Jaws (1975)

[Edgy MD]

An island beach community is menaced by a 30-foot great white shark. The police chief, obstructed by the self-interest of local politics, goes shark hunting with an academic and a grizzled salty sea dog.

[metirish]

How satisfied were you when you got to El Fin?

this is key, I rememberer being scared shitless when I saw it as a kid.

4 for me

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Docking it a half-point for slight figurative yellowing-- effects, etc.-- over the years.

Still a 4 1/2.

Edited February 28, 2011 by Guest

[Benjamin Grimm]

Saw it again just a year or two ago. Still very enjoyable. I gave it 3.5, but I could have gone 4.

I remember seeing it the day it opened. It was the last day of school, and we got out early. (I still remember the date, because I was looking forward to it so much: June 20, 1975.) I was twelve years old, and my friends and I rode our bikes to the Hauppauge Movie Theater to see the first showing.

When I watched it most recently, I got a kick out of seeing Roy Scheider say, "That's some bad hat, Harry!" Until then, I had no idea that the little cartoon that appears after each episode of House originated in Jaws.

[Vic Sage]

This brilliant thriller still works because it is utterly unreliant on effects and depends, instead, on script, performances and formalist (rather than formulaic) storytelling devices , like textbook use of music to heighten tension. Its themes are as universal as Ahab, and so the story is not dated by parochial messages or concerns.

Beyond its quality as a film, it invented the modern Hollywood blockbuster and became an important touchstone in our cultural history. It also launched the career of one of the most influential filmmakers of the late 20th century.

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, but other than that, it was a turd.

I gave it 4.5.