Jaws (1975)

Yet again Steven Spielberg managed to create another brilliant film like the back to the future, Indiana jones, goonies gremlins and many many more of some of my favorite films!

Jaws exceeded my expectation and I thought it was fantastic.

Before initially watching I was under the impression that the film would appear fairly cheap looking and fake due to the absence of visual effects used back then and on top of that I’m not a very big fan of sharks… especially great whites. However I tried not to have too much of an opinion in advance because if I was to view it negatively before hand there is a major chance that I either wouldn’t enjoy it as much or I wouldn’t watch it at all because I’m very stubborn and rarely ever change my opinion.

For the most part it all seemed realistic and relatable, although anything can happen in the world of cinema which explains the almost un killable great white shark!

The camera work within this film was brilliant, from the different angles, the point of view shots and even the basic over the shoulder, mid shots etc. All camera work remained aesthetically pleasing for me personally. Alike the camera work editing was extremely good, especially for the time is was made ( I defiantly agree with many other opinions stating that jaws was a high point of film editing for its time and remains that way now…) Sound was used in a very creative and effective way, it managed to increase tension when needed and created a sense of realism for the underwater scenes allowing the viewer to experience it realistically. Despite my praise, I wasn’t a fan of some of the backing music as it sounded to upbeat and positive at times when it probably shouldn’t have.

One scene that stood out to me the most in the positive way was the beach scene with the boy on the yellow raft. Brody is anxious and convinced there is a man-eating shark lurking in the islands surrounding ocean. The scene has a very unsettling yet calming feel to it, almost as if everything seems fine but there is something wrong at the same time. The use of camera (especially the vertigo effect/dolly zoom and POV of the shark), sound and editing in this scene is great and allows the tension to build accordingly. The only part of this scene I wasn’t a fan off was the amount of blood that came of the young boy on the yellow lido, it seemed a bit far fetched and unrealistic although I see the use of it; it made the scene more gruesome.

As someone who was born into an age where movies were at the peak of evolution and is used to seeing more high quality and visually realistic content, this did take away a lot of the fear factor and movie magic this film would have received upon the time of its initial release although as some one who enjoys older films anyway, I didn’t let it ruin my experience of watching it and really enjoyed it.

8 ½ /10