Believe it or not...I had never seen it before...seriously. :) I had seen bits and pieces on TV...but never sat and watched the whole thing. I knew the basic story, who was in it....and I knew it had one of my favourite lines ever: 'You're gonna need a bigger boat.' (Also one of the AFI's Top 100 Movie Quotes.)
I am not one for horror movies or that sort of thing. And I do get a bit squeamish when it comes to blood and guts in movies. Hence my hesitation to see this before. Yes, there's blood...and guts...and the occasional bloody limb....but it's in moderation, and it's not gratuitous. It's the right amount to be scary but not gross.
It's a simple story, but told very well. The music is AWESOME!!! Besides the Jaws 'theme'....dum dum...dum dum....the music definitely sets the mood. You notice it, but it's not distracting. The acting is great. I would say a definite solid movie on all fronts.
According to Wikipedia, Jaws is one of the first high concept movies. Basically, simple premise, not character driven, and 'easy to sell'. I do remember vaguely when it came out (I was only 7 at the time). There was a lot of hype and marketing. (And an awful lot of stories telling you what to do to avoid a shark attack. Very helpful when you live in Toronto...you never know what's lurking in Lake Ontario.)
I think today, this has become a bit of a parody of itself, and borders on the cheesy. At the time, I am sure it was really scary and terrifying. (That's the only 'problem' with seeing movies out of their original context.)
Bottom line....I liked it.
One word to describe 'Jaws': Scary.
Friday, April 3, 2009
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You're right about the music really setting the tone. You may have noticed that the Jaws "theme" only gets played when the actual shark is there. The scene with the two dipshit kids and the cardboard fin doesn't have the theme music, sort of a clue that it isn't the real shark.
ReplyDeletePlus, I loved Quint's description of when the USS Indianapolis sank under him... very creepy. And I heard Robert Shaw wrote that monologue himself.
It's cool you're blogging this 102 must see movies thing. I like your writng style. :)