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 #144 | 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) Dolby Digital (Dolby 5.1) DTS (DTS 5.1) Dolby Surround 7.1 (DTS HD Master Audio)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Murray Hamilton was the only star who was Steven Spielberg's first choice and was the only actor considered for the role of Mayor of Amity.

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Goofs

Brody loses his glasses when the third barrel knocks them off, yet he does not appear at all hindered and is still able to shoot a small moving target (the air tank) with the rifle.

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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

The producers gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of The Nation Geographical Society and Mr. L.J.V. Compagno of the Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University.

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Connections

Spoofed in T.U.F.F. Puppy: Dog Dish/Watch Dog (2011)

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Soundtracks

"In the Good Old Summer Time"
(uncredited)
Music by George Evans
Played in the score

User Reviews

If this movie scares you to the point where you can't go back into the water, then Spielberg has done job well done

Jaws is a movie the I grew up with, it's like the first real horror film I ever watched. What a great one to start with, right? This movie not only scarred me out of the water, I was afraid to go to the bathroom! I thought Jaws was going to pop up out of the toilet and bite my butt! :D I know it was silly, but that was how much Jaws effected me. I know also that it has not lost it's effect to this day. I'm questioning, because it seems like all the terrific horror films came out of the 70's.

Jaws is based on the best seller book by Peter Benchley. Steven Spielberg, before he was STEVEN Spielberg turned this horrifying book and made it into a reason to hate sharks. He brilliantly took what could have been a cheesy movie and turned it into a classic that will never be forgotten. To this day, I still need a friend to hold onto, it's that score! Duh na... duh na.... dun dun dun dun.... Oh, my gosh, that music just scares the heck out of me! On such a low budget, Jaws not only turned into one of the greatest horror movies of all time, it turned into one of the greatest movies, period.

Jaws starts off with one of the most terrifying scenes in horror movie cinema, a young pretty girl goes into the water and is brutally attacked and killed by an unknown creature in the water. The next day Chief Brody investigates suspecting a shark attack, and urges the mayor, Larry Vaughn, to shut down the beach, but afraid of a panic and less tourists, Larry ignores the chief's suggestions and keeps the beach open leading to another attack on a young boy. Brody calls in Matt Hooper, a marine scientist to see if they can find the shark. But when another attack ensues and almost kills Brody's young son, Michael, he, Matt, and a cocky man, Quint go out to find Jaws themselves.

This turns into several of the greatest cinematic scenes of all time, like the "Indianapolis" speech brilliantly given by Quint, how he describes seeing his first shark was just so intense and you couldn't turn away from the screen. Then, one thing that is interesting about this movie, you do not see the shark until Brody is just chucking blood to attract the shark over his shoulder and Jaws appears roaring out of the water! "We're gonna need a bigger boat!" he replies to Quint. And then the scene where Jaws jumps onto the boat and Quint is trapped sliding into Jaw's, well, jaws! That's the scene that nightmares are made out of! Jaws is one of my favorite films of all time. It's one of those films that should never be missed, because it is so important. To many, including myself, the shark looks fake, but it's your imagination that gets with you. Spielberg embraced that and you could tell there was just something special about him. Jaws will scare you out of the water just like The Exorcist scared you to the church!

10/10