jaws movie review new york times

What It Was Really Like To See Jaws In 1975

Maybe you grew up watching "Jaws" every summer. Maybe you saw it once in your childhood and vowed to never see it again after enduring nightmares. Maybe you've never seen it at all but know its evocative music (composed by the legendary John Williams), often mimicked or even sampled in other films and television shows. Perhaps you even have memories of a giant shark attacking your ride at Universal Studios during a family vacation to Hollywood or Orlando.

Whatever your level of familiarity with "Jaws," Steven Spielberg's classic shark attack movie, the film is so integrated into the pop culture consciousness that it's hard to imagine a time when it was new. But when the movie debuted in summer 1975, the tropes of "Jaws" weren't tropes — they were first-of-their-kind experiments. The movie's story wasn't iconic, it was unknown. So what was it really like to see "Jaws" in 1975? Let's find out.

Jaws was like an Alfred Hitchcock movie

Today, if you hear Steven Spielberg is attached to a film, you automatically know what to expect from the project in question. That kind of news paints a picture in your mind and elevates your interest in the movie based on Spielberg's signature style of direction , which we've seen play out across decades and genres.

However, if we're not counting TV movies like "Duel," "Jaws" was only the second full-length film  Steven Spielberg had directed. He wasn't a household name yet. With just "The Sugarland Express" under his theatrical belt, critics and audiences wouldn't have been able to compare and contrast his movies or study them in great detail. This is unlike today, when we can chart his career and attempt to define what makes him unique.

As such, when "Jaws" hit theaters in 1975, audiences sought an established director they could compare Spielberg's work to. In the 2019 CNN docuseries "The Movies," Deadline Hollywood critic Pete Hammond pointed toward a director who was a household name at the time — one who Spielberg might've reminded audiences of. "He made this like the kind of shark movie that Alfred Hitchcock might have made," Hammond remarked.

From "Psycho" to "The Birds," Hitchcock's well-known filmography was the stuff of nightmares (in the best way possible) and certainly not for the faint of heart. In 1975, his was the perfect directorial style to use as a frame of reference when watching a town under siege by a very hungry shark.

It was as frightening as The Exorcist

In 1975, audiences would've definitely been familiar with "The Exorcist," a horror movie released two years earlier that told a tale of demonic possession. In other words, the textbook definition of a scary movie was on everyone's mind, and quite a few people compared William Friedkin's infamous classic to the newly released "Jaws." In his 1975 review of Spielberg's flick,  famed movie critic Roger Ebert wrote , "It's a film that's as frightening as 'The Exorcist,' and yet it's a nicer kind of fright, somehow more fun because we're being scared by an outdoor-adventure saga instead of by a brimstone-and-vomit devil." Oh, well as long as it's more fun than a brimstone-and-vomit devil, why didn't you say so?

Public word-of-mouth wanted to make it clear what audiences were getting themselves into when they went to see "Jaws." As the podcast " The Movie Bin " points out, there was no such thing as a PG-13 rating when "Jaws" debuted. Its violence, while foreboding, wasn't graphic enough to necessitate an R rating, and so it wound up rated PG — a benchmark that by today's standards is decidedly more family friendly than "Jaws" was ever going to be. Critics like Ebert using "The Exorcist" as a comparison sounded an alarm loud and clear: "Jaws" was s-c-a-r-y.

It was a shared experience

Anyone who saw "Avengers: Endgame" its opening week in theaters can tell you that movies have the power to unite strangers and elicit excitement. If an audience is invested enough in the story, their vocal response can make moviegoing a truly special shared experience. Audiences in 1975 weren't cheering on superheroes, though. They were screaming in terror. "Jaws" producer Richard Zanuck recalled to The New York Times , "People were ripping out the seats. The place went crazy."

A large portion of "Jaws" plays the long game. A general aura of fear is present in scenes much more often than actual jump scares or action-related violence. Still, there are a few moments when the shark's doll-like eyes and insatiable appetite lead to downright terrifying cinema. It was all part of Spielberg's master plan. He studied test screenings and made slight adjustments as needed to optimize those tense sequences for maximum scream factor.

The marketing machine was huge

Many aspects of a movie release are so commonplace today that we hardly think twice about them. If a new film is slated to debut, especially during the summer and especially from a major studio like Universal, audiences can expect a huge marketing campaign ahead of the film's release. That wasn't necessarily the case in 1975.

In the docuseries "The Movies," film historian Neal Gabler explained, "'Jaws' was the first real gigantic blockbuster. Heavily advertised, [it] opened on a 'billion' screens at the same time. It became a cultural milestone immediately. It changed everything." The word "blockbuster" itself was new language.

The New York Times detailed the meteoric rise of "Jaws," which involved a huge emphasis on TV ads — a relatively new method at the time. And as the newspaper explained, "Three days before the opening, [Universal] unleashed a massive national advertising blitz, centering on the image of the shark's mouth pointing vertically up at a swimming girl." The image showed up on everything from posters to the cover of the book "Jaws" was based on. Plus, the movie was released simultaneously across the country on the same date — a "wide" release — which was a relatively uncommon practice. All in all, the final price tag of the film's marketing push was $700,000, a record for Universal.

Jaws was box-office gold

For the time, Universal sunk a huge amount of money into the promotional blitz for "Jaws" ... and it massively paid off. The film  debuted in June 1975 with a domestic opening weekend of $7,061,513 in 409 theaters, for a per-theater average of $17,265. Movies today open in many, many more theaters than that, and the American dollar is worth a very different amount of money, but we can do some math to a modern blockbuster to figure out a fair comparison. 

In December 2021, "Spider-Man: No Way Home" debuted with a domestic opening weekend of $260,138,569 in 4,336 theaters , for a per-theater average of $59,995. Adjusted for inflation , the opening weekend of "Jaws" would've achieved a little over $90,000 per theater today. When considering the boom that "No Way Home" provided to cineplexes, it's wild to imagine "Jaws" rocking the per-theater average even more.

In the end, "Jaws" grossed $260 million during its original 1975 theatrical run ... or $1.3 billion when adjusted for 2022 inflation . In other words, when you take that inflation into account , "Jaws" is one of the highest-grossing films of all time, beating out the likes of "Avatar" and "Avengers: Endgame." To say the least, Universal had a hit on its hands.

A pop culture phenomenon

The combination of innovative filmmaking, positive word-of-mouth, and a huge marketing push was the perfect formula for "Jaws" to become a phenomenon in its opening summer. In an ABC newscast from September 1975 , anchor Peter Jennings described "Jaws" as "a movie executive's dream." 

Even beyond financial success, the movie's cultural impact took over America's summer paraphernalia. That aforementioned newscast highlighted scores of official and unofficial merch, from T-shirts, socks, and bathing suits using the movie's official poster to shark jewelry. Basically, if it was shark-related, consumers couldn't get their hands on it fast enough. (Etsy is quaking.) Peter Benchley, author of the novel that inspired the movie, remarked that it was "normal commercial instinct to ride the bandwagon while the bandwagon's hot."

Steven Spielberg recalled ( via The New York Times ) how he walked through an ice cream shop that summer and every conversation he overheard was about the movie. In other words, "Jaws" took the nation by storm, giving a taste of what was to come from Spielberg's forthcoming career.

It created a newfound fear of sharks

In addition to the movie's massive fandom, there was another real-world cultural impact as a result of "Jaws." The movie's terrifying depiction of sharks led many beachgoers in 1975 to be more hesitant and afraid of ocean activities. The fear, if objectively irrational, is understandable to anyone who's seen the film. Play in the ocean when that thing could attack? Pass! 

On July 13, 1975 — just a few weeks after "Jaws" was released — Los Angeles Times writer Robert E. Dallos ( via The Poughkeepsie Journal ) wrote about the "shark mania" that had come over beachgoers. Suddenly, people preferred the shore to the ocean. There was a lack of long-distance swimmers that summer. And, of course, there was an increase in shark-sighting reports. "Any fish in the water now becomes a shark," a Florida lifeguard said in the same article.

According to a 2021 study by Prof. Brianna Le Busque of the University of South Australia, the stigma still exists to a degree today, thanks to the film's lasting impact and similarly negative shark depictions it inspired in other movies. The conservation outlet Mongabay also described a "Jaws effect" coined by Christopher Neff from the University of Sydney, which is "the belief that sharks intentionally bite humans, that human-shark encounters are always fatal, and that sharks should be killed to prevent future attacks." And Prof. Le Busque found that 96% of shark representation in film and television was negative, stemming from the precedent set by "Jaws."

It was a breath of fresh air, literally

Something that seems like a given when going to the movies today is air conditioning. Believe it or not, before 1975, many theaters didn't have it. Summertime, no air, and a room packed full of people? No, thank you! That would make any moviegoing experience miserable, no matter how incredible the film was. However, HVAC companies cite "Jaws" as one of the first major motion pictures to be released when air conditioning was widely available in movie theaters, and they're proud to attribute part of the film's massive success to their installation of AC units. One can imagine that perhaps the popularity of "Jaws" was aided by moviegoers hoping to beat the summer heat by getting the scares on in a nice, chilled room. It's a reminder that every role is important in the movie business, even if at first glance it has nothing to do with filmmaking itself. So many different fields make the industry possible, and all work together to pull it off. 

Jaws was a filmmaking masterclass

"Jaws" wasn't just an exciting movie — it was a well-made movie in director Steven Spielberg's competent hands. "Jaws" inspired many future directors as a reference point for how to tell a story and how to visually thread a narrative, as shared in a Universal featurette . For example, M. Night Shyamalan was about to turn 5 years old the summer that "Jaws" debuted. He would one day direct such influential thrillers as "Signs" and "The Sixth Sense," and he said he "aggressively pursued 'Jaws' as a way to learn from the master. I saw the light, you know? I saw 'Jaws' and [thought], 'That's the promised land. That's what you have to aim for.'"

Robert Rodriguez — the man behind "From Dusk Till Dawn," "Spy Kids," and "Desperado" — said "Jaws" left him "wanting to make movies that were larger than life." And Eli Roth — who directed the director behind horror films like "Hostel" and "The Green Inferno" — had nothing but praise for Spielberg's classic, explaining, "I think that anyone that wants to make big Hollywood blockbusters movies was certainly inspired by 'Jaws.'"

There's a lot to study in "Jaws," and whether its pupils have gone on to helm huge Hollywood films or are simply inspired by the movie in a more subtle way, Steven Spielberg is proud. In the same video, he remarked, "I'm always grateful when anybody, especially a young director, comes over to me and tells me they were in some way strangely influenced by 'Jaws.'"

There were a few stray dissenters

It turns out you can't please everybody, even with what can be widely acknowledged as a classic like "Jaws." It sits at an admirable 98% on Rotten Tomatoes , which means there were at least a few critics who weren't impressed. In 1975, film critic Charles Champlin,  writing for the Los Angeles Times , called "Jaws" "a bore, awkwardly staged and lumpily written." Champlin claimed the movie had a "stubborn refusal of the key characters to come in to sharp focus," and he was especially taken aback by the horror-esque elements that Spielberg employed to scare the audience. Champlin closed by questioning "what it takes to entertain these days." One could maybe infer that he wasn't a fan of the film as a suspense thriller rather than the film itself, in which case, anything the movie attempted would not be his cup of tea, so the review might not be entirely fair. But hey, to each their own.

Jaws worked like a magic trick

Even if "Jaws" still holds up as a watchable — let alone incredible — film nearly 50 years after it debuted, technology has come a long way since 1975. If the movie were to be made today, it would likely include a heavy dosage of computer-generated imagery. If the director were to prefer a more practical approach to special effects, at the very least the shark animatronic would look a little bit better than the final version of the shark as it appeared in 1975. Today, we can pretty easily tell that most shots of the shark in "Jaws" are of a robotic figure. We're so trained by the special effects wizardry of modern filmmaking that 1975's best efforts feel archaic now.

We can look back on "Jaws" and maybe chuckle a bit at the shark's appearance, but in 1975, audiences completely bought it. Back in the day, Arthur Knight, a film critic for The Hollywood Reporter , commended the limited use of real shark footage paired with the animatronic and "masterful editing" to create an illusion in which it was "literally impossible to say for sure which one is which." Okay, so maybe today we can tell which one is which, but it's a testament to the film's effectiveness that the old tech isn't a distraction and the movie still works.

