Jaws

like, duh.

Stylistically, it's a strange sort of hybrid between 70s 'New American Cinema' and the mechanical blockbustering of 'Star Wars' etc. A lot of the non-shark scenes have got the feel of an Altman movie - lots of overlapping dialogue, etc.

The Jungian had a lot of fun with the land.sea conscious/unconscious dichotomy, Fruedians equate the shark with the death drive (though on the boat it could also be sex).

Real shark fin. Num num. 'Snot as if sharks are an endangered species.

given that the orthodoxy is that this era was not that great after all (ie the death-knell of the 70s freedom = star wars), this is an interesting crux-point: is it true anyway (i mean, "he grew up on movies only = he was imbibing movies which had a HIDDEN proscenium arch imposed"? vs "loss of proscenium arch = death of cientmatic possibility"?)

The head in the boat bit still scares me even though when I watch it, I keep saying to myself "OK, the head's going to pop out any minute now. It's OK, you know what's going to happen. Any minute now, here it...HOLY FUCK!!!"

The day-for-night photography in Jaws is outrageous.

apropos of nothing, the Jaws Kitten:

http://blogs.citypages.com/food/sea%20kitten.jpg

http://gawker.com/5462300/david-brown-producer

A 35th anniversry defense:

http://philnugentexperience.blogspot.com/2010/07/tanks-for-memories.html

Pretty much agree with that: "in its way, Jaws was a political movie, maybe of the best kind--one that, without making speeches about it, embodies an attitude towards life and certain ever-present species of insanity in such an entertaining way that its message quietly seeps into the [consciousness]."

Also truly captured the beach in the same way The Bad News Bears captured ballparks and arcades, so was a summer movie in a literal sense. The naturalism of the sound before horror strikes is a thing of beauty. The score and camera techniques always serve the horror.

Also was a movie about a giant shark that eats people.

Jaws is the best. True story.

"Also was a movie about a giant shark that eats people."

the best reading of jaws.

Jaws is a perfectly realized movie and doesn't need defending. Anyone who lazily uses it to blame for the decline of movies should just jump off a cliff or something.

Yeah, Jaws is probably my favourite film.

haha, last post negates the one above!

It's about Spielberg's 6th- or 7th-best film.

Seriously? What's better?

Jaws always surprises people I make watch it for the first time by how great it is.

I'd rank them:

E.T.
Munich
Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom
Jaws
Schindler's List

those 3 + Empire of the Sun, Close Encounters, perhaps War of the Worlds or Amistad

Amistad?

Amistad? Made for TV stuff.

Munich too, maybe.

No way are any of those, bar maybe Indiana Jones, better than Jaws.

I've always thought of Jaws as his best because I wouldn't change a thing, but the highs of E.T. are higher despite its more obvious flaws, at least before his crappy retouch. I wouldn't put anything else he's done in that class.

This film is rock solid. Opening few shark attacks are still so frightening.

I would rank CE3K as his best, largely for personal/sentimental reasons, but Morbius is pretty close to OTM here. Except "Duel" should really be on that list, and I don't care that it was literally made for TV.

I got no beef with made-for-tv stuff, duel kicks ass.

Jaws and Duel are pretty good thrillers, and much less interesting than the later prime stuff bcz he hadn't really grown up, and it shows.

anyway, I'm sure somebody in academia must've suggested by now that the failure of Capt Quint's machismo to save the day heralded the ascent of Jimmy Carter.

Much more interesting, because at that stage he was still making movies for adults. The bonding/scar scene in Jaws is as good as Spielberg ever got at 'grown up' men.

no.

You're right, I'm forgetting.....?

xp I like Jaws, but it would work better if it was about 20 minutes shorter. Most of my cuts would reduce Dreyfuss' screen time.

BTW I live with the Jaws Kitten shown upthread and he is far more frightening than this movie.

The Dreyfuss character is an important Spielberg surrogate/triumph of the nerds figure! In the book isn't he a stud who sleeps w/ the sheriff's wife?

"Scar" drinking scene is essentially extended-adolescent dick-measuring which is lampooned by the RD character.

You're right, I'm forgetting.....?

Tony Kushner's treatment of adult agony over the duties to family/nation?

In the book isn't he a stud who sleeps w/ the sheriff's wife?

Yeah, Dreyfuss's college boy is much better for the movie treatment.

Scar" drinking scene is essentially extended-adolescent dick-measuring

heeey, i did put 'grown up' in scare quotation marks, be fair.

spielberg has never made a better film than jaws ffs

you can read stephen heath's classic essay abt jaws here, kinda a high watermark of cambridge semiotic theory:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=22ab7E9K1TYC&pg=PA509&lpg=PA509&dq=stephen+heath+jaws&source=bl&ots=af5n1RZ-vY&sig=OqoAw3f3bogix6v70i27Arl0kYk&hl=en&ei=cws2TJ_KDJHu0gSblMHxAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=stephen%20heath%20jaws&f=false

Jeez... way to make it sound boring. WTG, Heath.

