Some movies can improve over a significant amount of time due to public sentiment or new generations discovering them and putting them through newer and different lenses. Conversely, other movies that were big at the time, either box office or awards season winners, can diminish when taken out of their time or context. There are only a handful of PERFECT films and even fewer that can transcend genre or generation. Jaws turns 50 this year. 50. It first reached theatres on June 20, 1975. Let that sink in a moment because movies that were 50 when Jaws came out were still grappling with how to have sound in them and are still seen as products of their time. Jaws though? It still feels fresh and compelling. It created the summer blockbuster as we know it and the film industry still uses it as a blueprint to shape newer one offs or franchises. It’s an Oscar winner, an IMDb top 250 main stay, one of the most profitable films of all time, and is still just as perfect a movie 50 years later whether you get to see it on the big screen every time its brought back or give it a run on each new format and special home release it receives. Jaws means something to everyone and so let’s see why that is.
Jaws isn’t just a movie franchise or classic Peter Benchley novel. It’s more than just the video games, toys, board games, and amusement park attractions it received. It’s even more than just a movie that rewrote how movies are made. It’s a collection of flawed but perfect characters on screen and the right people behind the scenes to make it happen. It has the perfect length, the perfect score, and even the most imperfect practical effects that somehow ended up perfect through the right execution. It gave us the careers of Steven Spielberg and even John Williams, who was already an Oscar winner by the time he won gold again for his iconic score for Bruce the shark stalking its prey. It’s amazing as a movie just as much as it can be broken down scene by scene with the same result. Each section of the movie can be studied and held up as how to do things the right way when making a movie. It has that “something” that neither its sequels nor imitators ever figured out quite how to perfect.
Jaws jumps right into it by giving us one of the most important opening scenes ever. While it was arguably scarier before Blu-ray and 4K allowed us to see everything, it still stands the test of time as one of the greatest table setters ever. We are even introduced to the main character. No, not Chrissie or her bumbling would be date. The audience is introduced to Bruce without actually seeing him, another perfect choice that would be almost a rule of thumb in not showing the monster too early. After that harrowing scene we get a drip feed of both characters and information. Characters like Chief Martin Brody who has a frightened courage about him, Matt Hooper with his defiant heroism, and Quint (no other name given) who offers a grizzled and vengeance seeking professionalism to the party. Ellen Brody is an anchor for her husband and children while Mayor Vaughn is the slimy and greedy town mayor who thinks he is protecting the many by being willing to sacrifice the few, good suits or not.
While the plot is as simple as Quint’s explanation of men going into cages in waters where sharks dwell, it doesn’t feel long at over 2 hours, nor does it waste a single frame. How its shot is just as important with its beautiful dialogue takes or its use of the Dolly Zoom which is even called the “Jaws effect” by some. The script and acting are on point with the characters you are supposed to love being loveable, the hateable ones earning that distinction, and even Quint who you hate to love. Its impossible to say anything truly new about Jaws after 50 years as its techniques and execution are now literally taught in film school but picking out a favorite section, as herculean a task as that may seem, feels like the right way to go about it.
For me, the movie is broken down into 3 main sections. The first section shows off what we are up against with the great white devouring our first victim and the town beaches being closed and then reopened. This is the stage setting section of the movie where we, and somewhere in his bones, Chief Brody know what a danger the shark is. The second section brings in the deniers, mostly Mayor Vaughn, and the experts in Quint and Hooper into focus to tell the two sides of the town’s story. Unfortunately, the town pays the price with young Alex Kinter’s life and Brody takes the fall. The third section is the hunt. It’s where our three falsely intrepid shark hunters do their best before becoming the hunted themselves. This is my favorite section. The whole movie is great but its here where I cannot walk away from the film if I run into it on a screen.
I love the tension created by the inexperienced men being terrified of a great white shark who even scares the bravest of them. I love the infighting between Hopper and Quint that feels even more real with Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss actually clashing with each other in real life. I love the immortal lines like “you’re gonna need a bigger boat” and “Smile you son of a” almost as much as I love the camaraderie that is exhibited in my favorite scene. The three men seemingly have very little in common on a good day and here are trying to work together with no backup and the tension of just what they are up against. That’s no match for alcohol, stories, and scar comparisons. From the subtlety of Brody looking at his own scars and deciding if it’s even worth it to join the conversation to the unabashed new best friend energy exhibited by Hooper and Quint, it’s the perfect scene. Them singing together with the wide shot showing exactly how loud these guys are and finally Bruce coming over to tell them to quiet down with some not so gentle love taps on the boat end the scene and transition wonderfully into the next one. My favorite scene sure, but just one of nearly countless that make Jaws celluloid perfection.
It’s not just a movie, it’s a landmark. It’s scary as a kid enough to make you not want to go into the water and it’s a different kind of scary as an adult, fearful of sharks that aren’t there getting to your kids. I saw it young and remember my older brother Daniel playing the dread inducing theme on the piano in our home. My oldest son Sam, on a movie journey of his own in his teens, may not count it as one of his favorites but surely respects it for what it is. My younger son Noah does list it in his all-time favorite movies and one of my favorite memories is taking him to see it in theaters for one of its re-releases. It’s a generational movie that deserves every accolade it receives and will live on from parent to child, friend to friend, spouse to spouse, and even stranger to stranger if the conversation ever gets struck up. There will never be another movie quite like it so here’s to another 50 years of being afraid to go into the water.
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