Jaws was cinematic perfection

Some commercially successful films aren't critically accepted at the time of their release and only become beloved after generations of adoration. Other films simply don't get much attention at all in their initial run and years later find a following and become something of a cult classic . Neither was the case for "Jaws." 

Instead, it hit a home run in every category possible from the very beginning. In 1975, The Hollywood Reporter  called it "perhaps the most perfectly constructed horror story in our time."​​ It was acknowledged almost immediately as a standard-setter and something that the 1970s era of filmmaking would be remembered by. It was even nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards . How often do you know, in the moment, that movie history is being made? "Jaws" achieved that rare feat.

There are few summer movies, or even movies, period, that stack up to "Jaws" in terms of critical acclaim, audience response, and legacy. It will be inspiring future filmmakers, scaring audiences, and making waves at the movies for decades to come.

Is ‘Jaws’ Based on a True Story? The Truth May Surprise You

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It’s time for a rousing game of Two Truths and a Lie. Here we go: First, Jaws  is one of the most beloved horror films of all time. Second, it’s widely considered to be the first blockbuster released. Third, the film is based on a true story. The first two statements are irrefutable truths. The third is a dirty  lie. 

Although there are a number of blog posts that claim the film  Jaws  (and the novel on which it is based) is inspired by the 1916 Jersey Shore shark attacks , those claims are patently untrue. Some of the blame for the flurry of misinformation can likely be attributed to the city of Matawan, New Jersey. Merchants of the coastal town have enthusiastically  embraced their reputation  as the inspiration behind the film. But the claims have no basis in fact.  

So What Did Inspire Jaws ?

How do I know the reports are false? It’s simple. Peter Benchley, who penned the novel on which Jaws  is based and co-wrote the screen treatment, says the book and film are works of fiction. Although Benchley was a resident of New Jersey, he has said he didn’t take any inspiration from the New Jersey shark attacks of 1916. The author came up with the idea after hearing lifeguards in Nantucket, Massachusetts recounting horror stories of shark attacks. The novelist also looked into shark sightings in New York state while he was conducting research for the manuscript. However the New Jersey attacks did not play a role in the creation of Jaws .  

A separate source of confusion is a 2002  New York Times article  that erroneously attributed the New Jersey attacks as a source of inspiration for  Jaws . A correction was printed several days later (and can be seen as a footer in the linked article) but the damage was already done by that point. So, there you have it. Neither the novel nor the film was inspired by the infamous Jersey Shore shark attacks. 

What Happened in 1916 at the Jersey Shore?

Although the Jersey Shore attacks didn’t inspire  Jaws , there is still a fascinating story behind the headlines. So, I’d like to spend a moment speaking to the unsavory ordeal that terrified the nation. The summer of 1916 saw a total of 5 shark attacks reported on the Jersey Shore. 4 people were killed, with one more seriously injured, making for a total of 5 victims. According to  Field & Stream , there are about five human fatalities caused by sharks in a given year. So, the idea that four shark-related deaths transpired in the same geographic region, in the same month, is truly shocking.  

Prior to the Jersey Shore shark attacks, sharks were thought to be relatively harmless to humans. People were shocked when Charles Vansant was mauled by a shark during a night swim while vacationing in Beach Haven, New Jersey. The 23-year-old died from injuries related to the attack, which took place on July 1, 1916. 

The 1916 Attack Victims

The second Jersey Shore shark attack transpired on July 6 in Spring Lake, which is about 45 miles outside Beach Haven. The victim in this attack was 27-year-old Charles Bruder. He was swimming with friends at Spring Lake. He was about 130 yards from shore when a shark bit off both of his legs. A lifeboat caught up to Bruder but he expired on the way back to shore. 

The next victim was Lester Stillwell, a pre-teen boy who left work to go swimming with friends in Matawan Creek. The creek was thought to be a safe place where children could swim. There was no concern of predatory aquatic life, seeing as the swimming spot is located several miles from the bay that it connects to before flowing into the ocean. Still, a shark entered the creek on July 12 and killed Stillwell. Stanley Fisher, a local merchant, attempted to retrieve Stillwell‘s remains. But he was bitten by a shark in the process. Fisher’s femoral artery was severed during the grisly attack. He was later transported to a nearby facility where he passed from blood loss.

A Sole Survivor

The next victim in the rash of attacks was Joseph Dunn, a 12-year-old boy from New York City. The young man was swimming roughly a half mile from the Wycoff dock where Stillwell and Fisher were attacked. Dunn was enjoying a swim with friends when they heard someone shouting to beware of sharks. Dunn was the last to attempt to exit the water. A shark bit his lower left leg and pulled the boy underwater.

A group of people tried to pull Dunn out of the water but he was still in the shark’s grasp, resulting in a tug of war. Joseph was later taken to the Wycoff dock where a physician was onsite and lending aid to Fisher, who hadn’t yet expired. Dunn was taken to New Brunswick for additional care. He made it through the ordeal, which makes him the sole survivor of the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916. 

The Work Of One Shark

Experts concur that all five attacks were likely the work of one shark. The town responded by setting off dynamite in the creek, hoping to put a stop to the reign of terror. When that proved unsuccessful, hundreds of sharks were hunted and killed by angry locals. Eventually, Michael Schleisser apprehended the perpetrator. Reports have circulated that the marine creature had 15 lbs. of human flesh inside upon capture. But those claims have been challenged over the years.  

The predator was initially identified as a Great White Shark. But experts have since countered that the creature was most likely a Bull Shark who was misidentified as a Great White. That distinction would explain how the perpetrator was able to sustain life in fresh water. 

Additional Sources:

WeirdNJ.com

Matawan Historical Society

Categorized: Editorials

The Fangs of Fear: Exploring Horror and Dread in ‘Jaws’ (1975)

Steven Spielberg is considered by many to be one of the greatest directors of all time. Experimenting with diverse genres ranging between horror, musicals, thrillers, and drama, Spielberg has done it all and still contributes creatively and logistically to improve the medium and craft of filmmaking. While he is known for inciting numerous ‘first-of-its-kind’ innovations in filmmaking and screen culture, perhaps no contribution surpasses his involvement in creating the summer blockbuster. The money-minting international sensation that Hollywood is today is credited mainly to the summer blockbuster, a larger-than-life action-filled genre predominantly catered for family audiences that requires limited cerebral investment but delivers maximum engrossment. Of the many summer blockbusters Spielberg has worked on, none is perhaps as groundbreaking as his third film, Jaws (1975).

Terrifying, gory, anxiety-inducing but fun nonetheless, Jaws amassed $100 million at the box office in 61 days, the first ever film to do so. It has been picked apart and examined in academic discussions for its marketing strategies, production culture, artistic nuance, and political subtext. What makes Jaws stand out is how it reimagined the horror genre by imbibing it with humour and charm whilst refraining from trenching into the realm of surrealism the genre is known for. So what does Jaws do differently that allows it to maintain its quirkiness while still terrorising its audience? How has Jaws , a film released nearly 50 years ago about a shark hunt, stood the test of time and stayed relevant even today? What innovative tactics have the film deployed to universalise the creature-feature genre? This essay will attempt to discuss these questions in depth.

The Legacy of Jaws

Jaws (1975) met with many positive reviews at the time of its release. Partly responsible for its astronomical commercial success was the heavy advertising surrounding the film, characterising it as a much-watch event. The fame of Peter Benchley’s novel, from which it was adapted, also played a massive role as it was just released the previous year and was a best-seller. Additionally, releasing an action-adventure film with a relatively straightforward plot during the summer holidays played a crucial role. Amassing three Academy Awards, including a nomination for Best Picture, Jaws was truly a trailblazer of its time. The culmination of these factors allowed the film to be the highest-grossing film of its time, only beaten by George Lucas’ Star Wars (1977), which came out two years later. Both these films cemented the creation of the post-classic, family-oriented ‘Summer Blockbuster.’

Critics initially praised Jaws for its technicality in animating the mechanical shark and the screenplay for anthropomorphising the Shark (from hereon, I shall be addressing the shark in the film as Shark) as cunning, calculated, and deviant. Parallely, audiences lauded the thrill, humour, and dread the film incited. Critic Nigel Morris also notes that the film received additional praise for its decision to stray away from the sexual subplot of the original novel and for reimagining it as a family entertainer instead of a gritty drama.

However, with the success of Jaws and the resulting change in filmmaking formula came criticism about how commerciality perverted the craft, resulting in a loss of aesthetic integrity or artistic nuance owing to formulaic blockbusters that dominated the box office. Peter Cowie observes that “While Time’s top 1975 films included Jaws , a number of leading reviewers considered it shallow, soulless, gratuitous, crammed with ‘clichés and one-dimensional characters”. These criticisms grew further as many scholars accused Spielberg of being manipulative by sentimentalising controversial plotlines with happy endings. Being the first ‘blockbuster’ of its kind at a time when film criticism was beginning to be imbibed into scholarly discourse, Raymond Haberski argues that Jaws provoked “interpretation by the first truly substantial generation of film scholars.” Contrary to public journalism, Jaws first had to be torn apart in academic discussion before it could develop any merit.

Consequently, Spielberg and Lucas were scrutinised for being the harbingers of New Hollywood’s downfall. According to J. Hoberman, by 1975, the ‘extraordinary indigenous avant-garde’ that was New Hollywood was done away with. Jaws and Star Wars spawned several sequels, establishing a market for franchise films, and rebranded cinema as a full-on market commodity due to its reliability and massive profits. These films increasingly became ‘critic-proof’ as the general value of films grew beyond their critic-assigned value, and audience reaction decided the future of a film or franchise. Morris claims that Jaws’ release campaign undermined the authority of film critics and reviewers. These shifts were important moments in film history as, not long ago, during the 1970s, critical approval and box-office remunerations were eerily complimentary of each other.

While sections of scholarship surrounding Jaws have narrowed down on its more extensive involvement in the erasure of New Hollywood and the development of new economic and financial models, other factions investigate the film’s social themes. For example, in his essay ‘Legacy of Jaws ,’ while simultaneously pointing out the film’s reductive narrative, Nigel Morris deduces exciting observations on how the film reflects on issues such as Watergate, masculinity, and feminism-induced anxieties.

Additionally, later scholarly debates argue that Jaws did not, in fact, ‘invent the blockbuster’ nor develop the market model that radically commercialised the industry. In his essay ‘New Hollywood,’ Thomas Schatz puts forward the proposition that change was inevitable as increasing production costs demanded huge turnovers while audience turnouts did not happen as expected. These arguments are only supported by Peter Biskind’s claim that 1975 was a ‘watershed’ as many leading directors ‘went down in flames.’

One of the more interesting debates surrounding the film is the identity of the film itself. What genre does Jaws fit into? Did it establish a new genus of film culture? How would conventional categorisation bend itself to accommodate Jaws ? As Spielberg puts it, is the film just “about a shark named Bruce”? What larger narratives does it draw from, and does it try to be a social commentary? The interpretation and reinterpretations of Jaws are numerous and are both synergetic and contradictory and only add to its ever-growing legacy.

For Stephen Heath, “Jaws is a Watergate film”. He claims it is a satire on the Watergate scandal , which involved the covering up of President Richard Nixon’s involvement in the June 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., at the Watergate Office Building. The Shark may symbolise the raid on Watergate carried out against Nixon with Mayor Vaughn and his ignorant disapproval, symbolising Nixon’s resistance against accusations of his involvement in the scandal, ultimately leading to acceptance and defeat.

Heath, in his essay, ‘Jaws, Ideology and Film Theory,’ goes on to elucidate how Jaws can be both a commentary on the Vietnam War as well with the shark being the unnamed, mysterious other, the Vietcong, whom Brody and Hooper must annihilate. For Robert Torry, their mission is completely satisfied when Quint, the representation of the working class and embodiment of the values of the Vietcong, is dead. Heath also goes on to hint how Jaws is a ‘white male film’ that frequently hints at castration anxiety and alignments to subordinate women as viewers of action and objects to be admired.

Given all these thoughts into perspective, perhaps Roger Ebert summated it perfectly when he claimed that while Jaws may have multiple underlying subtexts, “Spielberg wisely decides not to underline any of them. . . . [N]one of the characters has to wade through speeches expounding on the significance of it all.”

