Roger Ebert I am not!!!

So here is my attempt at movie reviewing! It is something I have always wanted to do but just never took the time to do. Now I realize this is by no means a great review, it's just something I did for fun. Hope you enjoy.

JAWS

Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) is my favorite movie of all time, I have seen it dozens of times and it never grows tired or old. It succeeds on so many levels but is most effective in 2 major areas; the setup and payoff of the shark, and the establishing of the three major characters.
Alfred Hitchcock once said – “the bomb is under the table and it explodes, this is a surprise, the bomb is under the table and it doesn’t explode, this is suspense”. I can imagine this phrase constantly running through Spielberg’s mind while developing the film. Watching the movie again recently I was reminded how little the shark is seen at all. And what an effective strategy this proves to be. Compared to today’s monster movies where the point seems to be to show the monster as often and frequently as possible imagine a movie where the monster isn’t seen at all until the final act. And once the shark does make it’s appearance it has been built up so well that it makes for a genuine moment of fear (modern filmmakers take note!).

The second major victory of the film is the establishing of the three major characters. Quint, Brody, and Hooper seem like real people who venture out to kill the shark and not just three plot devices that allow the filmmaker a good kill or gross out moment. The movie takes it’s time with each character, giving all three of them reason or motivation for wanting the shark dead. It also wisely gives them all 3 different personalities that allow them to voice dramatic information about the shark that establishes it better in our minds. Consider some of the lines spoken by Hooper the oceanographer – “what you’re dealing with here is a perfect eating machine”, and the brilliant scene in which Brody, the outsider to the Island looks through pictures of shark attack victims to educate himself more about sharks, in one simple scene we learn more about the character and we see the results of the shark attacks which again, builds the shark up in our minds. There are many scenes like this throughout the film so well done that by the time the three characters are doing battle with the shark at the end we understand and care about each person and understand their motivations.

Well I love this movie, and I have so much respect for Spielberg as filmmaker. He proves here as he would throughout his entire filmmaking career that all the action and special effects in the world mean nothing without the storytelling and characters. I love the way Jaws takes it’s time getting to the shark and along the way builds real and genuine suspense, and I love the time and attention given to the characters so that they become so much more than just a chance to show the shark eating someone. As a known movie fan I’ve been asked several times over the years what is my favorite movie of all time, that answer always has been, and I suspect always will be Jaws.