Jaws
(PAL Region 2 Release)
(1975)
review by Billion$Baby

What other film mark allocation would you expect? The only Spielberg directed horror (I have little time for Poltergeist anyway) and arguably his finest film to date. I'd certainly argue that point anyway. I'm not at all certain as to why Steven would want to move into nightmarish territories such as E.T. or (shudder) Hook after a stellar movie like this but hey, at least he didn't make Home Alone, that's something in his favour. What Psycho did for the shower, th
is film did for the sea. I have never swam in the sea. Very sad but true. I know, I know, the chances of me getting attacked by a shark in UK waters are about as likely as me sending a christmas card to Margaret Thatcher. Pretty fucking unlikely. But I can't help it, the phobia is here to stay. Curse you Spielberg! That's what happens when you show Jaws to a seven year old version of me. I had absolutely no desire to become the next Alex Kintner!

BTW I could never understand how this film recieved,and still holds, a "Parental Guidance" certificate rating only over here in the UK. To put it in perspective, Spiderman was awarded the higher "12" rating
because of fears about the violence in Raimi's flick. Weird, eh? This region 2 dvd carries a 12 rating but the film itself is still only a PG. The dvd has been rated a 12 purely because of the supplemental materials only. Odd.

Anyway cue the music, exciting shark point-of-view shots, foreboding cameras that let the water lap over them, great casting, excellent tension and jump moments (ie, Ben Gardner!), humour and warmth, and when he's working, Bruce the shark. Spielberg's monster movie has stood the test of time very well. In terms of the effects, whilst at no point does Bruce the shark look real, it's very impressive for the era and the use of the real Great White footage aids the film significantly. Even if people with eyes can easily pin-point which is each. Not seeing the shark for around 60 minutes only adds to the suspense and it really heightens the pay-off when he does finally produce that toothy face. Whilst that works in the film's favour, it's surprising to hear via the dvd extras that the lack of shark factor was more often due to a malfunctioning Bruce (machinery just did not want to operate in salt water) than any actual planned intentions.

The film is both horror and drama with a welcome and very keen sense of humour often coming to the forefront as we watch an out-of-town Chief Brody spending as much energy fighting the townsfolk as he does with the shark. As well as featuring three excellent leading performances from Scheider, Dreyfuss and Shaw, there's two excellent supporting roles. One from Murray Hamilton as the shark's best mate and fixer of fine cuisine, and the other from Lorraine Gray as a convincing Mrs Brody. But for me personally, Robert Shaw steals the film with his remarkable performance as the haunted shark fisherman. I'd like to point out just three great scenes out of many - The entire sequence where Dreyfuss and Scheider discover Ben Gardner's wrecked boat, Chief Brody interacting with his youngest son at the dinner table after his encounter with Mrs Kintner, and the Robert Shaw Indianapolis story where the origin of his hatred of (and obsession with) the shark species is revealed.

"Here lies the body of Mary Lee, died at the age of 103. For 15 years she kept her virginity, not a bad record for this vicinity." lol Although the plot-line of a shark terrorising a resort community is a very basic one, Jaws scores points on many levels - horror, drama and comedy. And it has to be said that the film contains one of the most exciting finales ever seen. (Although, to the best of my knowledge, sharks can't actually smile).

Seeing the film in widescreen is the usual major plus never mind the hugely improved anamorphic picture quality and sound. Chrissie the unfortunate swimmer turned late-night snack is a good example of how much more you can now see. Her nudity in the water now being rather visible, much to the probable horror of the actress involved. The only serious difference between this reviewed region 2 copy and the region 1 equivalent is the DTS track, or the lack of it on this copy. A shame.

The extras do the flick justice. You get a top-notch50 minute documentary interviewing many key participants in this legendary flick (sadly no monkeys on roller skates stories from Spielberg as on the Close Encounters dvd but still fascinating), deleted scenes and out-takes, more photos than you actually wanted, trailers, production notes, shark facts (crap), talent profiles and some kind of completely pointless but maybe amusing for two minutes (if you're lucky) film quiz called "Get Out of the Water!"

After the impressive documentary, my fave extra has to be the Roy Scheider out-take where we watch the actor's gun repeatably jam on each take, leading up to the inevitable swearing outburst from the actor. Short but very sweet. My only serious complaint is th
at there's so many damn photos and no accessing link to the different areas, that I've got to look through maybe 80 or 90 million different photographs and storyboards before I can just have a look at the publicity and merchandising photos that interest me the most. Tsk. And I've heard that the region 1 Jaws dvd contains even more photographs! Other than that silliness and the lack of a DTS track on this region 2 disc, this is a stonking release from Universal.