So all these readings beg the question: is Jaws really about a “shark named Bruce”? And if it is beyond so, how has the film used its horror codes to bring out the surreality of its hidden narratives? Even more importantly, from an aesthetic and artistic perspective, How did Spielberg make audiences afraid of a shark that was not on screen for more than 10 minutes in a 2-hour film?

Recommended Read: Discovering Steven Spielberg’s Magic: Why The Fabelmans and Close Encounters of the Third Kind Should be a Double Bill

Setting the scene.

The audience is aware of the impending danger. They know it even before the film begins, with the massive promotion backing it. The promotion material makes it evident that a great white shark will haunt the beaches of Amity Island during the weeks leading up to the 4th of July. The film’s genre confirms there will be violence. The audience knows what the source is, the Shark, and how the attacks will happen from underwater. However, they do not know when the attack will happen. The anxiety that ensues incites the horror of Jaws .

Spielberg ensures that audiences are kept in the dark about when the attacks might occur by effectively making the Shark ‘invisible.’ What this means is not that it cannot be ‘seen,’ but more so that audiences cannot ‘see’ it as often as they would like to. How Spielberg shoots the ocean plays a vital role in this.

Any threat on land is visible. Its movement is detectable and, more importantly, predictable. However, with a water-borne threat, it presents uncharted territory for mammals and allows the threat (here, Shark) refuge any time it desires. The Shark, despite being the ‘hunted’ in the second half of the film, is only threatened if it chooses to let itself be threatened. This defuses any form of control the protagonists have over the situation.

In the first sequence, Spielberg shows the contrast in sight and understanding below and above water through the female swimmer who gets devoured. For a brief moment, the camera shows the threat underwater by showing the point-of-view of the Shark ogling at the dangling legs of its prey but later only shows the terror it results from above water. What happens below the surface is entirely unbeknownst and beyond comprehension. This single scene makes large water bodies a threat altogether, not merely as spaces of the unknown but as a source of danger to life.

Another critical decision by Spielberg that elevates the horror of Jaws is his willingness to show harm to children on screen. Children are recurrently depicted in threatened spaces. After the central protagonist is introduced, the first attack is on a child, Alex. The film later shows Brody’s children on a boat docked by the beach. When Brody orders them to get on land and away from the boat, Ellen says the kids are safe since they are on a boat, so audiences feel reassured. However, upon seeing a picture of a shark attacking a boat in one of Brody’s guides, she orders them to come out.

During the attack on the 4th of July, the Shark attacks the estuary where the kids are playing, not the beach where there is far more prey. Brody’s children are immediately at the threat of the attack. Had audiences not witnessed Alex’s killing, they would not have felt the imminent threat the Shark posed to the children. But having witnessed Spielberg go to that extent, the thought of having to see another child murder, this too the child of the protagonist with whom audiences develop a strong connection, would have elevated the film’s grimness.

Spielberg also keeps the killing relatively low and invests efforts to elevate the shock value of each killing. Except for the first, all the other killings are meditated and stretched out, crescendoing with gory violence. This way, the gore is not nulled down and hermeneutically normalised by the audience due to frequent exposure to killings of the Shark, allowing the recreation of dread each time the background score plays, teasing an imminent attack.

Another key attribute worth diving into is the sound design of the film. Even in the absence of the Shark, John Williams’ Oscar-winning score personifies the dread radiating from the mechanical dead eyes of the Shark. A mixture of mellow, eerie, and daunting, the terror is communicated through the score that foreshadows the imminent attack of the Shark. Even while humans had the upper hand on land, the score remained predominantly pessimistic until the central character entered the sea.

When on the offense, at sea, in moments of teamwork and camaraderie between the three leads, there were rare spurts of background music filled with gusto and inspiration. Such instances proposed a turn in the tide of power as the men slowly began to learn from each other and conquer the sea and its many challenges. However, these were primarily short-lived. When the camera goes underwater, the audience gets the Shark’s POV, and the two-note score returns, crescendoing as the Shark moves ever closer to its target. The background score, in a way, navigates the audience’s emotions, controlling how and what they should feel in terms of horror.

Directing Action and Creating Tension

Framing plays a crucial role in inciting dread. The camera presents the sea as vast, lifeless, and endless. When directing water bodies at the beach, docks, or shipyard, the frame composition is filled with objects and characters. However, When viewing the singularity of an object, like a person or a boat, placed in the vastness of the sea, foreign to ideal living conditions, distant from civilisation, moving further away from the known to the unknown and possibly dangerous, one feels a sense of nothingness that is deeply personal, which may later develop into existential dread. On a more phenomenological note, the film also frames multiple kinds of toothed figures. There is, of course, the jaws of the Shark, which cause a stinging pain at the thought of it stabbing itself into flesh, plunging through tissue, and oozing blood. But there are other allusions as well.

Brody’s introductory scene features a sequence where his son runs into the kitchen with a bleeding hand and says a vampire did it. This seems to be a foreshadowing of the Shark itself as it, too, has lifeless eyes, carnivorous desires, and sharp teeth like the stereotypical vampire. Yet another frame presents a creative synthesis meaning; when the three-man-crew leave the docks in the hunt for the Shark, the camera shows them leaving from behind an upstairs window with the bones of a shark’s jaw as its frame symbolising their travel to the depths of the danger.

The film also relies on symbolism to initiate a sense of urgency within viewers. A recurrent example is the fin. The swimming cap of the older adult who is swimming during the scene mentioned above and the wooden fin made by the children as a prank all look similar to the Shark’s fin. These ‘fins’ are tools for deception, concerning both the viewer and characters on-screen, but they also embody the sinister and mechanical aura of the Shark’s fin as they cause distress. Seeing the fin means that violence is imminent. As Frederick Wasser puts it:

“Disaster movies favoured longer shots over close ups and psychologically motivated point of view, maximising the stars concurrently on-screen. Jaws , contrastingly, conveys experience of ‘anticipated and actual attacks’.”

By making the Shark ‘invisible’ and the sea a cover, Spielberg is able to develop tension by drawing out scenes and toying with audiences on who the next victim could be. Let us take the second shark attack for reference to elucidate. The scene shows a dog playing fetch with its owner on the beach while a lady, a couple, and a kid on a floating raft are all in the water. While the characters on-screen are unaware of the impending danger, viewers (and Brody) anticipate violence.

As the scene resumes, the audience aligns with Brody’s point of view. First, we see a black head near the lady, which could be the Shark, but it turns out to be an older adult using a swimming cap. Next, we see a girl screaming and instantly recognise the possibility of a shark attack but is diffused as it is her boyfriend playing a trick on her. Later, the dog Tippet is missing, and we assume the Shark got it. Upon establishing all these possibilities, we, as viewers, recognise the visual grammar of the scene and expect it to explode with a splurge of violence and blood. But the release is delayed.

The scene is further developed, and tension is built as we get a POV shot of the Shark moving underwater, observing the dangling legs, seemingly easier targets to attack. However, the boy on the raft, Alex, is attacked. Our conscience tells us that Alex has immunity from being attacked because:

•  The other suspended bodies on water are easier targets for the Shark than Alex, who is on a raft and
•  Alex is a child, and depicting violence on a young body in a film marketed as a family entertainer seems counter-productive.

But Alex is the victim! Through this scene, Spielberg both develops tension and subverts expectations by inflicting harm (and gruesome) on a child’s body, effectively establishing that no one is safe from both the wrath of the Shark and the auteur’s creative will.

At other times, Spielberg gives no warning of the impending explosion of violence. For example, at the 1:21:20 hour mark, while an unsuspecting Brody is chumming, brooding all along on how insignificant he feels at his lack of seamanship skills, the Shark subtly surfaces its face. This catches both Brody and the audience completely off guard as it doesn’t come with the signs of danger like the fin, as mentioned before, or the eerie background music.

In another scene, around the 50:11 mark, when Hooper and Brody go out at night searching for the Shark, they come across a demolished boat. Upon inspecting the boat underwater, both Hooper and the audience are startled at a jump scare as the dead body of Ben Gardner pops up through a window of the boat with its eye popping out. Spielberg does not follow a fixed code, and therefore, audiences struggle with pattern recognition, failing to predict when or where the next scare will come from.

Developing Character and Developing Horror

For a creature feature like Jaws to terrify audiences, it is imperative that the source of terror be made larger than life. Man fears what he does not understand, and sharks are truly within the confines of his knowledge and, therefore, his power. This is where both the novel and film set the scene differently. The film manipulates the identity of its central characters, both animal and human so that both feel alien to audiences and, in turn, the characters amongst themselves.

Simply put, the Shark is made to be more beastly than previously understood by humanity, and the heroes are characterised as incompetent to take down the Shark on their own. Hence, there is a need for three central characters. I will elaborate on what role each character plays in ‘mythicising’ the shark to such proportions that it causes viewers to ask themselves if they truly understand the threat they face or question if the Shark is genuinely an average shark.

Let us first analyse the central protagonist, Officer Martin Brody. Brody was formerly a police officer in New York but now is one among less than ten officers on Amity Island. Contrary to New York, Amity is relatively uneventful; “In 25 years, there’s never been a shooting or murder in this town”, claims Brody at the film’s beginning. This could be a testimony to its high-income residents and tourism-centered neighborhood and is antithetical to the violence-ridden streets of New York City that Brody is familiar with.

Such a setting places Brody as the ‘other,’ a cop out of place, unused to slowed down life and unable to perform grand feats of heroics to earn the admiration of his town, absconding him of any respect or authority. This results in his repeated emasculation throughout the film. He is completely ignored when he tells visitors to get out of the water during the first attack.

Alfred Wilde belittles him for his fear of water. Later on, he is slapped by Mrs Kintner for not warning about the attack and is blamed for her son’s death, despite being the only individual who warned the mayor and the tourists of the Shark. He is repeatedly talked down to by the mayor and other authorities, by Quint, and even shouted at by Matt Hooper. His technical incapabilities further weigh him down; being a novice at seamanship, he cannot tie a knot, trips down incessantly on the boat, does not know how to handle equipment, and is deputed to chumming duty. All these factors make him considerably feeble, opposite the antagonist, the Shark.

Brody is not a character audiences typically feel secure with as a protagonist when facing a killing machine like a shark. For example, the Meg film franchise, a similar creature feature, is led by action star Jason Statham, who oozes the ethos of testosterone-induced ‘balls-to-wall’ action, everything Brody is not. Compared to him, Brody can barely keep his family safe, a central feature for American audiences in establishing a character’s reliability and masculine values.

Andrew Britton calls this the “utopianism of the new radical right,” which attempted to imbibe the “golden age in which the nation was great and the patriarchal family flourished in happy ignorance of the scourges of abortion and a soaring divorce rate, gay rights and the women’s movement.” By essentially weakening the protagonist who is supposed to carry the film, the film creates a sense of insecurity within audiences about how the action rises and magnifies the antagonist as a daunting challenge to overcome.

A similar argument can be made for Hooper. The film establishes Hooper as highly educated and well-off. He is updated on the latest marine technology and represents new blood, excited about making leaps and bounds in scientific discovery, optimistic in contributing to research, and presenting new scholarship. However, with his young age also comes a sense of immaturity. He tries to underplay Quint, who believes in traditional methods of seamanship and dismisses Hooper’s tech-savvy approach to fishing.

Conversely, he is frequently belittled by Quint, who claims he has “city hands” and that he has been “counting money [his] your whole life,” hinting at his lack of experience despite his knowledge about marine biology and further pointing out his upper-class privilege. His overzealous desire to make a name for himself in the scientific world sometimes jeopardises the greater good, as seen when he delays tying the knots on the barrels of Quint’s speargun. His obsessive desire to track and research the Shark by placing a tracker delays Quint’s opportunity for a headshot.

The confident, well-informed Hooper audiences are introduced to initially turn out to be an impulsive, rich, but spoiled pushover whose insecurity is made evident as he incessantly tries to establish dominance over Quint. Hooper’s attempt to document the shark reminds one of when Mayor Vaughn mocked him for wanting to go into National Geographic. It begs the question of whether taming the Shark is actually for the greater good of the public or for him to satiate his ego.

Compared to Brody and Hooper, audiences see Quint as a more reliable character to capture the Shark. Years of experience at sea, a stoic personality, and, ironically, a naive approach to danger make Quint a worthy opponent for the Shark. Even his boat is named ‘The Orca’, after a species of whale known to eat sharks and even other whales. However, Quint is visibly surprised and taken aback during his first encounter with the enemy. His successive attempts to both shoot the Shark and keep it afloat by anchoring it with barrels prove futile, and his reaction to the failed attempts suggests that he, too, is unfamiliar with the threat at sea. Added to his inability to tame the Shark, Quint’s belittlement of Hooper and Brody results in internal tension that causes much despite within the group.

