Jaws (Anniversary Edition) [1976] [DVD]

In the vastly overrated 1998 book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, author Peter Biskind puts the blame for Hollywood's blockbuster mentality at least partially on Steven Spielberg's box-office success with this adaptation of Peter Benchley's bestselling novel. But you can't blame Spielberg for making a terrific film, which Jaws definitely is. The story of a Long Island town whose summer tourist business is suddenly threatened by great white shark attacks on humans bypasses the potboiler trappings of Benchley's book and goes straight for the jugular with beautifully crafted, crowd-pleasing sequences of action and suspense. This is supported by a trio of terrific performances by Roy Scheider (as the local sheriff), Richard Dreyfuss (as a shark specialist), and particularly Robert Shaw (as the old fisherman who offers to hunt the shark down). The sequences on Shaw's boat--as the three of them realise that in fact the shark is hunting them--are what entertaining moviemaking is all about. --Marshall Fine --This text refers to another version of this video.

Jaws revolutionised Hollywood, single-handedly invented the summer blockbuster, spawned three increasingly poor sequels, and became the first film to gross more than 100 million dollars. Unlike many recent blockbusters, however, in Jaws the audience really cares about the fate of the men engaged in their duel with the monster. Granted the shark looks fake, but we willingly suspend our disbelief as storytelling and character development count for far more than mere special effects, adding enormously to the movie's suspense, excitement and sheer terror. The cast and screenplay are exemplary, but it was Steven Spielberg who emerged as the film's true star, while John Williams' unforgettable Oscar-winning score made him almost as much of as household name as the young director.

On the DVD: For a Steven Spielberg movie and an all-time classic, this 25th Anniversary Edition release is impressive, but not all it could be. The anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 ratio picture is superb, as is the re-mixed Dolby Digital 5.1 sound (the film was originally released in mono). It is a joy to see the film's picture and sound quality rescued from years of television and VHS screenings, offering a reminder of what all the fuss was about in the first place. The deleted scenes are quite interesting, offering more background on Brody, Hooper and Quint, including the latter's bizarre vocal duel with a boy playing the recorder! The four photo galleries are good, but some captions would have helped enormously. Disappointingly, there's no director's commentary, the best extra being a 50-minute documentary, "The Making of Jaws". This is excellent, and quite different from the BBC television production, "In the Teeth of Jaws". Even if you've seen that, there's much more to learn here. --Gary S. Dalkin