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Movies / On DVD / Jaws
Jaws

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Jaws (1975)

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Reviews Counted:36

Fresh:36

Rotten:0

Average Rating:8.8/10

Consensus: Jaws remains tense by not showing audiences the shark for the majority of the film, so that when it does, viewers jump out of their seats.

Rated: PG

Runtime: 2 hrs 5 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Theatrical Release:Jun 20, 1975 Wide

Synopsis: From the best-selling novel by Peter Benchley, Steven Spielberg directed this thrill ride of terror. During the height of beach season, the Massachusetts resort town of Amity Island is terrorized... From the best-selling novel by Peter Benchley, Steven Spielberg directed this thrill ride of terror. During the height of beach season, the Massachusetts resort town of Amity Island is terrorized one summer by surprise attacks from a great white shark. Three unlikely partners team up to hunt down the rogue and destroy it: the new chief of police from New York (Roy Scheider), a young university-educated oceanographer (Richard Dreyfuss), and a crusty old-time fisherman (Robert Shaw). The film shoot was notoriously difficult for the young Spielberg, who had directed only one feature film before JAWS. The mechanical shark seldom operated correctly, and Spielberg was frequently forced to create the idea of terror without actually showing the shark. However, after the film premiered it went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time--surpassing THE GODFATHER and becoming the first film to gross more than a hundred million dollars. Composer John Williams created the score to JAWS, which has since become a well-known theme of impending doom. Ron and Valerie Taylor were responsible for filming live sharks in Australia; their sequences were later mixed with footage of the mechanical shark. [More]

Starring: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Lorraine Gary

Starring: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Carl Gottlieb, Jay Mello, Lee Fierro, Jeffrey Kramer, Susan Backlinie, Jonathan Filley

Director: Steven Spielberg

Director: Steven Spielberg
Screenwriter: Carl Gottlieb, Peter Benchley, Howard Sackler
Producer: Richard D. Zanuck, David Brown
Composer: John Williams
Studio: Universal Pictures

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Jun 14, 2005

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Reviews for Jaws

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1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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Director Steven Spielberg has constructed a chillingly frightening film.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
05/29/01
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

A film that sealed Steven Spielberg's talent as a master entertainer.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
01/01/00
Almar Haflidason
Almar Haflidason
BBC

The first calculated summertime blockbuster...A whale of big-budget Hollywood entertainment.

Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | comment Comment
06/17/05
Thomas Delapa
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly

Killer sharks cause deaths and provide much excitement.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/05/02
Boxoffice Magazine

A classic. Tense, engrossing, scary and, subsequently, endlessly influential.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/24/07
Channel 4 Film

Steven Spielberg's mechanical thriller is guaranteed to make you scream on schedule.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
06/27/07
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of the most effective thrillers ever made.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Simply put, Jaws turned the tide of American cinema: irrevocably, and not for the better.

Full Review Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul | comment 1 Comment
08/20/09
Rob Nelson
Rob Nelson
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

In the end, the shark is a MacGuffin necessary for the men to bond and test themselves against what they fear most--their own mortality.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
05/12/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Nowadays, it doesn't really scare me anymore, but I love watching it for the way it moves.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment 2 Comments
06/24/05
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Set Jaws beside any of the contemporary summer cash leviathans and the hollowness of modern-day Hollywood's vision of action-adventure entertainment is laid bare.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
09/10/01
Scott Von Doviak
Scott Von Doviak
culturevulture.net

A true film of the 70s, all its characters have feet of clay… Yet Jaws boldly puts [them] to a test as dire as any faced by the granite-jawed supermen of earlier decades.

Full Review Source: Decent Films Guide | comment Comment
02/11/06
Steven D. Greydanus
Steven D. Greydanus
Decent Films Guide

...a classic, action-adventure monster movie, maybe the best ever made.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

Well, it's about this shark...

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.com

Along with being a terrific character-driven (not plot) thriller, Jaws should be viewed against the broader context of 1975 as part of a cycle of paranoia films, reflecting the Vietnam War, Watergate scandal, anti-authoritarianism, and political apathy

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
06/26/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

An astonishingly effective thriller built on a very primal level: fear.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Ian Nathan
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine

It was the beast that launched a thousand monster movies.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

I loved the film more this time than I had the first time I watched it.

Full Review Source: Goatdog's Movies | comment Comment
02/28/02
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Goatdog's Movies

Like all the best suspense films, "Jaws" manages to somehow remain amazingly tense, even if you've seen the film before. No wonder so many moviegoers went back for repeat viewings.

Full Review Source: Kalamazoo Gazette | comment Comment
07/27/07
James Sanford
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette

It just might be one of the very best movies ever made.

comment Comment
04/28/03
Blake Davis
Blake Davis
KFOR Channel 4 News
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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