By Robert McKenzie
In the summer of 1975 a movie was released that changed cinema forever, and which is now celebrating its fiftieth anniversary. It was called Jaws. Da-Dum. Da-Dum.
Amity, a beautiful seaside town, a tourist’s paradise, is stalked by a killer shark. But three disparate characters will set off to hunt the monster, and may not come back alive. It could have been just another schlocky horror film or adventure story. But what made Jaws a classic?
It all started in 1974 when a writer called Peter Benchley saw a news report about a great white shark in the waters off Long Island. The report inspired his best-selling novel, which in turn attracted the attention of Hollywood.
The producers brought in a 27-year-old director, Steven Spielberg. Jaws was only his second feature and it almost ended his career. A troubled production to say the least. It ended up way behind schedule and at double the budget, partly because Spielberg was determined to shoot on the ocean instead of in a studio tank.
The biggest problem was the mechanical shark. Nicknamed Bruce after Spielberg’s lawyer, it constantly broke down. This was actually a blessing in disguise – as he could not show the shark, the director had to shoot around it. He could only suggest his monster, making the movie less gory and far more suspenseful.
What about the much-maligned Bruce, who always seemed a bit rubbery and fake? Well, it does not look that bad, especially compared to some of the early CGI films where the effects resemble a 1980s computer game. But that shark remains terrifying, a testament to old-fashioned practical filmmaking.
The same could be said for the movie as a whole. Sure, it may have dated a little with the 1970s fashions, hairstyles and sideburns. These days the shark attacks would be all over Facebook, and you could probably track Bruce on an app.
Advances in technology aside, Jaws is still pretty much the perfect picture. A tight, taut thriller, scary and suspenseful, and a great adventure all rolled into one. It also has humour and emotion, exemplified by that famous Indianapolis speech, and wonderful characters.
There is the aquaphobic police chief played by Roy Scheider. Robert Shaw’s veteran shark hunter is haunted by his wartime experiences. And then there is Hooper, the rich kid marine biologist who becomes a man, played wonderfully by Richard Dreyfuss. Heroes you genuinely root for; as Spielberg said, if you did not care about the people, you would not give a hang about the shark.
In the end, and despite all the production problems, everything fell into place: the cast, the script, the Oscar-winning score by John Williams, and a tenacious director who delivered a masterwork. It was the first blockbuster (so-called because the queues to see the movie literally closed the block)! There would be no event pictures like Titanic, Marvel movies or even Spielberg’s own Jurassic Park, without Jaws leading the way.
Wherever you get the chance to see it, through streaming platforms or if you are lucky enough to catch it on the big screen, you are in for a treat. It is an historic cinematic experience not to be missed, one that will still make you afraid to go into the water. Even after fifty years.