Jaws
Published December 3, 2019
Film info
- Title Jaws
- Director Steven Spielberg
- Year 1975
- Run time 2hrs 4m
- Genres Thriller, Horror, Adventure
- Tagline Don't go in the water
A beachfront town that relies heavily on summer tourism faces considerable hardship when a great white shark starts taking ragged bites out of visitors - until a trio of men set out on a petrifying quest to slay the beast.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 0:54 | It is amazing how music can just make all the difference. |
| 2:47 | Yelling “I’m not drunk” is a surefire way of proving that you are. |
| 5:02 | None of that was smart, but I really worry about the drunk guy sleeping in the surf. |
| 9:41 | Never has a typewriter been so doom-mongering. |
| 11:36 | “I’ve got to batten down the beach!” |
| 18:30 | I mean, she’s taking revenge on the shark? Bit weird. |
| 22:10 | The nails against the chalkboard is not a way to make people give you ten grand. |
| 26:44 | I feel like they only had a plan for baiting the shark and not catching it. |
| 32:08 | Amazingly clever film-making. Full of dread without even seeing the remains. Just a glimpse. |
| 39:47 | “I’d really like to talk to him.” “Yes, so would I.” Haha, like Ellen. |
| 42:12 | I think a pint of wine is an acceptable response to a shark on the loose. |
| 43:14 | Rogue shark! |
| 45:22 | “But I’m not drunk enough to go out on a boat.” Adorable! |
| 52:16 | Love that someone has painted a shark on the town sign. Naughty but funny. |
| 56:51 | Don’t understand the mayor’s ploy at this point. He wanted tourists and the tourists are there to seek the shark, so what does it matter if they’re in the water or not? |
| 1:04:48 | She’s right. No one ever got eaten by a shark in New York. |
| 1:12:21 | Up periscope! |
| 1:21:28 | The scenes are so iconic, you know it’s coming but don’t know when… still scary. |
| 1:21:38 | WAIT. It’s not WE’RE gonna need a bigger boat? |
| 1:33:34 | Robert Shaw tells one heck of a creepy story. |
| 1:45:57 | This film is a masterclass in underestimating your opponent. |
| 1:54:53 | All he ever does is drop things, this Hooper guy. |
| 2:02:37 | “I can’t imagine why. " |
Thoughts
Well. I put some thought into what should be the 1000th film, I couldn’t decide whether it should be an absolute classic or an absolute terror or just the next film that came along.
In the end, it was a mixture of both. I’d bought Jaws in a sale a few weeks ago, and it does tick the classic box. It doesn’t quite fit the festive mood we’re going for, but hey, sometimes you’ve just got to go with the flow.
I love the book, I’ve read it a couple of times and the film picks out the best of the tension and the most important of the plot developments to generate a tension-filled two hours. From the very start, there’s a general feeling of inevitable dread that doesn’t let up until that explosion at the end.
I thought the film-making was intensely clever, and the acting was over and above. Some of the moments where you don’t have to see what’s going on because you get it from their faces and the dialogue.
There were a few moments that went slightly too far for me, the jump scare of the face in the boat and Quint’s grisly end were a bit much, but otherwise, it’s an almost perfect horror movie.
Rating: 4 / 5