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| Jaws
Year: 1975
Classification: Action/Adventure
Directed:
- Steven Spielberg
Actors/Actresses:
- Richard Dreyfuss
- Robert Shaw
- Roy Scheider
Take a Bite Out of this DVD!
Anyone old enough to remember the Summer of '75 will recall the sheer terror caused by the 20-foot mechanical shark in Steven Spielberg's classic horror film "Jaws". Not only did this flesh-ripping Great White take a huge chunk out of the worldwide box office, it also put a dent in the profits of beach towns on both coasts. No one wanted to go anywhere near the ocean! Heck, you couldn't even jump into a kiddie pool without some prankster breaking into a couple bars of the classic "Jaws" theme. (Da-Dum-Da-Dum-Da-Dum...) The media, in fact the whole world, was caught up in a stupifying feeding frenzy of Shark-Mania. You see, "Jaws" wasn't merely a movie; it was an EVENT! It was the original Summer Blockbuster. But, unlike the majority of mega-movies it spawned, "Jaws" was worth every penny of the $3.50 we movie-goers forked over in 1975. In a stroke of genius, Spielberg kept us squirming by not allowing us to see the toothy, blood-lusting shark for the first hour of the film. We only witnessed the bone-crunching damage that this monster had inflicted. When the Great White finally surfaced, a collective gasp could be heard throughout the theatre. Nevertheless, we had faith in Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw and Roy Scheider -- the heroic hunters who set off to sea in a small fishing vessel named, ironically, "Orca". But, alas, we knew that indeed they'd need "a bigger boat". The inevitable showdown between man and maneater was more horrifying than anything we'd ever seen on the big screen. But, ultimately, in the end, we let out a whopping round of applause and got right back in line to see it again. (Well, some of us unemployed youth actually hid in the bathroom between shows!) Everything about "Jaws" worked. The suspense, the music, the chemistry of the stellar cast and, of course, the big rubber shark kept us coming back for more. Finally, after years of suffering through heavily edited pan and scan versions on Cable TV, we are treated to a beautiful widescreen version of "Jaws". This DVD is truly worth it. The print itself is crisp and clean. The entire soundtrack, most notably John Williams' chilling score, is greatly enhanced by the DTS. For my money, the "Making of Jaws" documentary included within is worth the price of admission alone. Overall, a job well done and quite befitting of this all-time classic. Highly recommended.
My favorite movie of all time!
Nothing else has had quite the effect on me as this movie. To me it is nearly perfect, a well crafted monster movie that seems to effortlessly invoke a sense of phobic terror whenever anyone gets anywhere near, much less in, the water. Although Roy Scheider is a delight as Brody and Richard Dreyfuss engaging as Matt Hooper, it is the larger than life characterization of Quint by Robert Shaw that owns the movie. Mattey's Mechanical Shark isn't half bad either, although it's constant malfunctions kept it off camera for most of the movie. A happy accident that only served to increase the film's already considerable power. If you haven't seen this movie yet, by all means do so asap. They just do not make monster movies better than this. An essential action/monster movie for any film buff's library.
The disc is nearly as good as the movie. It contains numerous deleted scenes, outtakes, storyboards, and trailers. Too bad the incredible making of documentary has been cut to about an hour in length from its original two hour running time. Perhaps some day MCA will do another box set special edition for the DVD release and offer the restored documentary.
THE ALL-TIME SHOCKER
I`ve seen this over and over... It simply never outstays its welcome. The thrills are still at potent as in 1975. Yup, they did make sequels and Deep Blue Sea; but it can never be like this....Thanks to the genius of Spielberg, Verna Fields and a GOOD screenplay by Garl Gootlieb and author Peter Bencheley this is both drama, horror and suspense on a high level. JAWS is indeed high art. Scheider, Gary, Duvall, Hamilton and Dreyfuss ALL excell in their roles.
Buy Jaws at Amazon.com
Buy posters at Allposters.com
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