Review: Jaws (A-)

Jaws (1975)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Starring Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Lorraine Gary
MPAA: PG
Grade: A-

Review by Scott Standish

"You're gonna need a bigger boat."

Thirty years after it's release, Jaws continues to amaze. The film that started the whole "blockbuster" film genre is wonderful entertainment.

If you haven't seen Jaws you have either been living on Mars, or are under the age of ten. The story is legend: a monster shark terrorizes the beaches of Amity, New York. Chief Brody (played by Roy Scheider) enlists the help of a scientist named Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and a gruff old shark boat captain named Quint (Robert Shaw). The trio heads out to sea for a battle royale with the greatest screen shark of all time.

What I love about this film is it's simplicity. Spielberg starts the film off with a shark attack, and the attacks never stop coming. The town has to come to grips with it, and solve the problem or lose their summer business revenue. The town moves from denial to panic. The trio of Scheider, Shaw and Dreyfuss have great chemistry and as they head out to fight the shark, you really can't help but root for them.

Jaws was excellently casted, acted and directed (perhaps Spielberg's best). There is a reason that this is considered by many to be the best thriller of all time - Jaws is a classic.