that there basically isn’t any – this is Martha’s Vineyard. This is island life. If you’ve experienced life in a seaside community, you’ll recognize it. Not only did they retain the character and feel of the island life, they cast islanders in the picture – not just as extras but in named parts.
DP Bill Butler captures the ocean and the island with equal effectiveness; no mean feat. Think of the vastly different shots in the film and how well they all come together – late night low-lit scenes on the dock, campfire scenes, early morning coastal landscapes, municipal interiors, crowded beaches, scenes in a small boat, hand-held POV shots of swimmers. He even has the camera dipping underwater to simulate the feel of treading water near the action. It’s marvelous work.
Incredible underwater footage of live sharks was provided by Australian divers and shark experts Ron & Valerie Taylor, who unfortunately did their job so well that they would spend much of the rest of their careers championing conservation and a better understanding of these amazing creatures that have now been hunted to near extinction, partly as a result of the terror created by this film. In fact, that’s really the only negative thing you can say about Jaws; it has created and fed anti-shark fervor with a brutal effectiveness. As much as I love this movie, it is very nearly single-handedly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of sharks and has made protection of these beautiful animals all but impossible.
Like few films before it, Jaws completely changed the landscape for filmmaking, advertising and film release strategy. It virtually invented the summer blockbuster, wide theatrical releases and massive promotions. That’s all just marketing – more importantly it established a visionary filmmaker and an “event” style of motion picture. A good adventure thriller became something far more because of fascinating characters, fully realized by great acting. It’s still the best…
Poster:
Trailer:
Bechdel Test:
Fail
The Representation Test Score: C (4 pts)
(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)
| Main Cast | Roy Scheider Brody, Robert Shaw Quint, Richard Dreyfuss Hooper, Lorraine Gary Ellen Brody |
| Rating | PG |
| Release Date | Fri 20 Jun 1975 UTC |
| Director | Steven Spielberg |
| Genres | Adventure, Horror, Thriller |
| Plot | When a gigantic great white shark begins to menace the small island community of Amity, a police chief, a marine scientist and grizzled fisherman set out to stop it. |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 124 |
| Tagline | Amity Island had everything. Clear skies. Gentle surf. Warm water. People flocked there every summer. It was the perfect feeding ground. |
| Writers | Peter Benchley (screenplay) and, Carl Gottlieb (screenplay) … |
| Year | 1975 |
