Friday, September 10, 2010

JAWS (1975)

"You're going to need a bigger boat."

The citizens of sleepy Amity Island don't think too much of it when a young visitor disappears after a beach party. These kind of things occasionally happen when you live so close to the ocean...drownings, boating accidents, etc., but things change when the body is found. The mutilated corpse shows clear signs of a shark attack. Police Chief Brody, in his first year on the job, is startled by the corpse and sets out to close the beaches before anybody else gets killed. The mayor gets wind of his intentions and stops him because "Amity is a summer town." that depends of the tourist's money. Bad call. Soon after a boy, a man and cute dog are killed by the rouge shark in clear view of everybody. Things happen and soon Chief Brody, a marine biologist and a local shark hunter set out to kill the shark. That is where the story really takes off.

Not only is JAWS one of the most influential films of the 1970's, it's probably one of the most influential films of all time.  And with great reason: it's a awesome movie.  Attention getting story with a pace that never lets up, great acting (Robert Shaw and Roy Scheider should have both been nominated for an Academy Award), beautiful scenery, great photography, legendary monster that scared the living fuck out of an entire generation and probably one of the most instantly identifiable musical scores of all time.  Highly, highly recommended. This is one of my favorite movies to watch over and over again.

A great story about a fan hunting for the fourth "Bruce"...here.

Part 2 - Jaws 2 (1978)
Part 3 - Jaws 3 (1983)
Part 4 - Jaws: The Revenge (1987)

"Coroner" misspelled twice.

 How nice of Bruce to give Quint a cushion to lay on.

 Crab flying from offscreen.