Jaws (1975) Review

“You’re gonna need a bigger boat”

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Many can say a common fear is outer space because we don’t know what’s out there beyond the already discovered solar system, but the same can be said with what’s underwater.


PLOT


Based on Peter Benchley’s titular novel, Jaws takes place in the beach town of Amity Island. When a young lady named Chrissie (Susan Backlinie) goes out skinny dipping after partaking in a beach party, she gets pulled underwater from a shark. Her remains are swept to the beach by morning and as the local coroner confirms the source of death, police chief Martin Brody, who had moved into the area with his family seven months prior, considers closing the beaches until the shark is handled. However, Mayor Larry Vaughn persuades him to reconsider since the town’s summer economy will suffer as the town is preparing to celebrate the Fourth of July. He does go along with declaring on paper Chrissie died of a boating accident, but would quickly go back on it when a young boy named Alex Kintner (Jeffrey Voorhees) is killed by the mammal in a crowded beach. The chief then sets up a $3000 bounty on who ever slays it first, but local hunter Quint raises the bounty to $10,000 as he knows it won’t be an easy feat. Instead, the beach is closed for only one day and oceanographer Matt Hooper arrives to consult in the matter at hands, confirming a shark was responsible for the past two deaths at the beach. When local fisherman celebrate in executing a tiger shark, Hooper would later dissect it and confirm it’s not the same one that killed Alex & Chrissie. The following night, Brody joins him in looking for it, only to find the remains of a boat that belonged to another local named Ben Gardner. When Hooper checks the hill in his scuba suit, he finds Gardner’s body and a tooth he deduces to be one of a Great White Shark. He and Brody would address their discovery to Vaughn the next morning but due to losing the tooth, he still refuses to keep the beaches closed. This would of course be a mistake because once the Fourth of July weekend arrives, it doesn’t go as the mayor planned. At first, young tourists jokingly prank the beach by pretending to be a shark until the real one evades the big crowd and targets a pond and kills a boater passing by. Thankfully, Martin gets there in time to prevent his sons Michael & Sean from being eaten. Only after this incident does Vaughn go through in paying Quint the requested amount to slay the beast, as his newfound guilt comes from how his own children were at the beach as well. Martin & Hooper go with Quint and as they set up a chum line, they see the shark emerge from the water and personally estimate it to be 25 feet long and weight 3 tons. They then track it by shooting a harpoon at it and with an attached line of a flotation barrel. When it disappears with the barrel, the trio bond when exchanging stories of battle scars. Particularly, Quint reveals he survived the USS Indianapolis and saw many sailors be devoured by sharks for five straight days before eventual rescue. Only after this does the shark ram the boat and disable its power. Quint harpoons it with another barrel and try tying it to boat, but the sea beast is so strong that it drags the boat backwards instead. Brody does trying calling the Coast Guard for backup, but Quint destroys the radio as he wants to kill the shark himself and without Coast Guard. When he also severs the line, the cleats are broken off and the engine stops after being severely overtaxed, despite being so close to shore to drown the shark in shallow waters. Hooper decides poisoning the shark with a spear laced with strychnine while in a shark cage, but the mammal rams into the cage so hard he drops the spear. He continues to ram it until the door is broken off, leaving the others to presume him dead. The shark would then devour Quint after lunging onto the boat, causing it to sink. Brody however is able to kill it by thrusting a scuba tank into its mouth and shooting at it, causing the beast to explode with it. The film ends with Hooper resurfacing and paddling back to shore with Brody.


THOUGHTS


The most appropriate term of a blockbuster would be the kind of film that surpasses expectations financially in an exponential matter. Some can say that the trend got going thanks to George Lucas’ original Star Wars trilogy, but I don’t think that would’ve been possible had Steven Spielberg not pushed boundaries in what was only his second theatric feature. For two straight hours, you are gonna get absolute chills because there is no way you can so sure of the feat that comes your way. Sharks are real threats in the seas and you cannot deny that per se. Many can confirm them to be picky with what they want to eat and odds are slim to be eaten by one, that does not mean it won’t happen at all. John Williams gives arguably his best score because it has the best emphasis on how intimidating this creature is supposed to be, especially since great whites are in fact within the top three species of sharks to injure a human, which has authenticity in its own right. As the animatronics convince me within the given amount of screen time for the shark Spielberg nicknamed after his lawyer Bruce, the adrenaline and intimidation of this mammal’s presence goes to the pov shots of it, which is brought to life so well thanks to fantastic cinematography by Bill Butler and sharp editing by Verna Fields. With every second that passes, you’ll likely be on the edge of your seat because you wouldn’t guarantee how the shark will make its move until it happens and that is what sparks general fear towards said species. The way I see it, I think this movie holds up in the same vein as the many stuff of the 70s because it teaches us you have a choice to be a predator or prey; If you want to make a difference, take responsibility now than later or it won’t go the way you want. You feel this strong amount of inspiration from a group of protagonists who are all about the right thing and hate hesitation. Roy Schneider leads the ensemble so well as Martin Brody because he’s the first one to show common sense and ignore the economy for the sake of saving lives. With him having his own family, that’s his motivation to do the right thing in wanting to deal with the threat as soon as possible. And when Mrs. Kintner called him out in failing to prevent her son from dying, he knew he had to figure out how to set things right as soon as the opportunity was there. The only obstacle was sadly his own boss who felt like a bigger problem than the shark. Murray Hamilton was so shockingly good in making Mayor Vaughn an unwise prick. The guy knew about the shark and waited until more casualties, and the risk of his own family, for him to do the right thing. Saying this points out the obvious that the blood of three lives including Billy are in his hands. The fact he is still mayor by the time of the sequel is just abysmal. Putting this guy aside, it’s a relief to know there were others who shared the common sense that the shark had to be stopped sooner. I love Richard Dreyfuss as Hooper because he’s not the ideal bookworm you expect. He’s a guy who has his own fascination of the sea that he’s gotten previous fieldwork to the point where that personal experience has his aware enough to know how dangerous the shark is. If it wasn’t for the luck he had when it came to escaping the cage with his life, it’s hard to know if Brody would still succeed. However, neither of them would’ve not made it as far they did without the veteran who knew even better than them how vicious the journey would be. Robert Shaw was most compelling as Quint because although stubborn, the guy had enough resilience to think fast in knowing how smart sharks are. His monologue about the USS Indianapolis is one of the best acting scenes ever because with each sentence, you feel all the trauma he’s been carrying with him, thus being devastated to see him be devoured the way he does. Thankfully, he and everyone else was not in vein when Brody is able to neutralize it and although the sequels to bring back the beast, seeing the explosion sealed the deal how the final results are worthwhile when it comes to taking responsibility. It’s a given when I say this is one of the most timeless films I’ve ever seen, but even I can admit there were a few moments that didn’t make much sense to me upon rewatching. For starters, why does the coroner and the mayor wait so long to tell Brody how much the town relies on tourism to get by. If they really wanted to get the chief on their side, they should’ve not been so naive about it. It’s even quite a miracle no amateur hunters got hurt when some threw fire crackers into the ocean and it feels so weird no one of Chrissie’s family ever asks about her the way Ricky’s mom does for him which is pretty damn sad. For a lady so young, you would think someone would express grievances. Ignore these things however, then you’ll still everything they’re going for. In conclusion, Jaws is and always will be an all time classic to not just horror, but for cinema period for showing exactly how exciting it can be to confront real life terrors. If you like movies that do that with each viewing, see this now.