At the same time, this by today's standards modest movie took significantly longer to shoot than, say, Black Panther, which shows how many problems they had.

See, that shot is a great example of what we were talking about. Scheider there is a movie star, professionally lit and made up. He's two years younger than I am now, but he looks at least 10 years older than me and my friends.

You should read this--thought I posted about it in this thread, but I guess not.

http://i.harperapps.com/covers/9780062229281/x300.jpg

That looks awesome!

Weird to think vertigo was only 17 years old when jaws was released

I feel like there's a Woody Allen joke there somewhere.

That book was pretty good, thanks for the recommendation. Interesting that they even released a contemporaneous account. Usually these sorts of books only appear after a movie flops, a la The Devil's Candy or Final Cut.

Watched this with the family tonight — my wife and kids had never seen it and I hadn’t in years — and everybody was super tense the whole time. This Spielberg kid has potential.

never lets me down, i will never not love this movie

I think Jaws is a stealthy Holocaust movie but I can’t really explain, y/n?

n

n

Nah I’m right sorry

Stevie Spiels wishing for east coast WASPs to have a holocaust of their own, to spread empathic understanding without polemic?

idk

reloadTime=1666569600035

now you're doing that shit when the url doesn't even show in the thread?

Watched this again last night. They truly don't make em like they used to. I swear Quint's demise goes on longer and grislier every time; the edit from the shark crunching down and him spitting up blood is proper filmmaking.

Scheider is vv good here, funny, smartly ahead of the game, flawed in his being pressured into second guessing, but heroic despite his deep fear, and a great example of a lead character who is also an audience surrogate.

Really like how the Williams score will periodically turn thrilling and glorious when they're chasing down the shark, echoing the overconfidence of the hunting party.

I find it p funny (not a detriment to the film btw) that the Mayor gets shook enough to hire Quint after that fella in the rowboat gets feasted on off in the side pond, but the kid turning into a blood fountain in full view of hundreds of beachgoers has him all, "now let's not be hasty here."

There's a screening at a rep theatre here in a few weeks, Friday night @ 9:30; hope it's as jam-packed as can be.

Hold up, apparently there is an imminent Broadway production about the making of the movie, called "The Shark is Broken"? Starring Robert Shaw's son as Chief Brody?

I think that's played London before

For maximum insanity, a musical I can only hope.

Couldn't make a Friday night screening--about 100 people I was told--but saw this at a rep tonight. The promise of "35mm print" is losing its allure: this one wasn't great.

Besides all the stuff it's actually famous for, I'd rank this as one of funniest films of the '70s. There are at least a half-dozen moments I'd point to to support that.

Not sure if I knew this or not, but I noticed Michael Chapman served as camera operator, a year before he shot Taxi Driver. (Reading up, he did the same on The Godfather.

Zen poetry:

A cloud
in the shape
of a killer shark

[1]I find it p funny (not a detriment to the film btw) that the Mayor gets shook enough to hire Quint after that fella in the rowboat gets feasted on off in the side pond, but the kid turning into a blood fountain in full view of hundreds of beachgoers has him all, "now let's not be hasty here."[/1]

Wasn't it because his own son was in the side pool? Or something like that.

king of the formatting

It's partly that, but the big difference is that after the kid, they think they they've caught the shark; the guy in the rowboat confirms Hooper's contention that they've caught a shark, not the shark.

I wonder if Spielberg had to fight the studio to kill the kid (and presumably remain faithful to the novel)? A lot of blood for a kid dying on screen.

I think when I sort of meant to say was clearly the mayor is deeply shaken and guilt-ridden after the boater is killed, but doesn't seem too guilt-ridden about pushing to keep the beaches open earlier, which leads to the kid being killed. I don't think it's a story flaw or anything, I was going to say that Brody taking all of the blame willingly when the kid's mom confronts him feels a bit off, but in thinking about it he definitely took that blame because he certainly didn't push back hard enough on the mayor, and later he certainly gives the mayor the disrespectful, shoving him around treatment he deserves when making him sign the contract with quint.

This movie has more blood than John Wick 4.

Was curious if either Brody kid had ever gone on to do anything--Jaws is literally the only screen credit for both of them. (They really young kid is so great when he mimics Scheider at the dinner table.) Also, the TV guy who delivers the "A cloud in the shape of a killer shark" line is Peter Benchley!

"The," not "They"

One more: in the IMDB full cast credits, Spielberg is listed as "Amity Point Lifestation Worker (voice)." Will have to listen carefully for that next time. (If there is one...I think I've reached my limit.)

the older Brody kid passed away pretty young, a heart attack. late thirties iirc.

My mother took me on my 10th birthday to see this film during its first run. It still holds up extremely well, thanks mostly to the script and the acting--and the shark's not working for most of the shots.

Released 50 years ago today.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/20/entertainment/jaws-shark-fear-50th-anniversary-cec

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFrs-j9-lIw

"Michael, did you hear your father? Out of the water--NOW!"

