Der-Dum...Der-Dum...Der-Dum...Jaws Is Back On The Big Screen

Its 1975, Rod Stewart was to go Sailing up the charts, Bell Bottom trousers were cool and side burns were longer than a Curly Wurly. A young filmmaker called Steven Spielberg was also due to release his sophomore big screen picture, Jaws, based on Peter Benchley’s bestselling novel about a killer shark.

By all accounts the shoot was troubled and nicknamed “Flaws” by unhappy crew members. Budgeted at $4 million, a bloated effects budget saw that cost increase to almost $9 million.

The mechanical shark, nicknamed Bruce after Spielberg’s lawyer Bruce Raimer, frequently malfunctioned. One of the many perils of the naive directors insistence of actually shooting at sea instead of the controlled environment of a studio tank.

If the nautical problems weren’t bad enough, Robert Shaw was in trouble with the IRS and had to leave the country whenever his scenes were completed. He was also drinking heavily which saw him well and truly inebriated when he first attempted to deliver the now legendary Indianapolis scene. Legend has it that Shaw was so embarrassed by his first take that he asked Spielberg to do it again. The following day he nailed it in one truly amazing take. 

Well delivered monologues aside, all in all the signs were not good and the producers were sweating as a scheduled 55 day shoot spiralled to 159...

On June 20, Jaws was released in the USA to ecstatic audience reaction and critical acclaim, breaking all box office records that had come before it. The very first summer blockbuster set the bar so high that it’s arguably never been bettered.

This summer sees Jaws make a welcome return to the big screen as part of Universals 100^th Anniversary celebrations, paving the way for a whole new generation of young cinema goers to be terrified. In addition to this, September will see the movies debut on Blu Ray. Lovingly restored frame by frame with remixed sound, early word is that it looks magnificent in full HD. Extras will include the all new feature-length documentary The Shark is Still Working plus the usual selection of Outtakes, Deleted scenes and a second documentary The Making of Jaws.

I’ve lost count at just how many times I’ve seen Jaws over the years, but despite multiple viewings it always delivers the same levels of excitement, terror and “ that was fucking awesome!” factor that a lot of today’s Hollywood  output sorely lacks. Just look at some of drivel that’s already hit multiplexes this year, Battleship, Men in Black 3 and Mirror Mirror. All poorly written, style over substance movies that people flocked to see, but won’t remember next week let alone 30 years from now.  

Jaws has extremely well written and fully realised characters that are forever etched on the memory. Who can forget Roy Scheider’s dryly witted Chief Brody whose facial expression and the delivery of “you’re gonna need a bigger boat”, is absolutely priceless. It’s again a testament to the quality of the writing and indeed, the three leads performances that the characters complement, rather than dominate each other. The onscreen friction between Quint and Hooper ironically mirrored their off screen relationship too, with Shaw taking an instant disliking to a Richard Dreyfuss.

No discussion of Jaws can ever be complete without mentioning composer John Williams score. A truly memorable theme, it won Williams his second Oscar and gave the shark a personality all of its own. The theme has since appeared and been referenced in, countless other films and one cannot hear it without thinking of some impending danger. Williams collaboration with Spielberg began in 1974 and is still flourishing today at the ripe old age of 80!

37 years later, Oscar laden and widely regarded as one of filmmaking’s all time greats The Beard continues to deliver knockout pictures. For me though Jaws remains his finest work.

A thrilling, suspenseful and timeless adventure that shows that on the rarest of occasions, you really can catch lightning in a bottle.