As previously mentioned, Quint and Hooper are constantly at loggerheads against one another. They constantly debate around topics of modern and traditional ways of seafaring and class privilege. Quint is visibly annoyed with Brody’s emasculated personality and believes his wife to be the cause. For Quint, the sea is a hard place to be, and any feminine comfort weakens the heart. In Quint’s perspective, Ellen’ weakens’ Brody by catering to him, relaxing him – keeping him at bay from his heroic journey.

Quint doesn’t have a partner and instead collects ‘jaws.’ When Ellen calls Brody at sea, Quint takes the call but shares no update regarding the shark hunt. For him, such discussions do not concern women. Later, when Brody tries to contact land for support, Quint destroys the communication lines. He repudiates Brody’s feeble masculinity and wants to prove himself by doing it alone. He never wished to be assisted in the first place, now unable to tame the Shark despite working in a three-man drags his name in the mud.

While the three central characters as individuals prove to be incapable enough, all three together on the wrong page make things worse. The masculinity of the men is pinned against each other. While stranded in the sea at night, they compete by measuring battle scars. Brody proves to be the least grazed, despite being a cop in New York, while Quint has multiple wounds (and a traumatic war history), and Hooper has stingray and bull shark bites. These are their war symbols, their adventures as men against the world.

A different scene shows a shot-reverse shot of Quint drinking beer and crushing the can, cut to Hooper competing by drinking water and crushing a paper cup. At another time, Hooper gets mad at Brody for letting loose compressed air cylinders, and Hooper is mocked by Quint, asking what use it will be of. Ironically, it is those gas cylinders that Hooper brought and the shooting by Brody that kills the shark while Quint, the shark-catching veteran, is devoured by the Shark.

According to Frederick Jameson, Quint is the traditional representative of pre-capitalist times who must perish for contemporary traditionalists of capitalism to prevail. This is done by breaking down the single-hero-survivor into two: Brody and Hooper. Quint symbolises “small businesses’ decline, Yankee individualism, the New Deal and nostalgic patriotism,” while Hooper and Brody “unite contemporary ‘law-and-order’ with ‘technocracy’ Utopianism” by which Jameson means to proport the marriage between state authority and multinational capital against the industrial working-class. It can alternatively be symbolic of the death of an old breed, an individual who is against family values.

While bringing together these individuals is done to level the playing field, from the audience’s perspective, it elevates the threat the Shark poses. The film mythicises the Shark through its physical features and incredible strength. It is 25 feet long, pulls down three barrels, takes multiple bullets and spikes, eats down whole boats, and even mangles shark cages. The Shark is fast and, more importantly, intelligent. Both Hooper and Quint, who have experience studying and catching sharks, are amazed at the prowess of this one.

The Shark’s backstory, or the lack of it, further elevates its mythical identity. No one knows where it came from or why it suddenly decided to terrorise the beaches of Amity. The way Hooper talks about Shark characterises them as a mutated abnormality beyond the understanding of human comprehension or science. Also, as noted by Nigel Morris, the Shark’s ‘invisibility’ throughout the film results in different meanings and speculation being imposed on the Shark from viewers, further adding to its lore. The legacy of fear the Shark instilled with its rampant killing, size, and ferociousness lives on beyond its death.

As social beings, humans live with the innate optimism that their fellow beings will support them in their time of need. This comes from friends, family, acquaintances, local support bodies, and even the government. This trust and relationship genuinely give meaning to existence for a considerable majority. However, when this trust is damaged under pressure, an existential dread seeps in, leading us to ask ourselves the point of existing if our commitment to the other is not reciprocated to a minimum extent. Such existential dreads then become a source of internal horror as well. Jaws feature characters and, in turn, larger systems that contextualise this existential dread through their action and inaction.

On the surface, Jaws establishes capitalist greed as the thematic antagonist. However, one can read the film as a more profound commentary on capitalism as a source of horror and something that initiates the worst in man. A plain example of this would be through the character of Larry Vaughn, the mayor of Amity. He both ignores and manipulates news about the first shark attack, stating it was a boating accident. When the attack happens again, and Alex is killed, Brody is made to take up the blame even though Vaughn ordered the beaches to remain open against Brody’s orders.

Following the debacle, a shark hunt ensues, resulting in the capture of a tiger shark. Still, again, despite the expert opinion of Hooper that ‘this shark’ is not ‘their Shark,’ Vaughn continues to push the narrative that the Shark has been caught and peace has been restored to Amity. “Do whatever you have to to make the beaches safe, but they will be open,” says Vaughn, even after Brody and Hooper find evidence that the Shark is not yet dead when they come across the destroyed ship of Ben Gardner. On the 4th of July, when no one seems to be entering the water, Vaughn encourages tourists to swim and go into the water against public scepticism, resulting in another shark attack.

Despite his ignorance and narrow-minded goal for commercial profit, resulting in the death of many and communal traumas, the director presents Vaughn as a character worth the audience’s sympathy. Vaughn argues his actions were in the best interest of the town. He argues that he wasn’t presented with proof of a great white shark and didn’t act on it. Furthermore, Vaughn adds that his children were also on the beach when the attack happened. He justifies his stance of greed as if he has no other way out.

In truth, for Vaughn, the greater good of Amity means the greater good of its wealthy upper-class residents who own hotels, restaurants, luxury shops, etc. His actions are to appease individuals such as Mrs Taft, who claims at the town meeting, “I have a point of view, and I think it speaks for the many of the people here…Not only me because I have a motel”. Statements such as these make it evident that hypocrisy lies at the core of Amity’s upper-class underbelly.

Vaughn’s single goal is to please investors such as Mrs Taft, who care about their upper-class success and nothing else. This ensures greater funding for the town’s tourism, resulting in a higher pay grade for himself. His sentiments do not align with middle-class residents like Brody or working-class members like Quint. He is initially informed by the doctor who examined the girl that she was, in fact, a victim of a shark attack but later manipulated (and possibly bribed) the doctor into claiming it was a boating accident.

Despite a marine biologist like Hooper telling Vaughn that the shark the residents caught could not devour a whole human, he brushes aside the accusation and finally, on his plea citing that he endangered his children too, one sees an obvious narrative of children being the victims of capitalism. In the case of Alex’s death, Dan Rubey elucidates how blame is shifted to profit motivation, and Vaughn, who personifies villainy, is displaced and made into an unseen monster behind the drapes of capitalism. Through his imperative to provide for an elite few at the risk of hundreds of others, Vaughn represents the horror of capitalism that devours the fundamental right to life of the ordinary person.

What is more invigorating is that while Spielberg pushed enough to point out faults in the capitalist cog through characters like Vaughn and Mrs Taft, he essentially does nothing within the film to indicate any real change in the system. Vaughn’s plea for forgiveness ends as a plea and has no resolution. For all we know, he may have been stripped of his position as mayor following the debacle that happened on the beach, but in his place will come another individual, driven by capitalist greed, consumed with the thoughts of capitalising on the tourist attractions of Amity without a second thought to the lives that might be lost if a next Shark attack might ever occur. This presents another shade of the horror of Jaws and the current consumer-driven capitalist world itself.

Revelation as Paradox: Oppenheimer and the Criticality of Scientific Reason

How ‘the exorcist’ established its status as an enduring horror classic, the eerie and fantastical exhibition of sam raimi’s the evil dead trilogy, references:.

Andrew Britton, ‘Blissing Out: The Politics of Reaganite Entertainment,’ Movie , no. 31/32 (1986)

Dan Rubey, ‘The Jaws in the Mirror,’ Jump Cut , no. 10/11 (1976)

Fredric Jameson, ‘Reification and Utopia in Mass Culture,’ Social Text , 1 (Fall 1979); reprinted in Jameson, Signatures of the Visible (New York: Routledge, 1992).

Frederick Wasser, ‘The Cultural Context of Jaws (Foreword),’ Cinergie, il Cinema ele Altre Arti , Special Edition: Spielberg’s Jaws and the Disaster Film, No. 7 (March 2015)

Jane E. Caputi, ‘Jaws as Patriarchal Myth’, Journal of Popular Film 6, no. 4 (1978): 305-317

Hoberman, ‘1975–1985: Ten Years that Shook the World’, American Film (June 1985)

Nigel Morris. ‘In the teeth of criticism: Forty-five years of Jaws’. In Hunter, I. Q and Mathew Melia. The Jaws Book . (New York: Bloomsbury Academic,2020).

Peter Cowie, Eighty Years of Cinema ( South Brunswick: A.S. Barnes, 1977)

Peter Biskind, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex ‘n’ Drugs ‘n’ Rock ‘n’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood . (London: Bloomsbury, 1998).

Raymond J. Haberski, Jr., ‘Sharks, Aliens, and Nazis: The Crisis of Film Criticism and the Rise of Steven Spielberg,’ in Nigel Morris, ed., A Companion to Steven Spielberg ( Boston: Wiley-Blackwell, 2017 ), 435–51.

Robert Torry, ‘Therapeutic Narrative: The Wild Bunch, Jaws and Vietnam,’ The Velvet Light Trap , 31 (Spring 1993).

Roger Ebert, 1975 (accessed 18 July 2023). The website anachronistically dates the review as 1 January 1975.

Stephen Heath, ‘ Jaws , Ideology and Film Theory’, Times Higher Education Supplement (26 March 1976 ); reprinted in Bill Nichols, ed., Movies and Methods , vol. 2 ( Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985)

Thomas Schatz, ‘The New Hollywood,’ in Jim Collins, Hilary Radner and Ava Preacher Collins, eds., Film Theory Goes to the Movie s ( New York: Routledge, 1993).

Thomas S. Frentz and Janice Hocker Rushing, ‘ Integrating Ideology and Archetype in Rhetorical Criticism, Part II: A Case Study of Jaws ’, Quarterly Journal of Speech 79, no. 1 (1993)

Krishnanunni P is currently pursuing his Master's degree in Film and Literature from the University of York. He is an ardent fan of Football and Dance but also prefers to spend time immersed in Literature, Philosophy, and Cinema. He is on a personal pilgrimage to tell the artistic stories of Malayalam Cinema.

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Jaws: The Malfunctioning Shark Was the Best Thing for the Movie

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Steven Spielberg began his prolific filmmaking career in 1969 when he was only 23-years-old. Since then, he has directed 34 feature-length films, which includes some of the greatest movie ever made : Schindler's List, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can ; the list goes on and on. It was his third film in 1975, however, that brought Spielberg to prominence and established him as a pioneer of Hollywood.

Based on the 1974 novel of the same name (which is in turn based on real events around the New Jersey/New York beaches), Jaws is about a massive great white shark that's terrorizing and devouring people in a New England beach town. Determined to restore order, a police chief, marine biologist, and shark hunter band together to pursue the beast across the ocean.

Spielberg's mechanical shark, created for several shots in the film, famously kept malfunctioning during production, breaking down at inconvenient moments. This was no doubt frustrating for the cast and crew at the time. But in the end , these malfunctions turned out to be the best thing to happen to Jaws.

Stream Jaws on Netflix

"Bruce" the Shark and the Malfunctioning Issues

In the beginning, the producers of Jaws wanted to train an actual great white shark for the movie. When they realized this was an improbable (and also horrible) idea, they resorted to good old-fashioned animatronics. Three full-sized mechanical sharks were created for Jaws, each one with a different cinematic purpose . Their construction required as many as 40 effects technicians and 14 operators to control all the moving parts. The prop sharks were all dubbed Bruce by the film's crew — named after Spielberg's lawyer.

Related: 15 Facts About Jaws Worth Knowing

Jaws was the first major film to be shot on the ocean . Because of this, the natural elements caused major issues and delays in production, skyrocketing the budget cost. As if seasickness, near fatal accidents, and frequently soaked film equipment weren't enough, all three mechanical sharks experienced malfunctions due to filming conditions.

The salt water caused the Bruces' skin to corrode, their metal framing to break, and their mehcanical bodies to become bloated. One Bruce even kept getting entangled in seaweed. After the sharks began malfunctioning, the aggravated crew bestowed them with a new nickname: Flaws.

