Movie-A-Day #93: Jaws

Chaplin

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The classic film about a great white shark terrorizing a small coastal town and the efforts to eradicate it. Roy Scheider as the police chief, Richard Dreyfuss as a marine biologist and shark expert, and Robert Shaw as the grizzled shark hunter all put in amazing performances.

Generally considered one of Spielberg's best films, but not without it's problems. The animatronic shark never worked correctly, and filming was drawn out because the technicians had to constantly adjust the shark so it would work. Luckily, the shark was so lifelike, everything worked out.

As a requirement for filming, Spielberg demanded that he be allowed to not show the shark for the first half of the film. Because of that, instead of a horror gore fest, we get a tense suspense thriller that is terrific, even today.
 

Mike Olbinski

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Great movie of course, my favorite scene is when they are all three sitting inside the boat during the night, talking about scars, they start singing, etc., suddenly they get attacked...

Just awesome.

Mike
 

Mr.Dibbs

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I have an 18 foot 1969 Evenrude that I named the Orca after that film. I think only two people on Lake Powell have ever caught the reference.
 

jf-08

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the single most recognizable movie music also comes from that film....

I loved this film. Even to this day it is still scary as hell.

Jaws may go down as the scariest movie ever. At least it had the biggest influence on mankind.

I know I still get jittery in my pool at night, let alone swimming in the ocean. :)
 

SECTION 11

vibraslap
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Originally posted by Chaplin
As a requirement for filming, Spielberg demanded that he be allowed to not show the shark for the first half of the film. Because of that, instead of a horror gore fest, we get a tense suspense thriller that is terrific, even today.

I heard that was because of the shark not working, ala your paragraph above?
 

Bada0Bing

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the single most recognizable movie music also comes from that film....

I loved this film. Even to this day it is still scary as hell.

Jaws may go down as the scariest movie ever. At least it had the biggest influence on mankind.

I know I still get jittery in my pool at night, let alone swimming in the ocean. :)


Still holds up well.

Trivia regarding the score:

When composer John Williams originally played the score for director Steven Spielberg, Spielberg laughed and said, "That's funny, John, really; but what did you really have in mind for the theme of Jaws (1975)?" Spielberg later stated that without Williams's score, the movie would only have been half as successful and according to Williams, it jumpstarted his career.

Plenty of good trivia for this classic:

According to writer Carl Gottlieb, the line "You're gonna need a bigger boat" was not scripted, but was ad-libbed by Roy Scheider.

Over 67 million people in the U.S. went to see this film when it was initially released in 1975, making it the first summer "blockbuster."

Though respected as an actor, Robert Shaw's trouble with alcohol was a frequent source of tension during filming. In later interviews, Roy Scheider described his co-star as "a perfect gentleman whenever he was sober. All he needed was one drink and then he turned into a competitive **************." According to Carl Gottlieb's book "The Jaws Log," Shaw was having a drink between takes, at which one point he announced, "I wish I could quit drinking." Much to the surprise and horror of the crew, Richard Dreyfuss simply grabbed Shaw's glass and tossed it into the ocean. When it came time to shoot the infamous USS Indianapolis Scene, Shaw attempted to do the monologue while intoxicated as it called for the men to be drinking late at night. Nothing in the take could be used. A remorseful Shaw called Steven Spielberg late that night and asked if he could have another try. The next day of shooting, Shaw's electrifying performance was done in one take.
 
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Chaplin

Chaplin

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If you don't know, Jaws is out in theaters right now. I saw it in the theater last night (mistakenly bought a 3D ticket), and it was spectacular. It had been a long time since I'd seen the movie, but man, it is so good. People remember it for being the very first blockbuster, but it really is a very good FILM. Something I never noticed was that the photography was extremely good. The acting was first rate, especially from Robert Shaw, and the directing was fantastic. And probably the most popular use of the dolly zoom shot (although Goodfellas used it really well 15 years later).
 

Shane

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What’s a dolly zoom shot
 

MigratingOsprey

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Was fun watching this on the big screen with my son.

It isn't one that my wife or I really knew. I knew it more then her, but had only seen it a couple times and never in a year that started with "2"

Was really enjoyable.

Not much of a crowd for 7:30 on a Saturday with cheap tickets for this movie - theater was absolutely jam packed though
 

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