Les Dents de la mer

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.

I saw this movie again after a few decades. There are a lot of movies from past eras that don't hold up over time, but this one does. It's just as suspenseful as it was in 1975. But the best reason to watch it is Robert Shaw's performance. You hardly ever see those type of personalities in movies anymore.

This is the movie that started it all. I'm not talking about the Hollywood blockbuster, or the insane madness that sent thousands of misunderstood Great Whites to their deaths, I'm talking about the beginning of my interest in movies. This is the movie that did it. I couldn't tell you how old I was when I first saw it, but I do remember this is the movie I made my parents rent time and time again when we went to the video store. This is the movie that drove my parents and some of my friends nuts while I watched it day after day after day when my mom gave it to me for Christmas. This is the movie that made me want to turn a real interest in the movies from just a hobby and into a career. For that, I owe Spielberg, Benchley, Scheider, Shaw, Dreyfuss, Williams, Fields and everyone else a sincere and heart-felt thank you. I own this movie on every format in which it is available. I love it that much. I've probably seen it between 200 and 300 times. I guess you can say it is an obsession. A sick obsession. The plot, the pacing, the editing, the score, the acting, and, oh yes, the shark. Who cares that is fake? By the time we finally get to see it, do we care? Truly, a more suspenseful movie was never made. Several come close, but none quite reaches the primal level the JAWS does. No other film so effectively taps into our fear of the unknown, and then gives it a riveting score to boot. No other movie grips us so strongly with heart stopping suspense that we find ourselves nearly falling off our seats. And no other movie leaves us feeling so spent and wasted after a viewing. And the reason for all the fear, suspense and emotional withdrawal is not top-notch special effects. It was the mid-70's. You can barely apply top -notch to anything of that era. The reason the movie does all that to us is that it is a great story. It is filled with real people, who have real jobs, and who have real fears. And who must now confront a real shark. Can you think of anything more terrifying that getting on a rickety, leaky boat to kill a 25-foot shark when you already have a paralyzing fear of the water? I can't. And Martin Brody sure can't. And so, no matter what ranking JAWS may get on AFI's list of the 100 greatest movies, or TV Guides list of the top 50 movies, or any list for that matter, JAWS will always come in number one on mine. Steven, Peter, Roy, Robert, Richard, John, and Verna -- thank you. Not for just giving me a sense of direction in my life, not for just making me want to be a screenwriter, but also for making a movie that still thrills me as much now when I watch it as when it did when I saw it for the very first time.

Back in 1975, "Jaws" made a huge splash (pardon the pun) in theaters. It set all sorts of box office records and made the covers of magazines all over the country. And, the film was seen as groundbreaking and amazing. When seen today, it's still a great film to watch even with it's very dated technology. In other words, the shark often looks very fake but the story is so good and handled so well, you really don't care. Excellent acting, a very nice script and excellent direction make this a definite must-see.

Jaws (1975) **** (out of 4)

Steven Spielberg's classic about a man-eating Great White shark stalking the beaches of Amity and the three men who go out to try and kill it. Seriously, is there anyone who doesn't know the plot to this masterpiece?

Considering all the production trouble on this thing it would be amazing to get a half-way decent film yet for some reason, perhaps the movie Gods were shining down, we ended up with one of the greatest films ever made. This is without question one of the greatest films to deal with tension as Spielberg masterfully handles all the material. The movie is like an amazing roller coaster as we get one scare after another until the end when we just get our senses attacked from all around. Millions of people have discussed the greatness of this film so it's hard to pick one thing but I'd say the greatest achievement of the film is the simple adventure it gives us.

Even though we get some very intense scenes the screenplay is smart enough to give us other things to go with. We got some nice black humor in the witty dialogue but we also get a good buddy picture with Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss delivering memorable characters. The three of them together are so different yet all three are like people I'm sure each viewer has met so it's easy to connect with them and it makes the film all the more fun when we go on this adventure.

The film, of course, benefits from the brilliant John Williams score, which is perhaps the most memorable in film history. Bruce, the name given to the shark, caused most of the problems during filming but you wouldn't know that by just watching the picture. The look of the shark is incredible and Spielberg certainly made the right decision of keeping it hidden and just revealing bits and pieces as the movie went along. The first glimpse in the pond is hauntingly shocking and each sighting just grows more and more tension. The director also knows how to build suspense without us seeing the shark as we're constantly viewing objects floating (the dock, the barrels) to imply that the creature is there.

What's even more amazing is that this film scared people so badly that they refused to go into the water yet the most suspenseful scene is probably the now legendary speech by Shaw about his time on the USS Indianapolis. It goes without saying but the three leads are all terrific in their roles and I really can't think of too many movies that have as many memorable characters as the ones here. We also get strong supporting work from Murray Hamilton as the Mayor and Lorraine Gary as Brody's wife.

For me this ranks as one of the greatest adventures ever captured on film because everyone involved makes it feel so real. When the men get on the boat to go after the shark you feel as if you're really there. When the camera is underwater given a POV shot of the shark, you feel as if you're in the water. The final death scene in the movie also just happens to be one of the most terrifying ever captured on film and it might even be the most brutal. The movie is a true masterpiece of suspense and I think it would be fair that nothing has come close to this in the past 35 years. Like PSYCHO, we've had a lot of rips of imitations but nothing has come close to the same power and it's doubtful anything ever will.