Believing In and Fearing the Unknown

Because of the malfunctioning sharks, the script for Jaws underwent rewrites. Bruce's screentime was cut down significantly, forcing Spielberg to get creative with his cinematography. He focused more on the people and potential victims than the shark itself, honing in on their terrified reactions and thus inspiring our own.

Spielberg also utilized point of view shots that show the shark's perspective, swimming toward or past an unsuspecting victim. We gasp and squirm in our seats because we know what's probably coming next, even when the characters on screen don't. And of course, Spielberg also relied on that iconic score from John Williams .

This composition captures the very essence of the shark, its deep, heavy notes embodying a large and imposing force that's hidden in the shadows. Or in this case, in the depths of the ocean. The notes gradually speed up, building in urgency and danger, as the shark approaches its target, getting closer and closer and closer.

With these methods, Spielberg offers only bits and pieces of the shark, quick snippets that tease our appetites, building up the suspense and anticipation around Bruce. Suddenly, a yellow barrel, a few music notes, or a camera perspective looking up at swimmers is all that's needed to instill instant fear. This unique and necessary change turned an ordinary creature into a terrifying monster — even a kind of supernatural force.

At the end of his experimental film Stand By For Tape Back-Up , director Ross Sutherland comments on this phenomenon:

Jaws became believable the minute they got rid of the shark, and that's a thing I try and take from this picture. If you really want to believe in something — stop looking at it.

Just compare Jaws to another Spielberg monster masterpiece, Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park is all about the visuals. It's all about, "Look, look, look!" and then marveling over what we just witnessed, resulting in awe, and an excellent adventure film — not horror. Jaws, however, is the opposite. Spielberg brilliantly manipulates us into believing what we can't see and fearing the unknown. Shockingly, Bruce only gets 4 minutes of screen time in Jaws . And it worked.

The Impact and Legacy of Jaws

Spielberg's efforts paid off in spades. Jaws was a monstrous box office success and is now regarded as the first ever Hollywood blockbuster . Every big-budget action flick, every massive superhero movie — all of them can be traced back to this 1975 classic . Jaws is also considered one of the greatest films ever made, a milestone that birthed one of cinema's most important pioneers.

Related: Jaws: The 10 Biggest Differences Between the Horror Movie and Peter Benchley's Book

But it's the horror behind this film that's stuck with people most: those quick snippets of or allusions to Bruce, coupled with John Williams' legendary score. The lack of being able to see a shark is what made audiences so terrified - knowing it was there, just out of sight, was a huge part of the fear in this decidedly horror film. And had the shark been more visible, such an effect might not have been as prominent.

Beach attendance dropped significantly during the summer of 1975, while shark sightings increased. Jaws made people afraid of the ocean — of what they couldn't see, but knew was there. With Jaws , Spielberg proved that less really can be more. Much, much more.

For more on this subject, and why Jaws a quintessential horror film, here is a video essay by YouTube channel What's So Great About That?:

• Steven Spielberg

• Cast & crew
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Metacritic reviews

• 100 Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert One of the most effective thrillers ever made.
• 100 Empire Ian Nathan Empire Ian Nathan It was the complete nightmare that invented the "summer blockbuster", launched the genius on a global scale and delivered an astonishingly effective thriller built on a very primal level: fear.
• 100 Entertainment Weekly Ty Burr Entertainment Weekly Ty Burr Steven Spielberg overcame the lumpy plotting of Peter Benchley's novel to create an efficient, graceful fright machine in Jaws.
• 100 ReelViews James Berardinelli ReelViews James Berardinelli The first is the best. When it comes to this kind of thriller, no movie has been able to top Jaws, although many have tried. And, as the years go by, it seems increasingly unlikely that anything will come close.
• 100 Variety Variety Robert Shaw [is] absolutely magnificent as a coarse fisherman finally hired to locate the Great White Shark; and Richard Dreyfuss, in another excellent characterization as a likeable young scientist.
• 100 CineVue John Bleasdale CineVue John Bleasdale Importantly, Spielberg instinctively knows exactly when to keep his camera still and allow what's in front of it to take precedence.
• 80 The New York Times Vincent Canby The New York Times Vincent Canby If you think about Jaws for more than 45 seconds you will recognize it as nonsense, but it's the sort of nonsense that can be a good deal of fun, if you like to have the wits scared out of you at irregular intervals.
• 80 TV Guide Magazine TV Guide Magazine From the outrageously frightening opening--in which a beautiful young woman skinny-dipping in the moonlight is devoured by the unseen shark--to the claustrophobic climax aboard Quint's fishing boat, Spielberg has us in his grip and rarely lets go.
• 75 Chicago Tribune Gene Siskel Chicago Tribune Gene Siskel What this movie is about, and where it succeeds best, is the primordial level of fear. The characters, for the most part, and the non-fish elements in the story, are comparatively weak and not believable. [20 June 1975]
• 40 Chicago Reader Dave Kehr Chicago Reader Dave Kehr Steven Spielberg's mechanical thriller is guaranteed to make you scream on schedule (John Williams's score even has the audience reactions programmed into the melodies), particularly if your tolerance for weak motivation and other minor inconsistencies is high.
• See all 21 reviews on Metacritic.com
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L.A. Times’ original 1975 review of ‘Jaws’ unearthed: We hated it

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E ditor’s note: This weekend marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws,” a revolutionary film for the director, movie soundtracks and skinny-dippers everywhere. This beloved piece of cinema sits at the top of many critic’s favorite films list. So what did our critic, Charles Champlin, think of the fishy film? Not much.

Champlin was not swayed by the plight of the townsfolk of Amity Island. In fact, you could say he really, really disliked it.

“Jaws” was harpooned by the Los Angeles Times on many levels. Champlin labeled Robert Shaw “a poor man’s Captain Ahab,” slammed the script, but most of all, he detested the violence. To be fair, this complaint preceded the future PG-13 rating change in 1984. But perhaps the movie could have used a warning not to bring children under the age of 13 to a movie about a shark that eats a lot of people. And the first trailer was pretty devoid of red water. But it’s hard to get behind what he says about a young Spielberg that, “Intimacy is not yet his strength.”

Ah, well, I’ll drink to your review, Champlin.

Here’s the full review from then-Times entertainment editor Champlin, published on June 20, 1975, with the headline, “Don’t Go Near the Water”:

The first and crucial thing to say about the movie Universal has made from Peter Benchley’s best-seller “Jaws,” opening citywide today, is that the PG rating is grievously wrong and misleading. The studio has rightly added its cautionary notices in the ads, and the fact is that “Jaws” is too gruesome for children, and likely to turn the stomachs of the impressionable at any age.

A severed leg drifts toward the sea bottom, a severed arm and other shark-chewed remains are studied ashore, a man dies horribly in the jaws, spewing a last gout of his own blood; children die and the sea foams red.

Careful studies by the Children’s Film Foundation in England have confirmed what common sense suggests: Children identify most strongly with what happens to children on screen, are most impressed and terrified by the violence done to or endangering other children. “Jaws” is nightmare time for the young.

Even the mature are apt to be jolted harder by “Jaws” than by the earlier jeopardy films. Violence done to the helpless, always the hardest to watch, is here compounded because the victims are in the water, an alien environment, demanding and potentially dangerous at best. The inability to flee or fight back, as in a nightmare of paralysis, is real and only too easy to identify with.

It sounds, all of it, like a backhanded compliment for a potent and well-made movie. But while I have no doubt that “Jaws” will make a bloody fortune for Universal and producers Richard Zanuck and David Brown, it is a coarse-grained and exploitive work which depends on excess for its impact. Ashore it is a bore, awkwardly staged and lumpily written.

The opening sequence, an underwater camera giving a swift shark’s-eye view of the depths, over the ominous murmuring basses of John Williams’ good score, is excellent, carrying the promise of suggestive power. Then an abrupt and jolting cut takes us to a beach beer party to establish the great shark’s first victim. The tension rises again as we are allowed to imagine the evil lurking beneath the water’s placid, moonlit surface.

Land and sea quarrel thereafter. Peter Benchley’s story, which he adapted with Carl Gottlieb, has Roy Scheider as the sea-fearing resort town chief of police, trying in vain to close the beaches over opposition of the merchants led by Murray Hamilton. A reward offered for the shark evokes a comical flotilla of amateurs.

Most of this, despite an intense performance by Scheider, is flat-bush melodrama, broad and obvious. Richard Dreyfuss arrives as the rich boy who, after a childhood experience, has become a shark expert. Robert Shaw is the local shark hunter, more than half-mad, a poor man’s Captain Ahab who, having survived the shark infested seas after wartime torpedoing, is out to exterminate the species.

If the whole project from manuscript forward has been a commercially calculated confection, the tipoff in the movie is the stubborn refusal of the key characters to come in to sharp focus.

Hamilton is a caricature of greedy shortsightedness. Shaw, raking fingernails across a blackboard to gain attention, stewing shark bones and humming chanteys, is undeniably colorful but his actions, ranging from the shrewd to the suicidal, serve the needs of a pot to be kept boiling. They don’t reveal even the logic of madness.

Dreyfuss, in a lively, individual and sympathetic performance, comes off best, even if the demands of the plot make him alternately very wise and surprisingly inexperienced.

But at what seems long last, the three men set to sea in quest of their Nantucket Moby Dick and the adventure which is the heart of the movie begins. It is well and suspensefully done, the footage of real sharks joining indistinguishably with the chompings of the fearsome model. John M. Dwyer is credited with the special effects and Ron and Valerie Taylor the filming of actual sharks. Bill Butler was the cinematographer, and he must have had his hands full. Rexford Metz did the underwater work, including a sequence of the Dreyfuss character in a shark cage under heavy attack.

Young Steven Spielberg, who was the director, shows as he has before an uncommon flair for handling big action. He, and the script, are much less successful in the man-to-man confrontations than in the man-to-shark meetings. Intimacy is not yet his strength.

The ending is a pulp story hokum, calculated I suspect to affirm that it has all been in gory good fun; the nightmare was only a dream. Still, it would not be surprising if “Don’t go near the water” turned out to be the motto along the ocean beaches this summer. The frights, like those from “Earthquake” and “Towering Inferno,” are not put away by happy endings.

The argument has always been that tragedy, violence and terror, witnessed, purge us of them. The Grand Guignol theater of Paris, with its bloodlettings and eye-gougings ingeniously faked, was thought to have denatured shock by making it amusing. After “Jaws,” you do wonder what it was that was purged and what it takes to entertain these days.

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Our 40 th President remains something of a cipher: Ronald Reagan was a small-town boy turned movie star, union leader, and a politician whose folksy demeanor in the Oval Office contrasted with the furthest-right economic and national security policies in decades. It’s still unclear whether the man nicknamed “The Great Communicator” was good at making complicated issues seem simple or whether he really thought in simplistic terms. “Reagan,” with Dennis Quaid as the President, is made by MJM Entertainment Group, which specializes in films with Christian themes. It exaggerates Reagan’s strengths and skips or minimizes his limits, mistakes, and failures.

A biographical film about a historical figure must tell the story of a consequential life in a couple of hours. So the framing and selection of key events are critical. Oddly, this story is presented from the imagined perspective of a Soviet spy who, in the world of this movie, spent decades watching Ronald Reagan, becoming his most ardent admirer.

I would never tout myself as the expert on Reagan’s presidency (a position the spy plays in this film), but I worked next door to the White House as a lawyer during the Reagan administration, in a division of the Executive Office of the President. I met the President and First Lady just once, but I prepared briefing materials for him, and several of the political appointees I worked with met with him regularly. Even for those who have not had that experience, even for those who were not born when he was President, the relentless hagiography of this film should make anyone question its credibility. One-sidedness makes for dull filmmaking, and the clunky dialogue and awkward pacing make watching it a slog.

Many biographical films begin with a lifetime turning point before going back to the early years. This film begins with Reagan in the early months of his Presidency, telling a joke to a union group about a father reluctant to change a diaper. Those who remember the events of that era and notice the date will realize before he starts to leave the Hilton that it’s where Reagan and three other people would be shot by a mentally ill young man. What’s the point of starting with this incident? It’s not especially gripping, because we know he survived. And other than his quips (“I forgot to duck,” he says to his wife), it’s not especially revelatory of his temperament or his impact on history.

