Widely regarded as the film that began the "summer movie blockbuster era", JAWS (1975) was also rightfully one of the year's most critically acclaimed movies. It was also the recipient of an Academy Award Nomination for Best Picture and a winner of Oscars for film editing (Verna Fields) and music score (John Williams). One of the reasons the film received no acting nods is that everyone involved is so good, how could one single out just one or two? (I personally feel Robert Shaw should have gotten a Best Actor nomination, however). Roy Scheider is wonderful as New York cop Martin Brody, who has relocated to a small coastal island town, only to have his bad case of "aquaphobia" put to the ultimate test. Richard Dreyfuss is perfectly cast as a shark expert and provides some truly funny comic bits along the way. Lorraine Gary (who director Steven Spielberg says was the first person to be cast for the film) does an excellent job of being the concerned wife and mother. Finally, there's Murray Hamilton, who gives one of the best performances of his career as Mayor Vaughn, who seems to be more concerned about the economy of the town than the safety of the residents. In a way, Vaughn is really the film's villain. Solid cast indeed. The screenplay (by Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb) is tight and well-written, as is Spielberg's direction. Whether it was the mechanical shark's failure to operate correctly or Spielberg's decision to simply see less of the shark until the end of the film, the "less is more" idea works perfectly, particularly in the opening scene, which is chilling to this day.

Absolute greatness from beginning to end. Whenever someone defends some current day summer-season shit as being "perfectly acceptable summer fare" I think back to the time of Jaws and think "Why be acceptable when you can be great?" Jaws is great.

That's exactly how I feel, as I mentioned in the header post. And the thing about Jaws is that it was destined to fail from the beginning, but ended up triumphing. The filmmakers today who have so many more resources than Spielberg had for this film just waste it all. It's a real shame.

I think it's tough to compare. It is ALOT harder for people today to get original ideas, that will still be seen in theatre. Lots of people are doing completely new things, but they absolutely bomb most of the time because people won't watch 3+ hour movies, or deal with convoluted plots. Jaws was a simple story, and was extremely popular at the time.

I disagree. Good filmmaking is good filmmaking, and that's what made Jaws popular, and it's why it still holds up. It really has nothing to do with original ideas to get people in the theatre. Lord of the Rings was around for 50 years. Everyone knew the Titanic was going to sink. Both clock in at over 3 hours. Biggest moneymakers of all time.

But really, it's about making great films that withstand the test of time. The majority of the blockbusters nowadays don't aspire to be great films, and that's the point we're making.

I disagree. Good filmmaking is good filmmaking, and that's what made Jaws popular, and it's why it still holds up. It really has nothing to do with original ideas to get people in the theatre. Lord of the Rings was around for 50 years. Everyone knew the Titanic was going to sink. Both clock in at over 3 hours. Biggest moneymakers of all time.

But really, it's about making great films that withstand the test of time. The majority of the blockbusters nowadays don't aspire to be great films, and that's the point we're making.

Tons of great films don't really hold the test of time so I don't see how that can be a criteria for why a movie is a failure/success.

Also, the Titanic was garbage. Sure everyone knew what would happen, but this movie, like Lord of the Rings plays off of media advertising and setting it up as an epic movie. The budgets for these films were astronomical so people generally had the idea, from advertising etc, that this movie was going to be visually stunning, epic, and what have you. There are also tons of films, from novice directors, that had amazing ideas and story, but may not have been directed "well" according to guidelines. Some folks want simple, straightforward camera work, while some believe the unique, dynamic directing style is better.

Note: One of the main complaints about the Lord of the Rings was the multiple endings the movie had. Most people probably didn't even know it was three hours+ going in to see it. I know I hadn't checked. It's the allure of that gigantic, blockbuster that draws people in.

Great movie, a classic for sure.

Not that it really matters, but what genre would you classify this under? I always get pissed when magazines or tv shows do their top horror lists and this is #1. It's a great movie but I don't consider it to be horror at all.

Drama/Adventure/Suspense

Damn it, that doesn't help. I classify it under the Fucking Awesome genre.