Movie Debate #168: Jaws

[Reed Rothchild | 9,967]

[Tabonga | 2,533]

 

I thought it was pretty much  meh on release and still do.  Great music though.

I  liked how the story of the Indianapolis was worked in - a fairly obscure chapter of history that few know about.

Edited August 15 by Tabonga

[FireHazard51 | 2,105]

I haven't watch this movie in a while.  But I always enjoy it and think it's some scary ass shit.  I'm always shocked if someone hasn't seen it.  If they are a friend I will threaten them if they don't watch it. 

[JamesRobot | 6,039]

35 minutes ago, FireHazard51 said:

I'm always shocked if someone hasn't seen it.  If they are a friend I will threaten them if they don't watch it. 

Better watch out @Gloves. 

[Tulpa | 3,725]

Great opening, some slow moments (though not uncommon for the era), great third act.

i like Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw, but I kind of wish they'd toned down the over the top moments, especially between each other. Gets a little hammy. (Still funny is when Quint crushes the beer can and Hooper crushes the Dixie Cup in response.) The quiet moments their characters have, like Quint telling about the Indianapolis (as Tabonga mentioned) and Hooper telling his first shark encounter story are still pretty effective.

I get that Hooper is a product of the times, the late 60s nonconformist era stretched into the 70s, and Murry Hamilton's Vaughn is kind of the Nixon stand in for Hooper to rage at.

The movie is really made by the editing. I know the general story is that the shark malfunctioned a lot and they had to cut some scenes, but there were other scenes cut where the shark did work, but it looked like a mechanical prop rather than a real shark. It really is a lesson of less is more, and not showing the shark until key moments really makes it work.

And this was the movie that really kicked off the whole "Well, (hit movie) was successful, so let's copy it and make it even cheaper (and lamer) and cash in" trend. Think of how many imitators of Jaws came out in the decades since. Cheap cash in films existed before, but this one really made the ripoff movie a thing.

[Gloves | 12,283]

Never seen it. 

[Tulpa | 3,725]

29 minutes ago, Gloves said:

Never seen it. 

Have you seen Piranha, Grizzly, Alligator, The Last Shark, Tentacles, Orca, Blood Beach, Crocodile, Cocaine Bear, Day of the Animals, Night of the Lepus, The Beast, The Meg, Prophecy, Empire of the Ants, Killer Elephants, Arachnophobia, Anaconda, Deep Blue Sea, Lake Placid, Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, Sharknado, Ghost Shark, Primeval, or Two-Headed Shark Attack?

Because then you've seen Jaws (a really shitty version, at least.)

[JamesRobot | 6,039]

It's fine I guess.  Kind of cribbed the 70s disaster movie formula and started the dangerous animal movie genre.  It's Spielberg, so I can't knock it too much, but Jaws never really did it for me.  Same goes for much of Tulpa's list.  At least Anaconda had Ice Cube.

5

[RH | 5,237]

7 hours ago, Tulpa said:

The movie is really made by the editing. I know the general story is that the shark malfunctioned a lot and they had to cut some scenes, but there were other scenes cut where the shark did work, but it looked like a mechanical prop rather than a real shark. It really is a lesson of less is more, and not showing the shark until key moments really makes it work.

I've actually heard that film schools do (or at least for a long time, they did) use this as a case study of how proper editing can save a film.  All of this was true. On the cutting room floor, the footage of the shark was just a hot mess and almost entirely unsalvageable. So, how do you salvage a movie about a shark where 95% of your footage of your practical-effect shark is trash--you pivot and make it suspenseful with a big "reveal" of the size and power of the shark.

Even still, the shark looks like trash at the end of the movie--it's jaw is obviously hinged and the entire thing looks to be made of fiberglass, and wasn't skinned in silicon, or even rubber, which would have helped a LOT.  Regardless, the suspense is built so well going into the climax, you can easily over look it or, possibly, not see it at all.

I appreciate this film for what it is.  I'm not a fan of Dreyfus, but this is one of two films of his that I can enjoy, the other being What About Bob?. I say it's worthy of an 8 though I treat it as a 6--it's not something I'll likely ever go out of my way to watch, but if I were flipping through the Pluto, or saw it bubble to the top of a streaming service and I'm looking to for something to watch while I'm doing something else on my phone, this is a good film to observe in the background.

[AirVillain | 534]

Saw it in a small theater a couple weeks back.

First time I ever watched it front to back.

It was... okay. 5 is what I voted.

Literally... okay, but I would not go out of my way to watch.

Well made film, of course, just wouldn't bother watching it over and over....

[Tulpa | 3,725]

On 8/22/2024 at 5:22 AM, JamesRobot said:

  At least Anaconda had Ice Cube.

Cocaine Bear had Ice Cube, Jr.

[AstralSoul | 523]

I saw this movie for the first time maybe 5-7 years ago and I wasn't impressed. Maybe it was one of those "you had to be there" moments when it came out. I didn't hate it but I also just didn't get why it was so big to begin with. 5/10

[TDIRunner | 2,922]

I watched it once, a very long time ago.  I remember thinking it was ok, but I've never agreed with the praise that seems to be universally applied to this movie.  

[Tulpa | 3,725]

17 hours ago, AstralSoul said:

I saw this movie for the first time maybe 5-7 years ago and I wasn't impressed. Maybe it was one of those "you had to be there" moments when it came out. I didn't hate it but I also just didn't get why it was so big to begin with. 5/10

 

7 hours ago, TDIRunner said:

I watched it once, a very long time ago.  I remember thinking it was ok, but I've never agreed with the praise that seems to be universally applied to this movie.  

If you've seen a lot of the imitators, even some of the better ones like Jurassic Park, then I can see why Jaws doesn't quite have the impact on people today. A lot of the suspense and fun of the movie has been done over and over that it's like watching something for the 100th time. 

When it came out, though, it was pretty damn fresh and new. You really didn't see anything like it outside of some b-horror movies, and certainly not as slick as Jaws.