We then turn to Jon Voight as the elderly former KGB agent, Viktor, telling the story of his years of fascinated surveillance to an ambitious young politician. The spy may be inspired by a real-life former KGB agent named Viktor Petrovitch Ivanov, though there is no evidence that he said or did what is portrayed in the film.  Viktor explains that his job was to “profile those who could become threats,” with psychological insight as important as spycraft. This takes us back to Reagan’s origins in the small town of Dixon, Illinois, with a devoted, church-going mother who tells him that everything, “even the most seemingly random twist of fate,” is all part of the divine plan. She teaches him to stand up to bullies. His father is charming and a great storyteller, but unreliable and an alcoholic. Reagan will incorporate and react to these influences throughout his life.

His time as a lifeguard will also be significant. The movie does not try to verify Reagan’s claim that he rescued 77 people, but we do see that he was such a hottie that some of those rescues might have been girls pretending to be in trouble to get his attention. But later we will learn (or we will be told, at least), that all those days staring into the water gave him not only a special understanding of currents, but the ability to impute that knowledge to be able to forecast international security developments. Really.

We then see Reagan as his movie star days are fading and his marriage to Jane Wyman (Mena Suvari) is ending. He is relegated to doing commercials, but getting interested in heading the actors’ union and protecting Hollywood from Communist infiltration. That’s how he meets actress Nancy Davis (Penelope Ann Miller), who becomes his fiercely devoted wife. The next thing you know, he’s in politics, elected Governor, and running for President. And apparently inventing trickle-down economics though in reality it (1) was the idea of economist Arthur Laffer and (2) has been consistently proven to be, to use a non-economics term, bunk.

Quaid captures Reagan’s affability and cadences, and the scenes with Miller have a believable sense of their devotion and partnership. But the movie overplays his ability and achievements, under-plays the Iran-Contra scandal, and overlooks several other failures entirely. Reagan’s responses to Iran-Contra, like his deadly neglect of a child’s pet fish, is essentially “oops.” It comes so close to parody that it brings to mind the “Saturday Night Live” “Mastermind” skit, starring Phil Hartman as a secretly super-intelligent Reagan. There’s a lot to explore in examining Reagan’s presidency (currently 16 th in the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey’s ranking ). We could use much more insight into what made him “the great communicator,” but this movie is a poor communicator about the history and the man.

Nell Minow is the Contributing Editor at RogerEbert.com.

• Dennis Quaid as Ronald Reagan
• David Henrie as Young Adult Reagan
• Robert Davi as Leonid Brezhnev
• Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa as Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone
• Mena Suvari as Jane Wyman
• Jon Voight as Viktor Novikov
• Penelope Ann Miller as Nancy Reagan
• Howard Klausner
• Jonas McCord
• Sean McNamara

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Jaws 40th anniversary: What critics thought in 1975

Forty years ago today, summer blockbusters were born. On June 20, 1975, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws arrived in theaters, rewiring Hollywood in ways that are still felt to this day. ( Jurassic World , a Steven Spielberg production, owes as much to Spielberg’s Jurassic Park as it does to Jaws ; it’s summer movie ouroboros.) Jaws would go on to spend 14 weeks as the No. 1 movie in America; adjusted for inflation, its box-office tally stands at over $1 billion in North American ticket sales . Jaws ate the bigger boat.

But while audiences couldn’t get enough of Spielberg’s thrill ride, some film critics were a bit more skeptical of the film’s true worth. Ahead, how five major critics reviewed Jaws after its release.

1. “Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is a sensationally effective action picture, a scary thriller that works all the better because it’s populated with characters that have been developed into human beings we get to know and care about. It’s a film that’s as frightening as The Exorcist , and yet it’s a nicer kind of fright, somehow more fun because we’re being scared by an outdoor-adventure saga instead of by a brimstone-and-vomit devil.” — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

2. “If you think about Jaws for more than 45 seconds you will recognize it as nonsense, but it’s the sort of nonsense that can be a good deal of fun, if you like to have the wits scared out of you at irregular intervals.” — Vincent Canby, New York Times

3. “So far I’ve managed to avoid describing the story or any of the humans involved in it. That’s because what this movie is about, and where it succeeds best, is the primordial level of fear. The characters, for the most part, and the non-fish elements in the story, are comparatively weak and not believable.” — Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune

4. “The first and crucial thing to say about the movie Universal has made from Peter Benchley’s bestseller Jaws … is that the PG rating is grievously wrong and misleading. The studio has rightly added its own cautionary notices in the ads, and the fact is that Jaws is too gruesome for children, and likely to turn the stomach of the impressionable at any age.” — Charles Champlin, Los Angeles Times

5. “It may be the most cheerfully perverse scare movie ever made. Even while you’re convulsed with laughter you’re still apprehensive, because the editing rhythms are very tricky, and the shock images loom up huge, right on top of you. The film belongs to the pulpiest sci-fi monster-movie tradition, yet it stands some of the old conventions on their head. Though Jaws has more zest than an early Woody Allen picture, and a lot more electricity, it’s funny in a Woody Allen way. — Pauline Kael, The New Yorker

• Jaws turns 40, returns to theaters for another feeding

• The 20 Best Summer Blockbusters of All Time: Jaws is No. 1

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Justice Department watchdog finds failures in FBI’s handling of child sex abuse cases

The Justice Department watchdog says the FBI has failed to report some child sexual abuse allegations to local law enforcement or social service agencies.

FILE - Disgraced former sports doctor Larry Nassar appears in court for a plea hearing, Nov. 22, 2017, in Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has failed to report some child sexual abuse allegations to local law enforcement or social service agencies even after changes prompted by its handling of the case against former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar , according to a Justice Department watchdog report released Thursday.

In a review brought on by the FBI’s failures to promptly investigate Nassar, the inspector general found serious problems persist that run the risk of child sexual abuse allegations falling through the cracks as overworked agents juggle dozens of cases at a time. In one case, a victim was abused for 15 months after the FBI first received a tip about a registered sex offender, the report said.

“This report makes clear that the FBI is simply not doing its job when it comes to protecting our children from the monsters among us who stalk them,” said John Manly, a lawyer who represents victims of Nassar. “Despite years of promises and numerous congressional hearings it’s now clear that the Larry Nassar scandal could happen again today.”

A senior FBI official acknowledged that the bureau has made mistakes in investigating crimes against children but said the “vast majority of work” has been handled appropriately.

“Ensuring the safety and security of children is not just a priority for the FBI; it is a solemn duty that we are committed to fulfilling with the highest standards. The FBI’s efforts combating crimes against children are among the most critical and demanding undertakings we do,” the FBI said in a statement.

The inquiry follows a scathing 2021 report that found that FBI’s failure to take action against Nassar allowed the doctor to continue to prey on victims for months before his 2016 arrest. The FBI put in place many changes, but the inspector general says more are needed to protect children.

In a review of more than 300 cases between 2021 and 2023, the inspector general flagged 42 cases for the FBI that required “immediate attention” because there was no evidence of recent investigative steps taken or because of other concerns, according to the report.

The inspector general found no evidence that the FBI followed rules requiring allegations to be reported to local law enforcement in about 50 percent of the cases. When the FBI did report an allegation to law enforcement or social service agencies, it followed FBI policy to report it within 24 hours in only 43 percent of the cases, according to the report.

The FBI accepted all of the findings and recommendations of the report. Among the changes the FBI is committed to is the development of a training program for investigators and supervisors focused not only on investigative techniques but also on the bureau’s own policies and procedures.

Most of the incidents that the inspector general flagged to the bureau “reflected the failure to properly document completed investigative steps or involved investigations where no additional action was necessary,” Michael Nordwall, FBI executive assistant director, wrote in a letter included with the report.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin said the panel will hold a hearing on the FBI’s mishandling of child sexual abuse allegations later this year.

“The FBI’s failures enabling Larry Nassar’s abuse of young victims continue to remain a stain on the Bureau,” the Democrat from Illinois said.

Even while acknowledging errors, the FBI cited the “overwhelming” burden on agents tasked with investigating crimes against children given the conduct involved, an influx in tips flooding in to law enforcement, increased use of encrypted technology to conceal the offenses and budget cuts.

Citing one agent who was juggling about 60 investigations, the inspector general said special agents “must constantly triage their caseload.” The inspector general said the FBI needs to comes up with a plan to tackle the growing number of cases to ensure that agents are able to manage the cases on their plate.

The report released in 2021 faulted the FBI for failing to treat Nassar’s case with the “utmost seriousness and urgency,” and then making numerous errors and violating policies when it did finally swing into action. Nassar pleaded guilty in 2017 to sexually assaulting gymnasts and other athletes with his hands under the guise of medical treatment for hip and leg injuries.

The FBI has described the actions of the officials involved in the Nassar investigation as “inexcusable and a discredit” to the organization. In April, the Justice Department announced a $138.7 million settlement with more than 100 people who accused the FBI of grossly mishandling the allegations against Nassar.

Associated Press reporter Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report

Every 'Jaws' Movie, Ranked From Worst to Best

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10 Horror Movies That Are Perfect From Start to Finish

10 documentaries with a 100% rotten tomatoes score on netflix right now (august 2024), the 10 worst romantic movies of all time, according to roger ebert.

No matter if you are a die-hard cinema fan or a casual moviegoer, everybody has heard of Jaws . It is one of the few movies that it feels like everyone has seen, and those that have not should swiftly add it to their watch list. Its simple tale of a man-eating great white shark tormenting the residents of a beach-side town has been terrorizing audiences for almost five decades, and it has not lost any of its charm in that time.

RELATED: 10 Most Thrilling Movies of All Time, According to the AFI

Many people are surprised to learn that Jaws received three sequels, as none of them came close to making the same impact as the original film. In fact, Jaws is still firmly entrenched as the greatest killer shark movie of all time, with any movie released in the genre bound to be compared to the masterpiece. While the original is easily the best in the franchise, how do the Jaws sequels stack up against each other, and are any of them worth taking a bite out of?

4 'Jaws: The Revenge' (1987)

Jaws: The Revenge sees the return of Lorraine Gary as Ellen Brody, reprising her role from the first two movies. After her youngest Sam is killed by a shark, Ellen travels with her other son and his family to the Bahamas in an attempt to find peace. Instead, they encounter the same shark who is seeking revenge against the Brody family.

RELATED: 10 Movies Below 10% on Rotten Tomatoes That Are Actually Worth Watching

As the fourth and final entry in the series, it can be claimed that Jaws: The Revenge killed the franchise due to its poor quality. It frequently comes up in discussions about the worst horror movies of all time , as it is riddled with plot inconsistences and bad effects that are shameful when held up against the groundbreaking original. Anyone seeking an intentionally bad movie should check out The Revenge , and it even features Michael Caine in a supporting role as Ellen's new love interest.

3 'Jaws 3D' (1983)

Every classic franchise dabbled with 3D at some stage, and in 1983, it was Jaws' turn. Jaws 3D follows Michael Brody ( Dennis Quaid ), the son of the hero from the first two films. Michael works as an engineer at SeaWorld, where his girlfriend Kay ( Bess Armstrong ), a marine biologist, begins to suspect that a shark is responsible for the mysterious death occurring at the tourist attraction. When Kay and her fellow biologists capture the shark they believe to be the culprit, they soon feel the wrath of the shark's mother as it comes for its baby.

Jaws 3D is another poor entry in the franchise but still manages to be better than The Revenge . The SeaWorld setting makes for an interesting hunting ground for the shark, and the cheesy performances give it a "so bad it's good" vibe. Those present during the film's theatrical release commented that the 3D effects made for a better viewing experience, and it is easy to imagine that having the shark flying out of the screen at you would greatly enhance the movie's entertainment factor like the best 3D horror movies often do.

2 'Jaws 2' (1978)

Picking up after the events of the first movie, Jaws 2 sees the town of Amity returning to normal. But when bodies begin floating to the surface once again, Police Chief Martin Brody ( Roy Scheider ) suspects a second shark has arrived to munch on Amity's residents. Despite being doubted by his superiors, Brody knows better than to ignore his gut and sets out to combat a man-eating shark once again.

RELATED: 10 Classic '70s Movies That Just Get Better with Age

While Jaws 2 fails to reach the massive heights of the original film, it is clearly the best sequel in the horror franchise . The fact that it continues the story of the first movie and features a few returning cast members does help it to feel connected rather than a spin-off trying to cash-in on the brand like the latter sequels. Its focus on a teenage cast who are hunted by the shark calls to mind the slasher movies that would follow it, like Friday the 13th , and it is never not fun to see dumb teenagers picked off one by one in a horror setting.

