Jaws is a 1975 American thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and
based on Peter Benchley's 1974 novel of the same name. In the story, a
giant man-eating great white shark attacks beachgoers on Amity Island, a
fictional New England summer resort town, prompting the local police
chief to hunt it with the help of a marine biologist and a professional
shark hunter. The film stars Roy Scheider as police chief Martin Brody,
Robert Shaw as shark hunter Quint, Richard Dreyfuss as oceanographer
Matt Hooper, Murray Hamilton as Larry Vaughn, the mayor of Amity Island,
and Lorraine Gary as Brody's wife, Ellen. The screenplay is credited to
both Benchley, who wrote the first drafts, and actor-writer Carl
Gottlieb, who rewrote the script during principal photography.
Shot mostly on location on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, the film
had a troubled production, going over budget and past schedule. As the
art department's mechanical sharks suffered many malfunctions, Spielberg
decided to mostly suggest the animal's presence, employing an ominous,
minimalistic theme created by composer John Williams to indicate the
shark's impending appearances. Spielberg and others have compared this
suggestive approach to that of classic thriller director Alfred
Hitchcock. Universal Pictures gave the film what was then an
exceptionally wide release for a major studio picture, over 450 screens,
accompanied by an extensive marketing campaign with a heavy emphasis on
television spots and tie-in merchandise.
Now considered one of the greatest films ever made, Jaws was the
prototypical summer blockbuster, with its release regarded as a
watershed moment in motion picture history. Jaws became the
highest-grossing film of all time until the release of Star Wars (1977).
It won several awards for its soundtrack and editing. Along with Star
Wars, Jaws was pivotal in establishing the modern Hollywood business
model, which revolves around high box-office returns from action and
adventure pictures with simple "high-concept" premises that are released
during the summer in thousands of theaters and supported by heavy
advertising. It was followed by three sequels, none with the
participation of Spielberg or Benchley, and many imitative thrillers. In
2001, Jaws was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in
the United States National Film Registry, being deemed "culturally,
historically, or aesthetically significant".
Plot
During a late-night beach party on Amity
Island, a young woman goes swimming in the ocean. While treading water,
she is violently pulled under. The next morning, her partial remains are
found on shore. The medical examiner ruling the death a shark attack
leads Police Chief Martin Brody to close the beaches. Mayor Larry Vaughn
overrules him, fearing it will ruin the town's summer economy. The
coroner now concurs with the mayor's theory that the girl was killed in a
boating accident. Brody reluctantly accepts their conclusion until
another fatal shark attack occurs shortly after. A bounty is then placed
on the shark, resulting in an amateur shark-hunting frenzy, local
professional shark hunter Quint offers his services for $10,000.
Meanwhile, consulting oceanographer Matt Hooper examines the first
victim's remains and confirms the death was from a shark attack.
When local fishermen catch a large tiger shark, the mayor proclaims the
beaches safe. Hooper disputes it being the same predator, confirming
this after no human remains are found inside it. Hooper and Brody find a
half-sunken vessel while searching the night waters in Hooper's boat.
Underwater, Hooper retrieves a sizable great white shark's tooth
embedded in the submerged hull. He drops it after finding a partial
corpse. Vaughn discounts Brody and Hooper's claims that a huge great
white shark is responsible and refuses to close the beaches, allowing
only added safety precautions. On the Fourth of July weekend, tourists
pack the beaches. Following a juvenile prank, the real shark enters a
nearby estuary, killing a boater and causing Brody's son, Michael, to go
into shock. Brody finally convinces a devastated Vaughn to hire Quint.
Quint, Brody, and Hooper set out on Quint's boat, the Orca, to hunt the
shark. While Brody lays down a chum line, Quint waits for an opportunity
to hook the shark. Without warning, it appears behind the boat. Quint
estimates the shark's length at 25 feet (7.6 m) and harpoons a barrel
into it, but it drags the barrel underwater and disappears.
At nightfall, as the three swap stories, the great white returns
unexpectedly, ramming the boat's hull and killing the power. The men
work through the night repairing the engine. In the morning, Brody
attempts to call the Coast Guard, but Quint smashes the radio, enraging
Brody. After a long chase, Quint harpoons another barrel into the shark.
The line is tied to the stern, but the shark drags the boat backwards,
swamping the deck and flooding the engine compartment, forcing Quint to
sever the line to prevent the transom from being pulled out. He then
heads toward shore, intending to lure the shark to shallower waters and
suffocate it, but the overtaxed engine quits.
With the Orca slowly sinking, the trio attempt a riskier approach:
Hooper dons scuba gear and enters the water in a shark-proof cage,
intending to lethally inject the shark with strychnine using a
hypodermic spear. The shark demolishes the cage before Hooper can inject
it, but he manages to escape to the seabed. The shark then attacks the
boat directly, killing Quint. Trapped on the sinking vessel, Brody
stuffs a pressurized scuba tank into the shark's mouth, and, climbing
the mast, shoots the tank with Quint's rifle, destroying it. The
resulting explosion obliterates the shark. Hooper resurfaces, and he and
Brody paddle to Amity Island clinging to boat wreckage.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaws_(film)