Cast: Roy Schneider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw
Genre: Horror
Year: 1975
The film which officially put Spielberg on the map, with some timeless scares, iconic moments and a powerful, memorable theme, 'Jaws' remains a classic movie.
Roy Schneider is the chief of police, Martin Brody on Amity Island, which has just been subject to a vicious shark attack. This assault is kept quiet so to not scare the citizens of the island; however, when the shark publicly strikes, the tourists and people of Amity Island become desperate to kill this beast. In the uproar, Brody meets ichthyologist Matt Hooper (Dreyfuss) who is an expert in the ways of sharks, how they live, what they look like, etc. When more shark attacks occur and the town is at its peak of tourism, Brody has no choice but to hunt for great white shark with Hooper and eccentric fisherman Quint.
This film is an absolute classic- it defined Spielberg's career and was a clever take on the horror genre. Its writing is perfect with quotable dialogue, some of which have become hugely iconic, for example 'You're gonna need a bigger boat'. There is also some brilliant humour which keeps the film from becoming too terrifying. But Spielberg knows when to deliver the scares and how to approach them- the action is scary, yet riveting at the same time.
The scares of this film are of course nothing without John Williams' frightening score- the slowly quickening beat inferring an imminent attack is iconic and brilliant. It is excellent in the sense that it becomes the shark- although the attacker isn't shown, the music lets the audience know the shark is about. Very few scores have been able to do this and it shows how clever Williams' composing is.
Direction from Spielberg is amazing- the camerawork is cleverly used, such as the camera being the great white, giving the audience a POV of the attack. This was initially done only because the model of the shark wasn't realistic enough; however, it works brilliantly. There are some other iconic shots, for example the dolly zoom of Brody's face when the Bruce (Spielberg's name for the shark) attacks a child in the water.
Ultimately, this is a classic film with barely any flaws. It is a timeless masterpiece which spawned three sequels and introduced the film industry to one of the world's most famous and best directors.
Verdict: 10/10
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