Film Review: JAWS (1975): Steven Spielberg’s Masterpiece Returns to Theaters in 3-D for an End of Summer Treat

Jaws Review

Jaws (1975) Film Review, a movie directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Carl Gottlieb and Peter Benchley and starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Carl Gottlieb, Jeffrey Kramer, Susan Backlinie, Chris Rebello, Lee Fierro, Robert Nevin and Peter Benchley.

Steven Spielberg’s classic 1975 killer shark movie, Jaws, has returned to movie screens in 3-D and it’s a film buff’s dream to be able to see it (especially in 3-D) on the big screen. This film defined the summer blockbuster back in its day and it is an absolutely perfect example of how to make a successful action movie. From its tense, memorable music score by John Williams to its quotable dialogue, this is a picture that redefined the way we look at movies.

Based on the novel by Peter Benchley, Spielberg’s film is set in a town called Amity where a new Chief of Police from New York named Brody (Roy Scheider) comes into one of the most dangerous situations he could ever imagine–he’s faced with trying to save his beach community from the wrath of a killer Great White Shark. The picture opens in late June with some young people sitting around a campfire at night by the beach. Two young potential lovers meet and run off to the water together. Since the guy is drunk, he passes out but it’s too late because the girl named Chrissie (Susan Backlinie) is already in the water and the killer shark arrives to munch on the poor woman.

This situation would become a public relations nightmare for Brody but, still, he’s ready to close the beach and tell the town about the shark attack. However, the local political head honcho, Vaughn (Murray Hamilton, absolutely excellent) suggests passing it off as a boat accident. That’s not good enough, though, when the beach opens up and a young boy dies. Absolutely excellent in the film is the performance of Lee Fierro who plays the mother of the young child killed by the shark, Mrs. Kintner, who slaps Brody and blames him for not closing the beaches. Apparently, the shark is caught by some locals, but one young shark expert named Hooper (the amazing Richard Dreyfuss) is almost certain they’ve got the wrong shark and that the monstrous predator is still out there.

Enter Quint (Robert Shaw) who initially offered to get the shark and kill him for $10,000 but Vaughn is only offering 3 grand until Vaughn’s own family is caught in the beach fiasco where the shark appeared. That ups the stakes and Quint joins Brody and Hooper on a boat to take on the killer shark. Quint makes a grand on-screen entrance when he runs his fingernails down a chalkboard early in the picture at a group meeting in order to shut everyone up and Shaw absolutely commands the audience’s attention whenever he is on screen in the movie.

Brody is well developed as a character. He is married to a kind woman named Ellen (Lorraine Gary) and has a son named Michael (Chris Rebello). In a cute scene, Chief Brody and his son are sitting at the dinner table and the young boy imitates everything his dad does. It’s a stand-out scene among the less scary parts of the movie and is quite touching. Meanwhile, the confidant and determined Hooper is exquisitely portrayed by Dreyfuss who came on the movie scene with this wonderful role which seemed tailor-fit for him. This is Dreyfuss’s second best role, the first being his turn from a film he would do much later on called Mr. Holland’s Opus.

When the dream team of shark hunters go on their quest to kill the shark, a severed head pops up at one point and certainly managed to get audience members to jump out of the seats in the theater I attended. I must admit my heart skipped a beat as well at that part of the film. The effects in Jaws were always wonderful to behold even as technology has much advanced since this film was made. Particularly noteworthy is that when the boat the shark hunters ride is wrecked towards the film’s end, it literally comes out of the screen thanks to 3-D making us feel we are right there with our heroes among the action. The 3-D certainly immerses viewers in the waterlogged scenes of the film as well.

Spielberg put scenes in his movie late in the picture that were certainly character defining such as the sequence where Quint and Hooper compare battle scars with each other one night while on the boat waiting for Jaws to attack. This type of scene could probably not get put into a major movie today with audiences so eager to get to the action at the expense of bypassing important character development. Spielberg wisely didn’t sacrifice such development in his masterpiece.

Yes, Jaws is deliberately paced but that’s the beauty of it. Hollywood doesn’t work like this anymore and it’s a shame. Everything is pretty much shown in the trailer of movies nowadays and, for example, in films that have come from the Jurassic Park series, we got dinosaur action pretty early on whereas seeing the whole shark in Jaws required patience that some audiences simply don’t have today. Patience is a virtue and Jaws teaches us this with the great action sequences towards the end which are certainly worth the wait.

Brody’s best line in Jaws is when the shark appears and he says, “We’re going to need a bigger boat.” If you plan on watching Jaws on a small screen, take my advice and get to the movies while Jaws is still playing because you’re going to need a bigger screen. Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece is one of the greatest films of all-time.

Rating: 10/10

Leave your thoughts on this Jaws review and the film below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Readers seeking more film reviews can visit our Movie Review Page, our Movie Review Twitter Page, and our Movie Review Facebook Page. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Flipboard.