Jaws (1975)

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.

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers:

Peter Benchley (screenplay), Carl Gottlieb (screenplay),

Stars:

Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss

Top 250 #142 | Won 3 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roy Scheider	...	Brody
Robert Shaw	...	Quint
Richard Dreyfuss	...	Hooper
Lorraine Gary	...	Ellen Brody
Murray Hamilton	...	Vaughn
Carl Gottlieb	...	Meadows
Jeffrey Kramer	...	Hendricks (as Jeffrey C. Kramer)
Susan Backlinie	...	Chrissie
Jonathan Filley	...	Cassidy
Ted Grossman	...	Estuary Victim
Chris Rebello	...	Michael Brody
Jay Mello	...	Sean Brody
Lee Fierro	...	Mrs. Kintner
Jeffrey Voorhees	...	Alex Kintner
Craig Kingsbury	...	Ben Gardner

Storyline

It's a hot summer on Amity Island, a small community whose main business is its beaches. When new Sheriff Martin Brody discovers the remains of a shark attack victim, his first inclination is to close the beaches to swimmers. This doesn't sit well with Mayor Larry Vaughn and several of the local businessmen. Brody backs down to his regret as that weekend a young boy is killed by the predator. The dead boy's mother puts out a bounty on the shark and Amity is soon swamped with amateur hunters and fisherman hoping to cash in on the reward. A local fisherman with much experience hunting sharks, Quint, offers to hunt down the creature for a hefty fee. Soon Quint, Brody and Matt Hooper from the Oceanographic Institute are at sea hunting the Great White shark. As Brody succinctly surmises after their first encounter with the creature, they're going to need a bigger boat.

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Plot Keywords:

shark | island | great white shark | mayor | beach | 

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Taglines:

If you forgot what terror was like...its back.

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Genres:

Adventure | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Universal Studios

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 June 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stillness in the Water

Filming Locations:

Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$260,000,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zanuck/Brown Productions, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min 130 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although Steven Spielberg wanted Charlton Heston to play Brody, the main reason Spielberg decided against casting him was because of Heston's "saving the day" role in his previous movies, Airport 1975 and Earthquake. Spielberg reasoned that if Heston would have been cast, it signifies to the audience that the shark has virtually no chance against the hero.

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Goofs

On the TV/video version of Chrissie's death scene, a fine wire can be seen connected to the buoy as she is being shaken about by the shark. This was probably used to stop it drifting out of shot. The wire has been removed on the DVD version.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Tom Cassidy: What's your name again?
Christine 'Chrissie' Watkins: Chrissie.
Tom Cassidy: Where are we going?
Christine 'Chrissie' Watkins: Swimming

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Crazy Credits

During the end credits, if you look carefully, you can see Brody and Hooper slowly floating to the shore.

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Connections

Referenced in Torchwood: Something Borrowed (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Show Me The Way To Go Home"
(uncredited)
Written by Irving King
Performed by Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss

User Reviews

Spielberg at the top of his game

My Rating: **** out of ****.

Steven Spielberg is one of the best American directors working today. He has made many films that have been hailed as classics. Yet before the Dinosaurs, Holocaust, Peter Pan, UFO's, and Indy there was the Shark. Jaws represents one of the masterpieces on Spielbergs resume. It is also probably the "Quintessential Spielberg Film."

Jaws was very popular when released, it was the gighest grossing film of 1975. It spawned three sequels, which were all inferior. In fact, no film about Sharks or any killer fish has been able to come close to the level of Jaws.

The genius in Jaws is its ability to build suspense. The Shark is never really shown till near the end of the film. When ever the Shark is approaching its victims, we get the Sharks point of view, instead of seeing the Shark. These POV shots combined with John Williams very effective score, make the scenes when the Shark is about to devour his victims much more effective.

Evry actor does a nice job with their performances. Roy Scheider brings Martin to life. Martin is not a showy character but Scheider is able to make us like him. Richard Dreyfuss exhibits energy in his performance as Matt Hooper. Robert Shaw is very effective as Quint, that Indiannapolis speech is still very chilling to me. Lorraine Gary and Murray Hamilton also give solid support.

People always talk about how fake the Shark looks. I think its passable but today it would definitely be done by CGI. However, the Shark is not seen that much in the film so its not that big of a deal.

I would like to say Jaws is Spielbergs best film, Schindlers List closely follows. But I would like to see Close Encouners and the Indiana Jones films again. I did not like Close Encounters the first time, and I like the Indiana Jones films but they never stood out to me. If these films dont surpass Jaws, then it is definitely Spielberg's best film.