Perfect movie.

Just watched it again tonight. I have a recent 4K transfer, and it looked great.

World's only full-scale Jaws boat replica to open

Saw this yesterday--actually online.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgtJEhEppu4

I thought for sure it was longer than the film itself, but no--20 minutes shorter. Still, by then, I'd had enough.

Lots of interesting stuff, though, of course. My favourite sections were on how crucial the poster and the original trailer were to the whole phenomenon in 1975. The voiceover for the trailer was provided by Percy Rodriguez, a Black actor from Montreal; they wanted it done a certain way, but he inisted no, let me use a low, ominous voice. And hence, that unforgettable "There is a creature, alive today..."

Also started thinking, is there another movie with so many iconic shots/lines/moments? Jaws must have a dozen, at least. I guess The Godfather and Psycho, too.

I've seen this perfect movie plenty, but I've been looking for things to do in my hometown and there was an annual screening of it held tonight at a local performing arts center, so I figured, sure, why not. I didn't expect the screen to be huge or anything, but it was big enough, and I think they were projecting it from the 4K, which looks great. Best of all, of the maybe 100 or so people in there, at least a few had never seen it before, or not for a while, and jumped, screamed, laughed and applauded at all the right places, which was a joy to experience.

For some reason "Psycho" came to mind as I watched it, too, initially due to the sheer virtuosity of so many shots, but ultimately just to amuse myself at the idea of "Jaws" ending with a pipe smoking shrink monologuing about the motives of the shark.

Me, I'm always looking for something else to pay attention to each time, some other detail or aspect to focus on, and tonight I focused on Quint, whose manic pathology is fascinating. He's in turn vengeful, full of hubris, resentful, resigned, suicidal, obsessed, overconfident, traumatized, insane, fearful, all these things, shifting with the wind. Why does he smash the radio? Why did he initially insist on going out there alone? Why does he push the engine so hard at the end, is it because he is scared and panicking? Or is it because he's playing chicken with fate? For a fleeting moment, does he recognize the irony of his death before he is eaten? Just such an amazing, intense, unpredictable performance. He's of course largely modeled on Ahab, but his fanaticism is more ambiguous, especially when the gravity of the situation settles in. And yet, even then, he chooses recklessness over caution.

In the documentary, two or three people point out that everything about Quint's motivations and mindset is found in his monologue about the USS Indianapolis. I'd go along with that, as pat an explanation as it is. Made me smile to learn that Robert Shaw would bait Dreyfuss is a way that perfectly paralleled their characters. "You don't know anything about acting, Dreyfuss, you've never been on the stage..."

The USS Indianapolis monologue explains a lot of his behavior, from his anti-shark fanaticism/fatalism/recklessness to his drinking. I suppose his final, fearful concession to Hooper that maybe the poison and shark cage plan is their best bet after all is his recognition that the stories he's told to himself and others over the years are, like him, relics of the distant past, and this giant shark the reality of the cold, hard present (and inevitable mortality) pressing down on him, forcing him to think about the here and now over all the things he's carried with him from years past. It's never addressed, but some of the class conflict stuff could also be resentment that Hooper, by way of his college education, wealth and age, avoided serving in the military (if not Vietnam specifically), allowing him the luxury of in essence courting death as a hobby, as an academic, whereas Quint was cursed by having avoided death at a tremendous personal cost (like a skydiver vs. paratrooper). That kind of resentment might also explain why Quint respects Brody, despite Brody being a city-dwelling land-lubber that's afraid of the water. Brody's a cop that carries a gun, a more familiar authority figure, which may as well be military compared to Hooper.

I have taken to referring to the kind of made up predatory shark as “a jaws” in the same way that one would refer to “a werewolf.”

So, when we’re at the beach: “Watch out for jawses.”

When there’s a mysterious creature in a movie: “I bet it’s a jaws!”

No one else in the house thinks this is funny, but it cracks me up every time.

It is funny. It's like the Mr. Show sketch with the monster mash expert who refers to "Draculas" and "Wolfmans."

as a parent, i'm torn - i want to show this to my kids but a major part of our summer is spent on the beach.

Don't do it, lol

One of the best parts of the documentary was about all the locals who were put into the movie. Not just extras--speaking parts, some of them memorable. E.g., the guy who, when Hooper tells him they've just caught a tiger shark, says "A whaaaaaaaat?" Apparently you can get T-shirts with that on it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZJ83cPTzWs

xp one of my kid's plays cello so they just instinctively have heard/learned the signature melody so that's part of the reason for wanting to introduce it. but i'm leaning in your direction regardless. i used to sleep in a basement bedroom around 11-15 years old near the heating/duct pipes. after seeing Alien for the first time, i spent many sleepless nights afterwards.

I'm afraid of sharks when I'm in *swimming pools*.

a YT video came across my feed that purported to show a visualization, likely AI, of quint's u.s.s. indianapolis monologue. i did not click but it made me so angry! fuckin people man.