We're gonna need a bigger boat...

This week I review Jaws. It was made in 1975, was directed by Steven Spielberg, nominated for 4 Academy Awards, winning 3 (Best Film Editing, Best Music, Best Sound).

The story starts with a girl going for a late night swim and getting taken by a shark. The policeman (played by Roy Schneider) wants to close the beach but the Mayor won't allow it because it will keep the tourists away. This sounds a bit like what is happening in Sydney at the moment! Anyway a couple more people get eaten by the shark so a team is put together to get catch the shark. The rest of the movie is totally about the 3 men trying to catch Jaws.

I expected the special effects in this movie to be a bit cheesy but I was pleasantly surprised in the first half of the movie. Apparently because the mechanical shark (nicknamed Bruce by Steven Spielberg) kept breaking down, he couldn't use much footage of sharks. Instead we see swimmers from the sharks perspective and I think it is a good effect. The first time we see Jaws is on it's third attack and he actually looks realistic. I was impressed. Later in the movie it is clear it is a mechanical shark, especially when it decides to climb into the boat and practically make itself a cup of tea. I actually laughed at how pathetic it looked and how absurd it was that he was even willing to get onto a boat to kill people.

The movie is a thriller of sorts and it certainly isn't boring. The plot is as basic as you could get and I only got a fright once, when the deadmans face sudenly appeared in the boats porthole. So it wasn't all that scary but it will be a few days until I have the courage to have a bath again.

The Rating -

Jaws : 7 people eaten, 1 leg chomped