Entertainment Swindon

The greatest shark movie ever made turns 50 this month!… Jaws is a 1975 American movie directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on the 1974 novel by Peter Benchley, starring Roy Scheider as police chief Martin Brody, who, with the help of a marine biologist (Richard Dreyfuss) and a professional shark hunter (Robert Shaw), hunts a man-eating great white shark that attacks beachgoers at a summer resort town. 

The screenplay is credited to Benchley, who wrote the first drafts, and actor-writer Carl Gottlieb, who rewrote the script during principal photography.

Shot mostly on location at Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts from May to October 1974, Jaws was the first major motion picture to be shot on the ocean and consequently ran into huge problems during the production, going over budget and schedule.

That wasn’t the only problems… A movie like this had never been made before, so when the art department at the studio were asked to build a shark, they had no clue how to create such a monster. There were ultimately five mechanical sharks which often malfunctioned which left Spielberg deciding to mostly suggest the shark’s presence, employing an ominous and minimalist theme created by composer John Williams to indicate its impending appearances, which actually turned out for the best, making the movie even more scary to watch, you just never knew when the moment would come when the Great WHite would appear out of the shadowy darkness of the sea!

The movie was released in over 450 screens, which at the time was an exceptionally wide release for a major studio picture at the time, and was accompanied by an extensive marketing campaign and merchandise.

The movie was regarded as a watershed moment in movie history, excuse the pun. Jaws would go on to be the prototype of what we know now as the ‘Summer Blockbuster’!

Jaws would also go on to win several awards for music and editing and became the highest grossing movie of all time until Star Wars was released to the big screen two years later.

The success of Jaws would lead to three sequels, of which Jaws 2 was another great movie, the next two would be seen with poor reviews. Jaws 3 would make use of the latest technology in film, by being released in 3D, and although not a flop and actually being a commercial success, all be it not as good as the first two instalments, Jaws 3 would gain plenty of negative reviews from both critics and moviegoers alike, with comments such as “This Jaws doesn’t bite, it sucks!”.

In 1987 the fourth instalment was released, and although it starred the legendary Michael Caine, it was the worst movie from the franchise.

Jaws legacy would go on to inspire plenty more shark movies, some great, but many beyond bad! Very Bad!

With the 50th Anniversary of the first Jaws movie hitting the big screen on 20th June 1975, you can watch the whole franchise on Amazon Prime Video.

It will also be available on Blu-Ray with a special 50th Anniversary Edition.