Jaws film review

"You’re gonna need a bigger boat."

It was the beast that launched a thousand monster movies. It was the film that sparked Spielberg’s fame. The low strings on the soundtrack still strike terror in the hearts of millions. It has some of the most memorable lines of dialogue in the history of the movies. It’s Jaws, and it’s back with a 25th anniversary VHS and DVD. The consummate motion picture of any number of genres (monster, horror, fishing, etc.) Jaws is a true classic that should be owned and loved by any movie lover.

The DVD is especially memorable, as its hour-long making-of documentary is as good as any I’ve ever seen, tracing the Jaws project from Peter Benchley’s inkling to write a shark book to the final test screenings and its ultimate success. Steven Spielberg’s comments about the film (and sadly, there is no commentary track) regarding this extremely troubled production are especially telling.

Review by Christopher Null © 2000 filmcritic.com