our summer movie season started with this opening scene....
What a great, great film
What a great, great film
40 years ago, for those of us old enough to remember...
- Thread starter psuro
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just saw it in the theater last week. . . perfect film, not a wasted scene, builds a sense of dread, and every emotional payoff hits at the right time
Am I the only person on this Board that has never seen Jaws? I've seen clips but have never seen more than 2 minutes at any one time. I've heard it's excellent. Friends of mine have seen it many times and give it high marks. I'm not sure why I've never watched it, but despite all the hype, I have no desire to view it now, so I will remain a holdout.
You definitely have to see it (but not before vacation if you're going to the shore).
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As a kid my wife vacationed on Cape Cod every summer, staying at her Lithuanian grandfather's house on the Cape. My wife's dad, ever the prankster, convinced grandfather that he and grandma should take the kids to this new "fishing" movie (grandfather was a fisherman). So they did. My wife and her brother learned many new Lithuanian phrases on the car ride home.
I think you should take the time to watch it. The story holds up well in my opinion. Keep in mind that the production values were from 1975, so don't expect CGI or any of that - they actually had to build mechanical sharks. This was one of Spielberg's early movies if memory serves - and he did a masterful job. It really did create a stir in the summer of '75. It might have been the best movie of the year.
Couple of quick points. In the book, I don't believe there is a false alarm of a shark caught like there is in the movie (where the mother of the little boy slaps the Sherriff). Also in the book, the Oceanographer and the Sherriff's wife have an affair. They had some connection in the past, but I don't recall what it was. I think in the movie, the replaced the affair with the scene of the false alarm of the shark being caught.
I used to see Peter Benchley every so often - he at breakfast at a little café on Route 206 across from the Peddie School in Lawrenceville, NJ. I think it's called the Sunshine Café today, not sure what it was called before.
one interesting bit of "behind the scenes" production that shows how innovative Spielberg really is . . . due to the extreme difficulties the crew had with the mechanical sharks, Spielberg opted to film many scenes from the "shark's eye view", just to have footage for the film.
Turned out to be a brilliant choice once he got into the editing room and saw that these scenes created a real sense of menace for the "victims", and also allowed him to build tension and fear by not revealing the full shark until later in the film.
I read an interview with Spielberg where he said that he was getting frustrated with the constant failure of the mechanical sharks.....thus could not show it as much as originally planned....but then was inspired by the Hitchcock approach (Psycho and other films) where the "anticipation" of the danger is what creates the tension and fear.....so his (Spielberg's credit) he attributes the approach that you described back to Alfred Hitchcock.
Classic movie, scared the daylights out of me in the theater.
"1,100 men went into the water, 316 came out, the sharks took the rest."
"1,100 men went into the water, 316 came out, the sharks took the rest."
I saw Jaws on opening night in 1975. I was 13 years old. We arrived late to the theatre ( my mom dropped me and my buddy off and she went shopping) and got the last 2 seats in the house, right down in front. Everytime that shark popped out of the water, I just about $hit myself. Incredible suspense.
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Speaking of cinematic ploys, every early instance of the shark is accompanied by the distinct music. Then when they're throwing chum in the water the shark suddenly leaps out without warning. After that, the audience no longer knows when the shark will attack, building further tension.
Oh yeah, it's more than watchable. Roy Schneider is really pretty good; the expression on his face when he pulls back after seeing the shark close up is priceless. Having Dreyfuss and Shaw with him makes for some pretty compelling scenes. Jaws holds up well in the same way The Birds and Psycho hold up well.
In a way, a lot of 70's and 80's movies are much better movies with respect to drama, suspense, acting, screenplay, plot, cinematography, etc...because they could not rely on CGI for just blow everything up action scenes. Movies actually told a story and developed characters. I like Avengers and Sci Fi moves of today as much as anybody, but most of them severely lack in any actual quality to a storyline or drama/suspense that isn't CGI generated.
A few years younger than you, went to the movie with a co-worker/friend of my parents. He was an amputee. During the scene where the leg is floating downward through the water you could here a pin drop in the packed theatre. He was end of row, jumps up on his one leg, hops around yelling, " I could use that, I could use that". Entire theatre goes from complete stillness/silence to an uproarious laughter that didn't totally stop for a couple of minutes. A memory that will last forever......
A few days later went to Atlantic City for the day with my grandmother, only time in my life had no interest in going in the water. Went in ankle deep and nearly pissed myself.
I remember seeing this movie distinctly. Scared the c*** out of me! Totally exhausted when it was over. I remember the theater erupting in cheers when the pressure tank took out the shark. Fantastic score by John Williams. BTW - I seem to remember that the cast and crew nicknamed the mechanical shark "Bruce".
One of the real underestimated film eras is the mid-70s. There was so much going on politically, culturally and otherwise and a lot of things were just plain bleak (gas lines, Vietnam winding down, congressional investigations, Jimmy Carter (I kid), unemployment, urban crime at an all-time high, pollution and the list goes on) but movies of the time reflected that uncertainty and made some sense of it.
One could argue, it was the last time Hollywood actually provided meaningful art and entertainment.
Just look at the movies of 1975 for example: Jaws, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Dog Day Afternoon, Monty Python's the Holy Grail, Three Days of the Condor, Rollerball, Nashville, The Man Who Would Be King -- an incredible year. And '74 and '76 produced lasting movies too.
Actually the '70's decade is considered by many to be the Golden Era of Hollywood.
just wrap your head around the young filmmakers who were all friends and up and comers during that era:
Spielberg. Lucas. De Palma. Coppola. Scorsese.
After seeing that movie I was scared to go in the swimming pool and even the bathtub!!! I saw it in a drivein with my parents(actually my dad wanted to see it, my mom went with him and they didn't have anywhere else to put me at the time as I was 8 or 9).
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