Great reading! One of the most fascinating takeaways here is how constraints sparked the very tension that made Jaws iconic. The broken shark didn’t ruin the film. It created the film.
Fantastic write-up, man. You really covered everything.
For me, Jaws holds a special place in my heart. It's one of those movies that I loved as a kid and as an adult for completely different reasons.
When I was young, I was a pretty big shark kid, like how other kids are dinosaur kids. Jaws was THE shark movie for me, even though I always closed my eyes whenever I heard that menacing theme.
But as an adult, I loved it for the stories of the 3 men. Hooper, Quint and Brody are all compelling characters that were facing their own personal fears out in the ocean.
It's a rare but wonderful thing when a movie you watched during childhood not only holds up later, but actually exceeds your expectations.
I always recall the anecdote that Robert Shaw was hammered during the first take of his “USS Indianapolis” scene. One of my favorite classic movies and legit terrifying as a kid to see Quint bit through the chest in a PG film.
> The knock on Jaws, from a certain critical perspective, is the narrative that it along with Star Wars (1977) killed New Hollywood, that it marks a shift away from mature, morally ambiguous films towards toyetic, high concept blockbuster movies.
You say that like it's a bad thing. New Hollywood's "moral ambiguity" was generally little more than moral relativism or outright nihilism.
Great reading! One of the most fascinating takeaways here is how constraints sparked the very tension that made Jaws iconic. The broken shark didn’t ruin the film. It created the film.
What a great film. 50 years and it’s still a master piece
Fantastic write-up, man. You really covered everything.
For me, Jaws holds a special place in my heart. It's one of those movies that I loved as a kid and as an adult for completely different reasons.
When I was young, I was a pretty big shark kid, like how other kids are dinosaur kids. Jaws was THE shark movie for me, even though I always closed my eyes whenever I heard that menacing theme.
But as an adult, I loved it for the stories of the 3 men. Hooper, Quint and Brody are all compelling characters that were facing their own personal fears out in the ocean.
It's a rare but wonderful thing when a movie you watched during childhood not only holds up later, but actually exceeds your expectations.
I always recall the anecdote that Robert Shaw was hammered during the first take of his “USS Indianapolis” scene. One of my favorite classic movies and legit terrifying as a kid to see Quint bit through the chest in a PG film.
Very lengthy but detailed piece! Being someone that is from the beach I am not a fan of the Jaws movie haha
> The knock on Jaws, from a certain critical perspective, is the narrative that it along with Star Wars (1977) killed New Hollywood, that it marks a shift away from mature, morally ambiguous films towards toyetic, high concept blockbuster movies.
You say that like it's a bad thing. New Hollywood's "moral ambiguity" was generally little more than moral relativism or outright nihilism.