1 'Jaws' (1975)

When the peaceful seaside town of Amity begins to be plagued by deaths in the ocean, Police Chief Brody tries to warn the residents that a hungry shark is waiting to feast on them. When his pleas fall on deaf ears, he can only watch as more civilians fall victim to the creature. Eventually granted permission to set out and destroy the beast, he sails into the ocean with marine biologist Matt Hooper ( Richard Dreyfuss ) and shark hunter Quint ( Robert Shaw ). As the three men bond aboard the boat, they find themselves in the shark's hunting ground as it seeks to rip them apart.

Much has been said about Jaws already, and it is all true. One of the greatest thrillers of all time , Jaws also once held the record of the highest-grossing movie ever . It popularized the idea of the summer blockbuster, and is the best animal attack movie that all others aspire to be. Everything from the unforgettable soundtrack to Stephen Spielberg 's masterful direction makes Jaws a legendary classic and one of the best movies ever made.

KEEP READING: 10 Best Movies with Sharks That Aren't 'Jaws', from 'Deep Blue Sea' to 'The Shallows'

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The 10 best movies in theaters right now.

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30 Best Movies On Netflix Right Now (September 2024)

You gotta believe's true story & real-life little league team explained, stephen king’s glowing review makes me excited for this upcoming horror movie.

The final days of August 2024 are bringing more movies for different audiences, and these, along with this month's biggest releases and some of July's most popular ones, are now playing in theaters. After some rough years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2023 was a big year for cinema, with massive, record-breaking box-office successes and critically acclaimed stories. Luckily, this continues in 2024, which has various highly-anticipated movies coming up, and some of them can currently be enjoyed in theaters.

August brought some exciting movies from different genres, such as M. Night Shyamalan's Trap , Eli Roth's Borderlands adaptation, the latest entry in the Alien franchise , the drama It Ends With Us , a new take on The Crow , and the thriller Blink Twice , among others. Now, closing August and preparing for the spooky season, are a biographical drama about a former US President, a sci-fi thriller, a sci-fi horror movie with a well-known premise, and a family sports drama based on a true story.

From Godzilla Minus One to Under Paris and The Gentlemen, here are our picks for the best movies on Netflix for everyone to enjoy this month.

Reagan was released on August 30, 2024

Reagan (2024)

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Reagan explores Ronald Reagan’s life from his childhood to his time as President of the United States.

Reagan is a biographical drama movie directed by Sean McNamara. Based on the 2006 book The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism , by Paul Kengor, Reagan explores Ronald Reagan’s life from his childhood to his time as President of the United States. Reagan is told through a conversation between former KGB agents Andrew Novikov and Viktor Ivanov , whose lives became linked with Reagan’s after he caught the Soviets’ attention during his time as a Hollywood actor.

Afraid was released on August 30, 2024

Afraid follows Curtis Pike and his family, who are chosen to test a new smart home AI called AIA.

Afraid is a sci-fi horror film written and directed by Chris Weitz. Afraid follows Curtis Pike and his family, who are chosen to test a new smart home AI called AIA. Once it’s all installed at home, AIA learns all the behaviors of the Pile family and begins to actively participate in their needs. However, AIA starts to develop self-awareness, and it becomes a bit too involved in the lives of the Pikes , interfering with their daily activities and more.

8 Slingshot

Slingshot was released on august 30, 2024.

Slingshot (2024)

John finds that their mission might be compromised and he and his crew are in great danger.

Slingshot is a sci-fi psychological thriller by Mikael Håfström. It’s the story of John, an astronaut who wakes up from a hibernation cycle on the spacecraft Odyssey 1. John and his crew are on their way to Saturn’s moon, Titan , on a mission to collect different natural resources, so they have multiple awake/sleep cycles. However, on one of his awakenings, John finds that their mission might be compromised and he and his crew are in great danger, so he struggles to maintain his grip on reality during this chaotic event.

7 You Gotta Believe

You gotta believe was released on august 30, 2024.

You Gotta Believe

You Gotta Believe is a family sports film directed by Ty Roberts. You Gotta Believe is the story of a Little League baseball team of outcasts who dedicate their season to the ailing father of one of their players. The team ends up making it all the way to the 2002 Little League World Series finals, and the game became a record-breaking showdown and an instant ESPN classic.

You Gotta Believe is based on the inspirational true story of an unlikely Little League baseball team from Texas driven to win by a great cause.

The Crow was released on August 23, 2024

The crow (2024).

The Crow follows Eric, a musician who, along with his fiancée Shelly, is brutally murdered by the henchmen of demonic crime lord Vincent Roeg.

The Crow is a superhero movie directed by Rupert Sanders and based on James O’Barr’s 1989 comic book of the same name. The Crow follows Eric, a musician who, along with his fiancée Shelly, is brutally murdered by the henchmen of demonic crime lord Vincent Roeg. Some time later, Eric is brought back to life by a crow, which guides him on his quest to avenge his and Shelly’s deaths , with the chance to save her by sacrificing himself – all this while also giving him some extra powers, such as immediate healing and enhanced strength.

Sanders’ The Crow is not a remake of Alex Proyas’ 1994 movie of the same name starring Brandon Lee. Instead, it’s another adaptation of O’Barr’s comic books.

5 Blink Twice

Blink twice was released on august 23, 2024, blink twice.

Frida and Slater immediately bond, and she becomes infatuated with him, so she agrees to travel with him to his private island for a luxurious party.

Blink Twice is a thriller directed by Zoë Kravitz in her directorial debut. It’s the story of Frida, a cocktail waitress who meets tech billionaire Slater King at a fundraising gala. To her surprise, Frida and Slater immediately bond, and she becomes infatuated with him, so she agrees to travel with him to his private island for a luxurious party. Once there, Frida meets Slater’s friends, but what starts as a great time gradually becomes a nightmare as more and more strange things happen around her, making Frida question her reality .

You can read Screen Rant’s Blink Twice review here.

4 Strange Darling

Strange darling was released on august 23, 2024, strange darling.

Strange Darling takes the audience into a one-night stand that takes a twisted turn.

Strange Darling is a thriller written and directed by JT Mollner. Strange Darling takes the audience into a one-night stand that takes a twisted turn when The Lady asks a simple but important question to her date: “ are you a serial killer? ”. What follows is a cat-and-mouse thriller following what could be the last moments of The Lady and her dangerous date .

Stephen King has only good things to say about Strange Darling, which makes the upcoming horror film even more exciting prior to its release..

3 Alien: Romulus

Alien: romulus was released on august 16, 2024, alien: romulus.

Alien: Romulus follows a group of space colonists who, while scavenging an old space station, come face to face with a horrifying life form.

The Alien franchise continues with Alien: Romulus , the seventh installment in the franchise and a standalone interquel set between 1979’s Alien and 1986’s Aliens . Alien: Romulus follows a group of space colonists who, while scavenging an old space station, come face to face with a horrifying life form in space that has already created chaos and terror for other crews. Alien: Romulus was originally planned to be released on Hulu, but (thankfully) it was granted a theatrical release after entering production.

You can read Screen Rant’s Alien: Romulus review here.

2 It Ends With Us

It ends with us was released on august 9, 2024.

It Ends With Us

Lily and Ryle fall in love, but she soon discovers sides of him that remind her of her parents’ unhealthy relationship.

It Ends With Us is a romantic drama movie directed by Justin Baldoni and based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Colleen Hoover. It’s the story of Lily, who moves to Boston to chase her dreams and meets charming neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid. Lily and Ryle fall in love, but she soon discovers sides of him that remind her of her parents’ unhealthy relationship. To further complicate it, Lily comes across her first love, Atlas , and so she must rely on her inner strength to make a tough decision.

You can read Screen Rant’s It Ends With Us review here.

1 Deadpool & Wolverine

Deadpool & wolverine was released on july 26, 2024, deadpool & wolverine.

Deadpool's peace is interrupted by the Time Variance Authority, who pulls him into a new mission.

The long-awaited MCU debut of The Merc with a Mouth is finally here. Directed by Shawn Levy, Deadpool & Wolverine is set six years after the events of Deadpool 2 , and sees Wade Wilson living a quiet life after leaving his time as Deadpool behind him. His peace is interrupted by the Time Variance Authority, who pulls him into a new mission as his home universe faces an existential threat. This new mission forces Deadpool to join forces with Wolverine , and together, they will change the history of the MCU.

You can read Screen Rant’s Deadpool & Wolverine review here.

JAWS: Behind the Scenes - Fun Facts You Might Not Know About the Blockbuster Movie

The Shark is Broken is now playing at the Golden Theatre.

