Jaws has mostly aged well, with some caveats.
Summary It has been 49 years since Steven Spielberg's Jaws redefined the summer blockbuster, but there are a few uncomfortable truths about the horror classic all these years later. Based on the novel by Peter Benchley, Jaws follows a small town police chief who tries to rid his community of a man-eating shark along with two unexpected allies. The three men set out into the open ocean to face the shark.
The most important female character in Jaws is Ellen, Chief Brody's wife, but even she isn't given a very meaty role. Her main purpose is to provide some emotional ballast for Brody. Many of the death scenes in Jaws are made all the more terrifying because the shark remains unseen. It seems as if the characters are being dragged into the dark depths of the ocean by some unknown Lovecraftian force too horrible to understand. Nothing could ever live up to this tease, but the mechanical shark is particularly underwhelming after visual effects have advanced so much in the last 49 years.
7 Jaws Never Should Have Started A Franchise The first movie doesn't need any sequels Close Jaws is based on the novel by Peter Benchley. It tells a complete story that suits its characters perfectly, and it provides a satisfying ending. There was no immediate need for a sequel, and the premise of Jaws 2 further proves this point, as it aims to simply rehash the narrative of the first movie. In Jaws 2, Brody suspects that another shark is back to terrorize Amity Island.
Robert Shaw's delivery also helps the scene stand out, and Steven Spielberg gives him all the time he needs to chew on every syllable of his horrifying story. Jaws is smaller in scale than many of Spielberg's biggest blockbusters. His artistic fingerprints are all over the movie, but it doesn't display his flair for big action set pieces or ambitious long takes like some of his other greatest hits. That's not to say that Jaws would have been any better if the Spielberg of the 1990s had directed it, but it would likely have been far grander and more epic.
3 Brody Gets Lucky The finale hinges on a one-in-a-million shot Close At the ending of Jaws, Brody has to shoot the gas tank inside the shark's mouth while the boat sinks. Killing the shark is a moment of great triumph, but it doesn't do much for Brody as a character. His journey is about learning to assert himself and overcoming his fears, so the luck of this shot has very little to do with any of the decisions he makes or the problems he faces throughout the rest of the movie.
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