Jaws Review

Jaws came out in June of 1975 and when it was released the world had already been used to schlock. However, Steven Spielberg changed everything by taking what was only played at midnight in crappy theaters and made something unique, that was then subsequently ripped off by every single director in the world. Ok, that’s an exaggeration, but when you have 40 or 50 killer shark movies, including one recent one that had a tornado of sharks hitting the Los Angeles, Californian area, you know something is awesome. Not only that, they remade this movie a few more times, and one was in full 3-D! How awful a legacy, or better yet, how awesome a legacy!

This movie is rated PG, and perhaps another thing that people don’t really remember about it. Even though the rating didn’t have an insane amount of influence, it is still one of those classics moments in movie history. It scared the hell out of people that were vacationing, going to the beach and just swimming anywhere. Heck, it even inspired a scene in “Clerks”, wait, that was salsa? Nevermind.

The opening, a woman swimming for a buoy and then getting ripped to shreds is insanity. It is something that gets copied a lot, and it’s not just in Jaws rip offs, it’s in other films. I recall seeing it in “Creepshow 2” for instance, but that wasn’t the start of the film, so that gets a pass. The endangered swimmer cliché is here, but it was here that it was invented, right?

Jaws is not a great film, looking back. It’s not a favorite of mine, however it is an iconic piece of horror movie history. I can see why it was scary when it was released, and there are moments that I still find compelling. I hate being on the Ocean, so if this were to occur in real life, I’m out. Heck, I was out in Key West and gave up on trying to fish for Mahi Mahi. So perhaps this movie is worth more than my discredit, so I will digress and say that it’s far better.

If you haven’t picked up Jaws on Blu Ray, than the time is now to get it. It is not full of gore, it doesn’t have a lot of nude scenes, it isn’t going to scare most, but it’s definitely a good example of a simple plot turned into a full scale production. It has some gusto, and the shark is definitely one for the ages. So maybe I’m changing my mind mid review and saying that this is a standard for a lot of movies. Check this mess out and see just why you may need a bigger boat.

Remember to check out my previous post that included a nifty throwback to this movie. LJN Jaws is part of the worst movie games on the Nintendo and I wrote it here, a few months back, so read it.



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