Jaws Review
Jaws, what can I say?
One of the greatest horror films of all time.
The movie that made Spielberg famous.
This movie was a difficult undertaking. After three previous directors dropped out, Spielberg was not Universal’s first choice as director.
The movie went over budget and behind schedule and Spielberg was scared. Technical difficulties and the ocean put a massive strain on Spielberg as he struggled to finish the movie.
Jaws has all the classic horror beats. The monster attacks victims in an ever-shrinking space. In addition, the action shifts from the beach to the open sea, where the battle goes no less than seven rounds.
Technical difficulties forced the shark to appear late in the movie and allowed Spielberg to build up the tension by rarely showing the shark but announcing its presence with menacing music a la Hitchcock.
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We also see Spielberg’s signature blend of ominous and adventurous music with strong lighting sequences at night. We’ll see all of this later in ET and Close Encounters.
The battle between beast and man will also be repeated on an even larger scale in Jurassic Park.
But what makes Jaws an unusual horror film is that Spielberg skillfully transcends the horror genre by making the monster fight a battle between three men haunted by three very different ghosts. This added layer of conflict turns the monster battle into a deeper human struggle.
Brody, the police chief, is a fish out of water. A man who has failed in his past as a cop in New York and is seeking a new career in New England. Quint, the hunter, is a Melville character still suffering from PTSD from when his Navy ship sank in the shark-infested waters of the Pacific, and Hooper is a rich young marine biologist with a point to prove.
All three have the same desire-line. They want to kill the monster, but for different reasons, and the monster wants to kill them. They all have competing plans to kill the shark, ultimately failing when it nearly sinks their boat.
Quint is killed and Brody has his self-revelation. He accomplished something meaningful by killing the shark, and his confidence was boosted because the shark was a worthy opponent that forced him to the brink.
What more?
Jaws became the highest-grossing movie of all time until Star Wars. Cameron later toppled them both with Titanic and Avatar.
If you look past the bad seventies clothes and silly small-town politics but focus on the epic shark battle at the end, Jaws remains a satisfying movie and arguably Spielberg’s best.
