I finally got around to screening Jaws on the bigscreen.
For that reason alone I decided to post 10 reasons why the movie still rocks after over 30 years.
1. You can say what you want about the fake shark, but honestly the shots of the shark are so few and far between it doesn't really matter. Also, it looks a hell of a lot better than most of the CGI images used in the Star Wars Prequels.
Anyway, if they movie was shot today. I doubt they would have had the film shot the same way. The 2nd act of the movie out on the water, was shot on actual water. They had another boat with cameras and a crew on it. If they made this movie today, it would be 3 actors sitting in front of a bluescreen in a soundstage, with awful CGI water added later. Having the movie shot on actual water made you feel as if you were there.
2. The music score. I mean it's just truly classic. Something lacking in the blockbuster films these days. Can anyone actually tell me how the X-men, Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings themes go?
3. All the extras, and some of the small speaking roles were all cast with residents of marthas vineyard. Since it was supposed to be a small new england town. This worked great. Too often you have extras that just seem fake and mostly just people that hang out in LA all day waiting for their big break.
4. I have seen the movie countless times. Honestly, every time I have watched it. I pick up something different. That is the sign of a truly great film
5. The acting. Roy Scheider is truly on top of his game in the movie as are Robert Shaw and Richard dreyfuss. Scheider playing Brody is great at the anti-hero. Most of his flaws are not brushed with broad strokes that they would be as today. It is clearly implied he has a bit of a drinking problem, and his fear of water is a nice touch given what he has to do. But his fear is never blown up into a huge deal. Robert Shaw is full of energy (and from what I read about the making of the film booze during most of the filming) with his random singing, disdain for richboy know-it-all Hooper(Dreyfuss). The exchanges of the three make the movie tense as much as shark looming.
6. The lines. Very quotable movie.
7. The fact that it is created as the first blockbuster ever.
8. The dinner scene. Truly one of my all time fav. Scenes. You got Quint and Hooper comparing battle scares from run ins with various sea life. Than poor Brody tries to chime in with what looks to be an appendix scar, than decides "man that's too lame to bring up, they are talking about arm wrestling injuries and shark tails cutting them"
After that is Quint's powerful WWII story, followed up by "Show Me the Way to Go Home" which in an instant turns back into action when the shark starts slamming his head into the side of the ship.
9.
Mayor Vaughn (played by the Murray Hamilton) is a great villain of sorts. Just trying to great a big smoke screen in his little summer town. Hoping that no one gets hurt, but at the same time people don't really fear for their lives enough not to spend money in order for his "summer town" to get their "summer dollars". This is most evident when he tells a reporter (mind you after a girl, a little boy, a dog, and a fisherman were all killed) that a shark supposedly "injured some bathers"
10. The movie is paced perfectly. Never a slow moment, and the action doesn't drag forever like modern movies. It ends enough time that you almost wish it was longer, which means they did their job. I also love the final scene of the movie. Which I always think is key to wrapping up a great film.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
I agree that Jaws is a tremendous film, and it has a great score. But the examples of other film scores you chose were really, really bad examples. Both The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter films have highly recognizeable scores. I'm not a film music buff, so I can't personally recall the major themes of the LotR films, but I can recall the main theme of the Harry Potter films, and it's a very effective and atmospheric melody which perfectly sets the mood for the films.
I have to agree with the vast majority of your opinions on Jaws. It is a brilliant piece of filmmaking by a then-unknown Steven Spielberg, who was still in his twenties when he shot it. It's a modern masterpiece.
One thing I cannot agree more about is point #1. As good as today's CGI technology is, you just can't beat reality.
Point #2: the score is wonderful, but I think you're short-changing other films' scores. How about Jerry Goldsmith's brilliant music in the original Planet of the Apes? Or his theme for the Star Trek films? Trevor Jones' score for Labyrinth? Lalo Schifrin's Mission: Impossible theme (yes, I know, it was a tv show originally)? Anything from Danny Elfman is memorable (Batman, Men In Black, etc.). Or even John Williams' other scores, like Star Wars or what I still think is his most beautiful score, Jurassic Park?
Your Point #7, I'm afraid, is completely off the mark. Nobody working on the film had any idea that it would be a hit. Nobody. The studio was worried that it might not even recoup its production costs! Its success was unprecedented and caught everyone completely by surprise. It was, however, the film that created the Summer Blockbuster phenomenon, which studios have been chasing ever since.
Point #8: It's a powerful scene, a revealing scene, and a prime example of the great pacing of the film. Most films do have a midpoint lull in them to allow audiences time to relax a bit before re-engaging the plot. This is such a scene, but it is still rich with its own story and characters. Also, the scar Brody mutters about is Roy Scheider's actual appendectomy scar.
The one thing that I admire most about Jaws is Spielberg's understanding that it's far more scary to suggest a monster than to always reveal it. When you combine John Williams' music with shots taken from the shark's point-of-view, the effect is far scarier than if he had shown the actual shark. Having recently watched War of the Worlds I can see that he has not forgotten that lesson.
Spielberg has taken a lot of crap over the years for making some overly sentimental (Always, E.T.), cheesy (E.T.) and sometimes downright awful films (1941, Hook). I think that there is much truth to that, but he is still a master craftsman with a singular style and touch, who has also made some absolutely brilliant films (Jaws, Close Encounters, Raiders of the Lost Ark). From the looks of things, it's clear that he is only getting stronger and more sophisticated as a director.
Now if we could only stop him from casting Tom Cruise again... [TL]
Arrgh! I thinks Jaws will eat Captain Jack Sparrow.
I think Lord of the Rings, had a very forgetable score. Potter was made by compossed by John Williams, but would likely not crack the top 10 Williams score if I made a list.
I never saw enough of PLanet of the Apes, to talk about Jerry Goldsmith's score. However, I was always a huge fan of him. He likely was a close third behind Danny Elfman. Too, bad he started getting work in worse movies towards the end. Aliens, the Star Trek Moive (I havent seen in like 10 years), and Gremlins were all great scores.
Keith, maybe you forgot LOTR's score (as did I), but seriously, in film music circles, it's huge. It's absolutely huge. The first and third films of the trilogy won the Oscar for Best Original Score.
As for the Jaws theme, well, it's pretty much perfect. It's a fantastic build up of suspense. Personally, though, I have absolutely no idea where the music goes after the "duh-dum duh-dum duh-dum" thing resolves. I doubt many people do.
So we're really just talking about that suspense-building section, which goes into a very limited selection of film music that ripples throughout the culture. Like the Psycho murder theme, or the Superman theme. If that's the point you're trying to make, you're absolutely right.
But saying that people don't remember the LotR and Potter music is just wrong. Yes they do.
I never saw X-Men but I can definitely recall the scores to Harry Potter and LOTR.
http://www.jawsthegame.com
I heard the Jaws game was pretty silly.
Am I the only one who hated the Lord of the Rings movies? My ex made me watch them all the time, and Its just 3 hours of bordeom.
I mean they were impressive for what the accomplished as far as movie making. The final chapter was a landmark movie,really how far we came.
But the story, was so murky and unappealing to me. Not to mention the 50 min action sequences.
No, Keith, you are not alone. I could only sit through the first film. It wasn't bad at all; I just didn't enjoy it. They are technologically superlative films, but I just don't care for them.
Part of that is my own bias. I have never liked that genre of film. Superhero films, either. Some do transcend that bias and endear themselves to me (Tim Burton's Batman comes to mind), but for the most part I couldn't care less. [TL]
Post a Comment