Dare you go into the water? In at number 5 is Steven Spielberg’s 1975 blockbuster Jaws. Based on the book by Peter Benchley, we find ourselves in the town of Amity Island, where after a little bit of drinking, Chrissie Williams goes for a skinny dip in the sea, where she is attacked by an unseen force, and promptly killed, with her remains washing up on the beach the following morning. Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) is called to the scene and after the coroner declares cause of death was shark attack, closes the beaches. The town mayor, Larry Vaughn, persuades him to reopen the beaches due to it being the fourth of July celebrations and would lose the town a lot of summer income. While the mayor gets the coroner to change the cause of death to a boating accident, a young boy, Alex Kintner, is killed in front of a crowded beach. A bounty is placed on the shark, which leads to our introduction to local fisherman Quint (Robert Shaw) who says he’ll catch the shark for $10,000. Brody calls in an oceanographer, Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfus) to investigate the remains, and confirms that it was shark attack, by an unusually large shark.
While the local fisherman capture a tiger shark. the mayor says the beach is safe while Alex’s mother confronts Brody, blaming him for her son’s death. Hooper doubts the shark is responsible and proven right by measuring the sharks bite radius and finds it too small compared to the corpse. After further investigation, they deem a great white shark is responsible, and beg the mayor to close the beach, but he refuses and only allows further safety measures instead. After a prank by kids draws attention, the real shark enters the local lagoon and kills another boater and sending Brody’s son Michael into shock. Brody, convinces the Mayor to hire Quint to kill the shark. What follows is Brody, Quint and Hooper heading out to sea on Quint’s boat the Orca, to find, track and kill the shark, amidst tensions and growing frustrations in their efforts.
When you combine a brilliant director, a superb cast, and an iconic score, you have cinematic gold. Spielberg creates pure terror with the scenes, where we primarily don’t see the shark, given that the shark prop (nicknamed Bruce) was often faulty and not able to be used for many of the intended shots. The trio of actors who head the film, have such a chemistry that you’ll find it hard to see a better group collaborate. Scheider, plays Brody as the relocated chief, who’s afraid of the water, but wants to do right by the law and the guilt of letting Alex die. Dreyfus as Hooper, the oceanographer who sees an opportunity for study of a large shark in unusual waters and being able to claim a scientific credit for it. And then you have Robert Shaw, whose portrayal of Quint is the stuff of legend. He’s such an iconic character, a grizzled sea dog, who you can’t help but be drawn into listening to what he has to say. His story on the Orca about the U.S.S Indianapolis is one the most brilliant speeches, harking to a true event during World War II, is harrowing and gives you more depth to him. His eventually obsession with catching the shark will pay a heavy price but this makes it so captivating. On top of this, you have John Williams iconic score, it’s incredible how much fear you can strike with two simple notes, a theme that will last for an eternity and again, be constantly used anytime you wanted to add menace.
Jaws would become the first Summer blockbuster with people rushing to see it, making it one of the highest grossing films at the time. It created a legacy, featuring sequels (of diminishing quality), countless imitations, homages and parodies but you cannot beat the original for it’s drama, action and story telling. Peter Benchley who also helped write the screenplay, later expressed remorse at how peoples feelings changed towards sharks and their habits with this film, with a large number of shark hunting boats growing and continuing to this day. As a result, he went to become an advocate for marine conservation and protection of sharks and other aquatic creatures. This film would be a inspiration for me in my younger days and still today, driving my fascination with sharks. It’s always been a dream of mine to go cage diving with great whites and I will one day! To see them up close in their natural habitat is something to behold, and I can think of countless books and documentaries I have consumed in my quest for knowledge and understanding. I can always put this film on, enjoy every second of it and quote most of it by heart. So get your rubbers, climb aboard the Orca, sing a shanty or two and hunt down Jaws, it’s a prize worth hunting.
Our next entry is a Sci-Fi action bonanza, proudly proclaiming that this time it’s war…
Dan Dared 