Broadway's new comedy The Shark is Broken, now playing at the Golden Theatre, takes audiences members behind the scenes during the making of one of the most famous movies of all time, Jaws.  LATEST NEWS Bringing Jaws to the screen was anything but smooth smailing. But from high tensions on the water, to the mechanical shark malfunctioning, and every challenge in between, came one of the biggest blockbuster movies in history.  As The Shark is Broken begins its Broadway voyage, BroadwayWorld is sharing facts you may not know about the movie! Jaws was based off a book There was a different director initally attached to the movie. Director Steven Spielberg was still a young up-and-comer when Jaws was being made. Even though there was another director already attached to the movie, producer Richard D. Zanuck wanted Spielberg's opinion on the film, and gave Spielberg the script to read. The material resonated with Spielberg, who let Zanuck know that if the current director ever dropped out, that he would love to tell the story. In a meeting early on in the process, it became clear that the attached director's vision and understanding of the film was not what the team was going for. Spielberg was then called in for the job and history was rewritten.  Steven Spielberg initially wanted different actors for the starring roles The characters that have been imortalized on screen by Roy Scheider (Martin Brody), Richard Dreyfuss (Matt Hooper), and  Robert Shaw (Quint) were not who Spielberg originally had in mind! Spielberg first wanted Lee Marvin for Quint, with his next choice being Sterling Hayden. For Hooper, the studio wanted Jan-Michael Vincent. Richard Dreyfuss was Speilberg's first choice, but Dreyfuss initially turned it down, thinking that the process would be too difficult to shoot. He turned Spielberg down again before finally accepting the role. Screen icon Charleton Heston wanted to play the role of Martin Brody, but Spielberg thought that he was too big of a presence for the part. Spielberg met Roy Scheider at a party and told him that they were having trouble finding someone to play Brody. Scheider suggested himself for the role, and the rest is history!  Jaws was actually filmed on the Atlantic Ocean All of those scenes shot on the water were not just movie magic! No soundstage or calm lake would do for the production- Jaws was really filmed out on the ocean, at Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. Director Steven Spielberg shared, " Lake water, pond water, tank water, doesn’t have the same texture, or even violence that the ocean has, and this needed to be a convincing story about a great white shark. Because if it wasn’t, nobody would really believe it.” Of course, this complicated the filming, as the water was unpredictable, sailboats would get in the shots, and the cast and crew were at the mercy of the weather.  Jaws went over budget and over schedule  The filming of Jaws was riddled with complications. Because of these constant roadblocks in the filming, the shooting schedule tripled, and the budget doubled. The shooting schedule went from 55 days to 159 days, while the budget went from $4 million to $9 million.  More than one shark was built for the filming of the movie  The shark in Jaws was supposed to be 25 feet long and weigh three tons. Multiple views of the shark was built, and Robert Maddy designed the shark on a moving crane. The views of the shark that were built included a left shark, right shark, a head, and sled shark to see the fins. The shark would break constantly, so the production had to figure out how to make the movie work without a shark, with Spielberg likening it to a Hitchock film rather than a Godzilla movie; ultimately it's what you don't see that is so frightening.  The name of the shark came from an unlikely source  The shark in the Jaws was nicknamed Bruce, after Steven Speilberg 's lawyer, Bruce Ramer! One of the characters in the movie almost had a different ending Two shark expert advisors on the movie were working off the coast of Australia to capture footage of sharks in the water. In the scene in the fil, where Hooper goes into the water in the cage, they attempted to get the shot by using a stuntman. However, the best footage of a real Great White Shark was caught while the stuntman wasn't in the cage. In the screenplay, the character of Hooper was supposed to die, but the footage was so strong that Spielberg  decided to change the story and let Hooper live.  Spielberg wasn't so sure at first about the movie's famous score Jaws has one of the most famous film scores of all time, with its two-note theme now synonymous with impending danger. But when composer  John Williams first played those famous two notes for the director on the piano, Spielberg thought he was kidding, and laughed! The theme in the film is played on the tuba, and the score went on to earn Williams an Oscar. Spielberg shared,  “I was very lucky. Because god knows the shark never worked, but Johnny did.” Jaws was the most successful film ever made at the time Despite its many challenges in being brought to the screen, Jaws is considered to be the first summer blockbuster. Jaws became the highest-grossing film ever when it was released in 1975. It's opening weekend set a record at $7 million, and it went on to gross a record $21,116,354 in its first 10 days. It grossed $260 million at the domestic box office with its original 1975 release. When adjusted for inflation that number stands over $1 billion. Jaws won Oscars for Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing, and Best Picture. THE SHARK IS BROKEN stars two-time Tony Award nominee Alex Brightman (Beetlejuice, School of Rock) as Richard Dreyfuss , Colin Donnell (Anything Goes, “Chicago Med”) as Roy Scheider , and Ian Shaw who is making his Broadway debut portraying his father Robert Shaw , who played “Quint” in JAWS.  Co-written by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon , this new Olivier Award-nominated comedy imagines what happened on board “The Orca” when the cameras stopped rolling during the filming of Steven Spielberg ’s blockbuster, JAWS. Directed by Guy Masterson , The Shark Is Broken has scenic and costume design by Duncan Henderson, lighting design by Jon Clark , sound design and original music by Adam Cork , video design by Nina Dunn , and casting by Jim Carnahan Casting. Rounding out the company of The Shark Is Broken are understudies Peter Bradbury , Stephen Dexter , and Coby Getzug . The Shark is Broken will run for a strictly limited 16-week engagement.  Recommended For You Advertisement Supported by 6 New Movies Our Critics Are Talking About This Week Whether you’re a casual moviegoer or an avid buff, our reviewers think these films are worth knowing about. Share full article By The New York Times In the name of the mother, the sons and the hokey ghost. ‘The Deliverance’ In this horror movie directed by Lee Daniels, a young mother (Andra Day) tries to protect her children from demonic possession and convince the social worker monitoring her family of the supernatural occurrences. From our review: The usual possession beats are here — creepy crawling! smoking crucifixes! shivering violins! — and given their own quirky spins. (One key revelation takes place over coffees at McDonald’s.) … We absolve the odd logic jumps and clumsy sound design choices in our zeal for the big, brazen moments engineered to make us race out of the theater and tell our friends what we’ve just seen. Watch on Netflix . Read the full review . A historic moment; a prosaic film. Chaos is a convenient smoke screen when a family of thieves carries out a heist during the riots that followed the acquittal of police officers in the beating of Rodney King. The Los Angeles riots ultimately amount to little more than a plot device in “1992,” a rote heist thriller that tosses in a double dose of father-son melodrama. Or maybe the paternal bonding has been grafted on to the caper. Either way, nothing in the foreground of this hacky effort, directed by Ariel Vromen, is as interesting as what is happening in the backdrop — which is to say, the verdict handed down in the police beating of Rodney King, and its aftermath. In theaters. Read the full review . A biopic that wears its bias proudly. Dennis Quaid stars as Ronald Reagan triumphantly taking down the Soviet Union in this flattering biopic from Sean McNamara. In this unabashed love letter to the former president, Reagan was the force behind the fall of the Soviet Union. The movie implies that this “evil empire” collapsed as a result not just of his presidency, but of his anti-Communist activism during his entertainment career in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s. These eras are depicted in scenes strongly suggesting that before shooting, the cinematographer, Christian Sebaldt, happened upon a fire sale on diffusion filters at the camera store. … It all makes for a plodding film, more curious than compelling. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber?  Log in . Want all of The Times?  Subscribe . 106 IMAGES JAWS (1975) Jaws Movie Review: Jaws Jaws Jaws 'Jaws' Debuts in Stunning IMAX! -Classic Movie Review! VIDEO Jaws Movie Review 30 Second JAWS Movie Review #shorts #jaws #movies Cruel Jaws (1995) #JAWS: A Cinematic Masterpiece or Overrated? JAWS MOVIE REVIEW Jaws: A Collaborative Remake (Trailer) COMMENTS Screen: Entrapped by "Jaws" of Fear It opens according to the time-honored tradition with a happy-go-lucky innocent being suddenly ravaged by the mad monster, which in "Jaws," comes from the depths of inner space--the sea as well as man's nightmares. Thereafter "Jaws" follows the formula with fidelity. Only one person in the community (the chief of police) realizes the true ... Screen: Entrapped by 'Jaws' of Fear Vaughn. Murray Hamilton. Meadows. Carl Gottlien. Interviewer. Peter Benchley. "Jaws" which opened yesterday at three theaters, is the film version of Peter Benchley's best‐selling novel ... 'Jaws' and 'Bug' The phenomenal success of "Jaws" is astonishing, because the movie—adapted from Peter Benchley's best‐selling novel about a killer shark, and directed by Steven Spielberg—is nothing more ... 'Jaws' A.O. Scott reviews Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws,' sometimes called the first summer blockbuster. Related articles: http://tinyurl.com/nll6foSubscribe to the Time... What It Was Really Like To See Jaws In 1975 The New York Times detailed the meteoric rise of "Jaws," which involved a huge emphasis on TV ads — a relatively new method at the time. And as the newspaper explained, "Three days before the ... A Film Fan's Love Letter to 'Jaws' The latest of these is called "Inside Jaws." ... Credit Andrew Testa for the New York Times. 10:57 a.m. | Updated Jamie Benning may be both a movie fan's greatest hero and a copyright lawyer's worst nightmare. Mr. Benning runs filmumentaries.com, a Web site where he posts self-described love letters to his favorite films. He calls the ... 'Jaws' Fans Are in for a Treat in September Netflix has officially announced that all three Jaws movies, which premiered in 1975, 1978, and 1982, will begin streaming on September 1. Is 'Jaws' Based on a True Story? The Truth May Surprise You A separate source of confusion is a 2002 New York Times article that erroneously attributed the New Jersey attacks as a source of inspiration for Jaws. A correction was printed several days later ... 'Afraid' Review: Hey Siri, Don't Kill Us As AIA takes control of every aspect of its new household — the movie feels as if it's set five minutes into the future — it quickly becomes obvious that this assistant wants to be the boss. The Fangs of Fear: Exploring Horror and Dread in 'Jaws' (1975) The Jaws Book. (New York: Bloomsbury Academic,2020). Peter Cowie, Eighty Years of Cinema ... 'Jaws, Ideology and Film Theory', Times Higher Education Supplement (26 March 1976 ); ... That They May Face the Rising Sun (2023) 'BFI-LFF' Movie Review: Pat Collins's quaint John McGahern adaptation holds space for the desecrated lifestyle ... Jaws: The Malfunctioning Shark Was the Best Thing for the Movie Jaws. Spielberg's mechanical shark, created for several shots in the film, famously kept malfunctioning during production, breaking down at inconvenient moments. This was no doubt frustrating for ... Jaws (1975) Jaws (1975) - Movies, TV, Celebs, and more... Menu. Movies. ... Metacritic reviews. Jaws. 87. Metascore. 21 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com. 100. Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert. Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert. One of the most effective thrillers ever made. 100. ... The New York Times Vincent Canby. L.A. Times' original 1975 review of 'Jaws' unearthed: We hated it Here's the full review from then-Times entertainment editor Champlin, published on June 20, 1975, with the headline, "Don't Go Near the Water": The first and crucial thing to say about the ... Every Jaws Movie Ranked, Worst To Best Lots of Jaws fans will argue Jaws: The Revenge is the worst entry in the franchise, and while The Revenge certainly is an awful film, what makes Jaws 3-D much worse is some of the most shockingly terrible special effects ever to be shown in a studio-produced blockbuster film. The third Jaws movie took it a step further with a 3D format, which was revived in the 1980s, but that doesn't equal ... Reagan (2024) Review: Biopic is Hardly a Great Communicator Our 40 th President remains something of a cipher: Ronald Reagan was a small-town boy turned movie star, union leader, and a politician whose folksy demeanor in the Oval Office contrasted with the furthest-right economic and national security policies in decades. It's still unclear whether the man nicknamed "The Great Communicator" was good at making complicated issues seem simple or ... How Steven Spielberg Parodied The Iconic Jaws Opening Scene Four ... Spielberg borrowed his own iconic opening and gave it a comedic twist in 1941, and even brought the same actress.Backlinie returned to play a woman skinny-dipping, and Spielberg even used the Jaws ... Jaws 40th anniversary: What critics thought in 1975 Jaws would go on to spend 14 weeks as the No. 1 movie in America; adjusted for inflation, its box-office tally stands at over $1 billion in North American ticket sales. Jaws ate the bigger boat. The FBI is failing to report child sex abuse cases, watchdog finds The inquiry follows a scathing 2021 report that found that FBI's failure to take action against Nassar allowed the doctor to continue to prey on victims for months before his 2016 arrest. The FBI put in place many changes, but the inspector general says more are needed to protect children. In a review of more than 300 cases between 2021 and 2023, the inspector general flagged 42 cases for ... 49 incredible facts about the movie JAWS Here are 49 incredible facts about the movie that highlight its enduring legacy and the remarkable journey of its creation. is based on Peter Benchley's 1974 novel of the same name, which was inspired by a series of shark attacks in New Jersey in 1916. : The mechanical shark used in the film was nicknamed "Bruce" after Spielberg's lawyer. 'The Wasp' Review: A Feminine Face-Off Little by little, these mysteries are unpacked by way of an outlandish revenge plot that involves Carla, who now works at a grocery store. The elements of each woman's identity are played like ... All 4 'Jaws' Movies, Ranked From Worst to Best 1 'Jaws' (1975) When the peaceful seaside town of Amity begins to be plagued by deaths in the ocean, Police Chief Brody tries to warn the residents that a hungry shark is waiting to feast on them ... JAWS: Similarities and differences between the book and movie First of all, a novel needs to be literary, a movie indeed cinema. I am convinced that Peter Benchley achieved a classical literary texture and fabric in the novel. Let's say for example that you or I would have been assigned to write some book called "Jaws." We are assigned the general plot -- that a rogue great white shark terrorizes some ... NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for September 1 Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections ... The 10 Best Movies in Theaters Right Now The final days of August 2024 are bringing more movies for different audiences, and these, along with this month's biggest releases and some of July's most popular ones, are now playing in theaters.After some rough years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2023 was a big year for cinema, with massive, record-breaking box-office successes and critically acclaimed stories. JAWS and other movies better than the book they were based on For all the latest Jaws, shark and shark movie news, follow The Daily Jaws on. JAWS and the 'day for night' cinematic technique explained. JAWS vs the largest Great White sharks ever recorded. Very few movies surpass the books they are based on. JAWS is acknowledged as being one of the best book to movie adaptations of all time. Joaquin Phoenix and the Big Question at the ... Joaquin Phoenix has never been eager to face the press. The 49-year-old actor grants few interviews, speaks with great reluctance about his process, and once walked out on a journalist when asked ... JAWS: Behind the Scenes Dive into the behind-the-scenes story of the making of the iconic movie JAWS with the hilarious Broadway comedy 'The Shark is Broken.' Get ready for a limited 16-week engagement at the Golden Theatre. Review: Jaws (1975) Like the shark, Jaws is ruthlessly effective. This past June the 29th (the same day as the sinking of the USS Indianapolis that Quint recounts), my wife and I saw the new digital restoration at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. Mid-eighties babies, neither of us had seen the film on the big screen before. 6 New Movies Our Critics Are Talking About This Week From our review: The Los Angeles riots ultimately amount to little more than a plot device in "1992," a rote heist thriller that tosses in a double dose of father-son melodrama. Or maybe the ... Jaws Is Far From Rotten But Some Critics Are Less Than Kind To Shark LA Times Review by Charles Champlin. It is a coarse-grained and exploitive work which depends on excess for its impact. Ashore it is a bore, awkwardly staged and lumpily written. New York Times Review by Vincent Canby If you think about "Jaws" for more than 45 seconds you will recognize it as nonsense. essay homework paper phd review speech study thesis