Jaws (1975)

When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers:

Peter Benchley (screenplay), Carl Gottlieb (screenplay)

Stars:

Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss

Won 3 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 20 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 | beach | great white shark | blockbuster | shark attack | 

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Taglines:

Amity Island had everything. Clear skies. Gentle surf. Warm water. People flocked there every summer. It was the perfect feeding ground.

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Genres:

Adventure | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

MythBusters (2003) dedicated a special episode to testing whether or not certain things from this film are plausible. It concluded that: Piano wire does not have the tensile strength needed to be used as an adequate shark-catching line; scuba tanks will not explode when shot; a great white shark can ram a dive cage with enough force to damage or destroy it; a great white shark has enough power to punch a hole in the side of a wooden boat under the right circumstances, but an example of this happening has never been documented; a shark's maximum striking force is great enough to pull the barrels under, but the force a shark can generate in a continuous pull is insufficient to keep the barrels under water for a significant amount of time; a shark cannot generate enough force to pull a boat backwards with great enough speed that waves break over the stern; and punching a shark in the nose, eyes, or gills will cause it to flee or at least back off briefly.

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Goofs

The "NO SWIMMING" sign placed on the beach has divots on its top from hammering before the hammer first hits; presumably this is from a previous take.

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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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Alternate Versions

The Finnish video version lacks the goriest scenes (Quint bitten in the end, close-up of Ben Gardner's head, severed leg falling to the bottom etc.).

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Connections

Referenced in Spectre (2015)

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Soundtracks

I Honestly Love You
(uncredited)
Composed by Peter Allen
Lyrics by Jeff Barry
Performed by Lynn Anderson

User Reviews

A monster of a movie

I re-watched this film recently and was blown away by the absolute suspense it invoked in me. My daughter (whom is 17) and I were both stunned at the quality and realism of a film made in 1975!! Our TV is 55 inches which showed the movie off to it's full potential and it certainly did not disappoint.

That iconic moment of the young lady going skinny dipping in the dark with her male friend is utterly haunting. You know the horror of what's going to happen, the buoy dinging in the background gives you the chills. Steven Spielberg captures pure terror in that scene.

Jaws completely absorbs you, as the trio of shark hunters venture off to try to snare the great white you begin to feel part of their adventure. You fear for them, get excited with them and dread what will happen next. When that fishing line starts spinning your heart starts pumping. This is pure class.

The dynamics of Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Scheider and Robert Shaw's relationship(s) work brilliantly. The differences in their characters persona's is such that they rub each other up the wrong way, disrespect one another and wind each other up but in the end they are there for each other and develop a bond that I think surprises them all.

As things begin to unravel your heart goes out to the trio and trepidation is the only way forward. They have the fight of their life on their hands, their bravery is boundless. You feel in awe of them.

An absolute legend of a movie which I am grateful to have been able to watch and enjoy.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 June 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stillness in the Water

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,061,513, 22 June 1975

Gross USA:

$260,758,300

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$470,653,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zanuck/Brown Productions, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min 130 min (Extended Edition)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) Dolby (DVD) Dolby Atmos Dolby Surround 7.1 (Blu-ray release)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1