"That's a nice-a donut."
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Jaws
Jaws was perhaps the very first summer blockbuster, "event" film. And, to this day, I think that it is still the very best of the so-called popcorn flicks. I'm sure that nearly everyone of at least a certain age has seen Jaws by now but, in short, it is about a killer great white shark that terrorizes a small New England island community one summer and the three men who try to stop it. Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw were all perfectly cast as the police chief, an oceanographer, and the crusty fisherman, respectively.
It's not a very complex film. It doesn't have any hidden meanings, and it isn't a metaphor for anything. In fact, the film was headed for failure during its nightmarish production. For starters, director Steven Spielberg and the rest of the crew had much difficulty getting the mechanical shark (a.k.a. "Bruce") to work correctly. This seemed to work to their advantage because they had to work around it and the movie is better off as a result.
The most amazing thing is that you don't even see the shark until about the midway point, more than an hour into it. Instead, we are overcome with the horror of the unknown. Other than, John Williams' classic score, we have no way of knowing when or if there will be another attack. Is that the shark are just some kids playing in the water? Spielberg has since gone on to near-worldwide acclaim, and has made numerous classics since. But none of them are better than this. You're gonna need a bigger boat.
The verdict: A+.
Michael Bentley 9:26 AM
Archives
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
|
|
|
|
