Jaws (1975)
Tomatometer
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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.
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... [More]
Starring: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Lorraine Gary
Director: Steven Spielberg
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Reviews for Jaws
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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Simply put, Jaws turned the tide of American cinema: irrevocably, and not for the better. Full Review |
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A |
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 |
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Spielberg works self-effacingly, with subtly correct camera placement and meticulous editing. He twists our guts with false alarms, giving us the real thing with heart-stopping suddenness. Full Review |
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4/4 |
A looming, terrifying catch of the day. Full Review |
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5/5 |
A classic. Tense, engrossing, scary and, subsequently, endlessly influential. Full Review |
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4/4 |
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 |
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Steven Spielberg's mechanical thriller is guaranteed to make you scream on schedule. Full Review |
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The fast-moving 124-minute film engenders enormous suspense as the shark attacks a succession of people. Full Review |
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A reminder that, once upon a time, Spielberg used to make films for adults rather than infants and critical regressives. Full Review |
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A |
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 |
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B |
Achieves a number of cheap thrills at the expense of the mechanical shark. Full Review |
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A |
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 |
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4/4 |
Nowadays, it doesn't really scare me anymore, but I love watching it for the way it moves. Full Review |
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The first calculated summertime blockbuster...A whale of big-budget Hollywood entertainment. Full Review |
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Jaws' formula has become a facsimiled equation for profit, of which the opening is the preeminent, telling feature. Full Review |
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5/5 |
One of the greatest horror films made. The opening sequence is not only a classic, it's still frightening nearly three decades after it was made.
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5/5 |
It just might be one of the very best movies ever made.
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3/5 |
No review available.
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4/4 |
When it comes to this kind of thriller, no movie has been able to top Jaws, although many have tried. And, as the years go by, it seems increasingly unlikely that anything will come close. Full Review |
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4/5 |
No review available.
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