The film that made an entire generation scared to go in the water, Jaws is the first summer blockbuster.
After a woman is attacked and killed by a shark on Amity Island Beach, Mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) decides to keep the beaches open (for the 4th July.) Police Chief Martin Brody (a superb Roy Scheider) begs him to reconsider.
Jaws is something of a slow burner (it gets to know its characters fully) with genius direction from Spielberg, witness the disorientating camera move that highlights Brody seeing the shark for the first time.
Iconic theme music from John Williams and well timed suspense, means Jaws is still the best shark movie ever made. The ending is edge of your seat stuff as our heroes come face to face with the terrifying shark and their boat is on its last legs. Not something you want when you're stuck in the middle of the ocean!
A true masterpiece with great performances from Richard Dreyfuss as Consulting Oceanographer Matt Hooper, Robert Shaw as (shark hunter) Quint and Lorraine Gary as Ellen Brody (Martin's wife.)
Altogether, “You're gonna need a bigger boat.”
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DIRECTED BY: Steven Spielberg. SCREENPLAY BY: Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb. BASED ON: the novel Jaws by Peter Benchley. RUNNING TIME: 124 minutes. CERTIFICATE: PG. USA.