Jaws (1975)

It's Police Chief Brody's first summer on Amity Island when a young woman's remains wash up on the beach. The medical examiner identifies it as a shark attack and Brody is quick to mobilize his team to close the beach. The mayor puts a stop to it due to the city making the majority of its funds during the Fourth of July weekend, but Brody knows he's wrong and has no recourse to do anything until someone is attacked by the shark.

Jaws is the only good, serious shark movie. All of the other ones take the formula it created and riff of that with cheesy effects, campy tone, and bad acting. For Jaws, the acting, music, and writing all contribute to making it the classic it is and making it the first summer blockbuster. Roy Scheider as Brody is an everyman hero that many people can relate to. He's afraid of the water and new at his job. He's not particularly skilled or learned, but he wants to help people. The scene where the woman who lost her son to the shark yells at him and slaps him shows his true character. He knew he did his best and it wasn't his fault. However, he lets her say her piece and get her anger out because it's what she needed.

Hooper, on the other hand, is an abrasive marine biologist who doesn't care about the politics or social niceties when lives are in danger. Quint is really only in it for the money and the thrill of hunting the most dangerous shark he's ever faced. As rude and awful as he is, he's a lot of people's favorite because of his stories, his "doll's eyes" speech, and his insane furvor. The most deplorable character of all time is the mayor who time and time again keeps the beaches open because the local businesses would suffer. He represents everything wrong with the political right and only sees the error of his ways on the Fourth of July when people are attacked by the shark in front of the press.

The music represents the main characters and is responsible for all of the tension in the film. It's very apparent when the music is played live along with the film and I highly recommend the experience. The cheerful adventure theme represents the hodgepodge team of men trying to take down this shark with only one experienced man and blundering through it. The most famous theme (which is really only two notes over and over) is the shark. It's one of my favorites of all time. When it's heard, I frantically guess where the shark will appear. The music shows its drive to kill and get revenge. This along with the scarce views of the entire shark make this film incredibly suspenseful. If you haven't seen Jaws, you're in for a treat.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins