Release date: June 20, 1975 

Amity Island had everything. Clear skies. Gentle surf. Warm water. People flocked there every summer. It was the perfect feeding ground.

I have been blessed with the oppotunity to see this masterpiece on the silver screen. That’s right I saw Jaws on the big screen as a part of Cineplex’s Great Digital Film Festival. This film has been praised by rotten tomatoes as one of the greatest films of all time. Let me tell you, this is a phenomenal film when you watch it at home, but that does no justice to just how awesome Jaws is when you see it in a cinema.

Jaws follows Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) and a tiny summer resort town, Amity Island as they are terrorized by a giant, man-eating greatwhite shark. While most of the town’s business folk ignore Chief Brody’s concerns after initial attacks, it becomes evident that the whole town is in trouble after a July 4 attack by the aquatic beast. Chief Brody alongside oceanographer Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) team up with grizzled shark hunter Quint (Robert Shaw) to kill the beast. Three men and one boat. Kind of sounds as bad as 2 Girls 1 Cup, no?

WHAT WORKED:

– The score. There are film scores that transcend the industry. I know many people who can hum the Star Wars theme, or the Empirial March. The Jaws theme is no exception. The composer, JOHN WILLIAMS, who no-so-surprisingly is the mastermind behind the scores for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and the first three Harry Potter films is also the man behind the bone chilling music. It’s a simple score of few notes. But it’s grown to be iconic in today’s pop-culture, some near 30 years later. Stalking down my hall I often hum the chords before surprising my family or dog. Epic.

– ROBERT SHAW. This guy was simply ah-mazing. Just his monologue about his price for catching Jaws is often referenced or parodied. But when he’s sitting with the guys in the cabin of the boat just after trading stories about their scars, and he goes off on his monologue about his trails after the USS Indianapolis was sunk, I get chills, and the urge to write insane runon sentences. Just the dark place Shaw must have gone to achieve such a dark moment.

– The acting in general. Dreyfuss as Hooper was pretty awesome. When he shows up to Chief Brody’s home with two bottles of wine is a funny moment. Also Scheider can’t be ignored here for his performance either. His interactions with his youngest son just felt too real. And not many men could pull off trash talking a shark quite like him.

– The Shark. Until I finally saw this film in Bluray quality, I always felt the shark looked amazingly real. The one downside to HD is you see some of the flaws, but overall it’s still a good job. Such a great job that if they were ever to reboot Jaws or reimagine it, only Ben Afleck starring as the shark itself would be better in the role. Legit.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK:

– Not much.

– Lorraine Gary. Nothing special from her. Infact there were moments where I felt she was reading cue cards…

THE LOWDOWN:

Jaws is awwwwwmmmaaaazing! Truly a film that must be experienced. If you are lucky enough to have access to it on the big screen, go for it. If not, just curl up on the couch with some diet coke and twizzlers and get ready for a suspenceful ride. I’ll admit the scary aspects of the film haven’t aged well, but with today’s educated cinema fans, the suspences builds to emotion. That emotion is powerful. Just when you thought it was save to watch a film, you were right: Jaws is Verified Awesome!