Mini Review #2: Jaws

Altogether I would have to give Jaws a 4 out of 5. This is because although it was a great movie, it did come out in the 70's and I as a child born in the 90's has seen so much more development in the film industry and is used to seeing amazing graphics. That still doesn't mean that it wasn't an amazing movie. The movie leaves the viewer wondering what is going to happen next throughout the whole movie and I think that is what makes it such a success because in most thriller movies that you see nowadays, you get to see the threat/scary thing right in the beginning and sometimes that ruins the whole point of a thriller movie.

Jaws has the amazing Steven Spielberg directing it and although this was his first successful movie, you can still see how successful he will be in the future and because I love him as a director it makes the movie just that much better.

As well as having some scary parts in it, Jaws leaves viewers thinking about other things other than the shark. This is because although the movie is mainly about the shark, you also get to see how Brody goes through all of this to make Amity Island safe for his family and I think that this is another reason why it is so successful and popular.

Fun Facts About Jaws:

• Robert Shaw could not stand Richard Dreyfuss and they argued all the time, which resulted in some good tension between Hooper and Quint.
• When it was initially released in the summer 1975, over 67 million Americans went to see the movie, making it the first summer "blockbuster".
• According to Steven Spielberg, the prop arm looked too fake in the scene where Chrissie's remains are discovered, so instead they buried a female crew member in the sand with only her arm exposed.
• When composer John Williams originally played the score for Steven Spielberg, Spielberg laughed and said, "That's funny, John, really; but what did you really have in mind for the theme of Jaws (1975)?" Spielberg later stated that without Williams's score, the movie would only have been half as successful and according to Williams, it jumpstarted his career.
• An accident during filming caused the Orca to begin sinking. Steven Spielberg began screaming over a bullhorn for the nearby safety boats to rescue the actors. John R. Carter, already up to his knees in water on the sinking Orca, held his Nagra (tape recorder) up over his head and screamed, "F**k the actors, save the sound department!" During the accident, the film camera was submerged, so its film, still submerged in sea water, was flown to a New York film lab where technicians were able to save the film. The accident is described starting at 01:30:07 in "The Making of Jaws" on the 30th Anniversary edition DVD.
• Steven Spielberg named the shark "Bruce" after his lawyer.
• After the shark was built, it was never tested in the water, and when it was put in the water at Martha's Vineyard, it sank straight to the ocean floor. It took a team of divers to retrieve it.
• Three mechanical "Bruces" were made, each with specialized functions. One shark was open on the right side, one was open on the left side, and the third was fully skinned. Each shark cost approximately $250,000.