Starring Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton
Written By: Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb
Directed By: Steven Spielberg
Studio: Universal
Buy on Amazon.com

Just when you thought it was safe to head back in the water, Jaws is back to scare the bejesus out of you. Just in time for summer and the 4th of July weekend, a new release celebrating Jaws 30th Anniversary Edition is out! So you can enjoy it all over again, featuring a brand new 2 hour documentary with Director Steven Spielberg, and cast members. Jaws is full of thrills, adventures, even a few laughs and still proves to be one of the best thrillers of all time.

Amity Island was a peaceful, Cape Cod type of town. People would flock to Amity every summer for a little taste of relaxation on the beaches. That all could be ruined because of two separate incidents involving shark attacks. The new Chief of Police, Martin Brody was determined to catch the shark responsible for the attacks, and close the beaches. This would mean closing the beaches during it’s most active part of the year and crushing the economy of this small town. Mayor Vaughn wouldn’t have it that way. To him, having the beaches closed would ruin his career and the town. I enjoyed almost every scene with the mayor. Full of himself, and a typical politician, Mayor Vaughn was a complete windbag. I love the scene where Hooper (Dreyfuss) is arguing with him on the beach, discussing their findings of the shark. The mayor thinks a tiger shark was the cause of the two deaths on Amity, where Chief Brody and Hooper tell him that the town is wrong. A much larger, great white shark is out there still. Quint, the mysterious shark hunter arrives, and believes he can track and hunt the great white down, for a nice fee of course. He drags Chief Brody and Hooper along to help out. There, the most gripping scenes take place because the three men take on the largest shark anyone in the area has ever seen. It’s not all bad as the men conjure up ways to track the shark. It’s amusing to see how Brody and Hooper are in Quint’s hands are at his mercy pretty much. They finally do some bonding, in one of the most memorable scenes, at night discussing several past incidents with sharks and other creatures. Funny and nice to see before the craziness that occurs. Quint is one of the most unique characters in modern cinema. A crazy, old wise man so to speak. He always had something to say and wanted the job done his way. One reason for his insanity was when Brody witnesses how large the shark is, Brody tries to radio for help but Quint comes along and smashes up the CB radio. “Quint, you’re certifiable!” As most people remember, the showdown at the end with the shark was pretty scary. Even by today’s standards, Jaws is still a very frightening movie. Quint’s battle with Jaws comes to mind. Gruesome and scary, the scene was inspired by Moby Dick. Jaws has also had some of the most memorable lines in film history. Quotes like:

“You’re gonna need a bigger boat;”

“Mayor Vaughn: I don’t think either of you are familiar with our problems.
Hooper: I think that I am familiar with the fact that you are going to ignore this particular problem until it swims up and bites you on the ass;”

plus my favorite;
Mayor Vaughn: Fellows, let’s be reasonable, huh? This is not the time or the place to perform some kind of a half-assed autopsy on a fish… And I’m not going to stand here and see that thing cut open and see that little Kintner boy spill out all over the dock.

For the 30th anniversary edition, a second disc of extras were included like a brand new two hour documentary featuring Steven Spielberg, Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and principal cast and crew members. Not exactly recorded for this DVD, but included for the first time, with Spielberg and the producers doing most of the interviews. It was amazing to see how much a pain in the ass this film was to shoot. Spielberg himself had extreme anxiety at the end of the shoot. It was due to the fact that how troublesome it was to film the robotic shark and to be out at sea for long periods of time. Dreyfuss and Scheider have great tidbits about the shoot as well. The making of featured mostly interviews, with occasional home movies shot by Spielberg. Insightful and great to watch. Also, check out the outtakes and deleted scenes from the film along with production photos, storyboards and a featurette about marketing Jaws.

Jaws will forever be remembered for the haunting theme by John Williams, who helped bring to life the terror that was Jaws, with creepy music in the way that Hitchcock did with his film. If it wasn’t for Williams’ score the movie wouldn’t have been as scary. With all the elements in place for the film, Jaws is a classic and modern thriller that is timeless and can still be watched with horror and fear of going back in the water.

Features:
Disc 1
-From the Set: Never-Before-Available Interview with Director Steven Spielberg
-Deleted Scenes and Outtakes

Disc 2
-The Making of Jaws: Two-Hour Documentary Featuring Interviews with Steven Spielberg, Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider
-Jaws Archives: Production Photos, Storyboards, Marketing Jaws and the Jaws phenomenon Dolby Digital 2.0

Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Mono CC
ENGLISH: DTS 5.1 CC
SPANISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
FRENCH: Dolby Digital 5.1

Video:
Widescreen 2.35:1 Color (Anamorphic)

Subtitles:
Spanish, French

Favorite Scenes: Quint, Matt Hooper and Chief Brody swap “War” stories, Showdown with Jaws, Any scene with the Mayor
Rating: PG
Running Time: 124 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: