Review of Jaws (1975) by Axet — 20 Jun 2015

The classic summer blockbuster that started the 40 year continuing trend not only holds up but is better with every viewing (save that very first time as a young kid in the theatre, nothing could compare). It's one in an extremely rare pantheon of movies that defy all odds by being better than their best selling novels. The vision of its new director was a most assured behind the camera presence that I sensed even as a seven year old. It was a whole new level of movie.

Now the DCP being shown for its theatrical re-release shows how amazingly that original film photography holds up. It still looks like a contemporary shot movie in many ways, and the digital surround sound is on the same level.

This is an example of pure 100% efficiency movie making with not a second wasted in its Oscar winning editing packed so tight with goods you are amazed how much and rich a story for one feature. That was the case in 1975 and holds true today. I feel sorry for those younger generations who think it drags in the second act. They've been brainwashed by too much of today's insipid pace for pace's sake bloated VFX movies which leave character and nuance in the dust. The balance of pacing achieved by Jaws was at an all time pinnacle I'd say.

Probably the most famous music score in cinematic history with maybe only Psycho, Rocky, Star Wars and 007 as contenders, and despite being endlessly used in parodies, it's still absolutely effective.

The secret to the monster movie here was casting great actors in a human story that only amplifies the menace of the terrifying beast below in that rare Hollywood scenario (especially these days): a horror that is entirely possible and real yet never underwhelming. If Jaws was made today, undoubtedly it would be too over-the-top. CGI would certainly ruin it and not because of that wonderful technology itself but the misuse and overuse of it.

Even rarer, it is that once in a generation cinematic event that transcends the silver screen and becomes a cultural milestone and part of our collective consciousness. Psycho did it with the shower.  Fatal Attraction did it with the one night stand.  Jaws did it not just with sharks but with the water itself, and in even deeper and more primal terms with what lies beneath the water - the great unknown.

Equally simple B grade thriller material elevated by class A big studio machinery which took the project seriously, a man against nature adventure classic for the ages, and a well researched scientific study of sharks and the oceans which became the inspiration for so many marine biologists, conservationists, and documentarians; JAWS is as great as movies ever get. The old saying, they don't make 'em like they used to never applied more.