The Shark Is Still Working

Amazing documentary a must watch if you are a Jaws fan!

Okay, so yeah, it's not out yet. I've been privileged to watch about 45 minutes of it, being a friend of the producers. I had actually never seen Jaws when I watched this footage. (my parents were very protective of me growing up...) TSISW made me want to see Jaws, so I did, and loved it! I guess that's as good an endorsement as you can give.

Even though I don't consider myself a Jaws fanatic, or even expect to see Jaws again for good while (I'll show it to my kids when they're older...), I'd recommend this documentary to anyone. It's super entertaining. I had no idea what a subconscious impact Jaws has had on the world. Now I see Jaws references in everything.

The segment about the soundtrack was my favorite. It truly is the most recognizable two notes ever played.

If you are a Stephen Spielberg fan, you must own this. You don't often get to hear him speak so intimately about his work, and especially not about Jaws. I know for a fact that the interview was quite long. I wonder if the DVD will have a lot more of it in the extra features...

Anyway, this is a fabulous documentary, and I look forward to seeing the whole thing...whenever it comes out. :)

The Shark is Still Working (2007)

**** (out of 4)

If you're a fan of JAWS then you're going to love this documentary, which was made by fans of the classic 1975 Steven Spielberg movie. The actual production of this documentary is so fascinating that it's story would probably make for a good documentary on its own. You can certainly read up about it at various online sites.

As far as this film goes, director Erik Hollander managed to get interviews with the big- top players of the film like Spielberg, Richard Dreyfuss, Peter Benchley and Roy Scheider but he also managed to get interviews with fans like Kevin Smith, Bryan Singer, Eli Roth, Robert Rodriguez and M. Night Shyamalan. All of these interviews give a terrific insight into the actual making of the movie but the fan interviews just go to show you what kind of impact the movie had on those watching it back when it was released.

The documentary features all sorts of outtakes as well as production photos and even some behind-the-scenes video that was shot on the set. The highlight of the documentary would be the terrific stuff dealing with the locals and how they ended up in the actual movie. I'm not going to spoil anything for fans who might not know the stories but a lot of the well-known parts in the film were actual locals and they are interviewed here as well. Needless to say, this has pretty much everything a JAWS fan would want so it comes highly recommended.

Now that the documentary is finished and I've seen a complete version tapping out at 3 hours and 8 minutes long (Universal, you REALLY need to release a full 2-disc version of this), I must say it is the quickest paced documentary on any subject that I have ever seen. Much less, one on THE best film ever made and my personal favorite film of all time.

TSISW certainly tells some very intriguing production stories that haven't been told and of the ones that it goes over that have been told, there are new elements in these tried-and-true tales that make them worth hearing yet again. Everyone is familiar with the troubled production and the Great-White-Turd (Spielberg's term) that rarely worked and a cast and crew that practically went stir crazy to get even 30 seconds "in the can" every day.

But TSISW delves further still into this famed film that was the inaugural fire-starter of the "summer-blockbuster". I won't give away any of these never-heard or never-seen treasures, but there are surprises that can captivate even the most jaded Jaws fan. It did for me. I was literally in mouth-gaping awe of many of these stories, including "The Legacy" section of the documentary which touched on the tremendous fan-base, making me feel not so alone in my obsession of a truly brilliant film, with a stellar cast, a powerful score, a crafty script, an up & coming director and an all around power house movie.

So, to the TSISW producers and to "Jaws" (& all of those associated with it), I tip my hat to you for a truly incredible piece of work on an incredible piece of work.