Jaws

Perhaps the best scene in Jaws is when Martin Brody first encounters the great white shark. He is staring the massive, elusive creature in its beady black eyes, and sees its gaping maw, lined with sharp teeth ready to bite down on its prey. It disappears, and turning to his two shipmates, he utters the immortal line: “You’re gonna need a bigger boat!”

This is an important moment for Brody (Roy Scheider), who has a beachhouse yet hates the water. He is Chief of Amity Island, and is adamant about keeping the town safe. But after a local girl’s remains are found on the beach, the medical examiner rules the cause of death to be a shark attack. The mayor, afraid that spreading panic will ruin his Fourth of July preparations, insists that the town has never had trouble with sharks. So the coroner changes the cause of death to boating accident, the beaches are reopened, and Brody is living with a guilty conscience. However, these lies comes back to haunt him when a young boy is eaten as everyone is swimming. The grieving mother blames the Chief for her son’s death, and he puts out a bounty to catch the shark, in an effort to not only make the beaches safe again, but to redeem himself.

He is assisted by Hooper, a brilliant oceanographer played by Richard Dreyfuss. The bounty draws the attention of a professional shark hunter named Quint, played by Robert Shaw. This man promises to catch the shark, “the head, the tail, the whole damn thing” for $10,000. Together, these three men team up for an epic showdown between man and beast. They have pressurized scuba tanks, strychnine-lined harpoons, guns, and plenty of ammo.

What makes Jaws truly remarkable is the restraint that Spielberg uses. Consider the shark attacks themselves, which rely more on building dread than the actual demise of the character, and while the onscreen kills are gruesome, they are always quick and never longer than necessary. Likewise, the battle between our heroes and the monster is perfectly paced, never feeling drawn out. The suspense is well-built, both during the attacks and in the showdown, with John Williams’ magnificently eerie chords introducing the shark, and Bill Butler’s cinematography allowing us to see these unfortunate swimmers through its eyes as he closes in for the kill.

The script from Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb is also wonderful, giving each of the protagonists a distinct personality. This helps to make them memorable, where they could have very easily been stereotypical characters inside of yet another summer blockbuster. The performances from Scheider, Dreyfuss, and Shaw are all great.

This is the perfect summer blockbuster, providing just enough thrills, but also well-executed entertainment, with remarkable action scenes that never feel too grand and a finale that is incredibly satisfying. Here, Spielberg proves he is an artist of the highest order, and there are many more canvases that should be painted.

2 hours, 4 minutes