In a sentenceTwo hours of watching the water and hoping the music has got it wrong
A shark threatens people at sea in Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, with Roy Scheider as Brody, Robert Shaw as Quint and Richard Dreyfuss as Hooper. Fear brings disagreements about authority and self-interest as the people facing the danger try to decide how to respond. The shark remains largely unseen while the film follows those human responses, combining horror, thriller and adventure. Lorraine Gary plays Ellen Brody, Murray Hamilton plays Vaughn and Carl Gottlieb plays Meadows. Gottlieb and Peter Benchley write the screenplay, adapting Benchley’s novel.
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Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is a superb thriller because its people matter as much as its shark. The writing occasionally pushes its point too hard, but the suspense is patient, clear and still frightening.
Jaws works because Steven Spielberg takes the people seriously before asking us to fear for them. The shark supplies the danger, but human vanity and self-interest let that danger grow. We think it is a superb thriller, with excitement that depends on following what is happening and caring who is caught up in it. Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb’s screenplay, adapted from Benchley’s novel, gives the characters enough life to hold our attention even when there is nothing threatening in view.
Roy Scheider gives Brody a practical sort of fear: he seems determined to remain useful while frightened. That is more engaging than a hero who never looks worried. Richard Dreyfuss makes Hooper’s confidence lively and occasionally irritating, just enough to stop competence becoming dull. Robert Shaw gives Quint a heavier presence, and his relish for the part makes the differences between the three men entertaining before they become sources of tension. The acting supplies much of the film’s humour without making the danger seem less serious.
Bill Butler’s cinematography keeps the images readable even when the threat stays hidden. Spielberg encourages us to search the frame, then uses the reverse zoom to make a shock physically disorientating. The effect is conspicuous, but it earns the attention it draws. Joe Alves’s production design makes the boat feel cramped and usable, giving the men little room to avoid one another. Those close quarters help the actors make disagreement uncomfortable without having to raise their voices.
Verna Fields’s editing allows apprehension to develop before making the interruption count. She gives the audience time to anticipate trouble without letting that anticipation become idle waiting. We were frightened by the stretches with no shark in sight, because John Williams’s score made us expect movement in water that offered no reassurance. The music keeps directing our attention towards what might happen next. Knowing the music does not tell us when the shark will appear.
The writing is less subtle about authority and greed. Benchley and Gottlieb occasionally make the human arguments too easy to settle, leaving little for us to consider beyond how foolishly somebody is behaving. Shaw also pushes Quint towards theatricality at times, especially beside Scheider’s quieter work. Neither fault seriously damages the suspense, though the simpler character moments are more convincing than the insistence on making a point.
As a creature thriller, it has the confidence to let conversation occupy time that could have been filled with another scare. That is a useful distinction in a genre where people can become little more than an orderly queue of prospective victims. Spielberg makes their company part of the attraction, then keeps the action clear enough for their predicament to remain understandable. The suspense survives because the film remains interesting between attacks.
At 124 minutes, it allows the audience to get properly acquainted with the people who are afraid. That patience is worth more than another glimpse of the shark would be. Watch it with someone who insists that a familiar film cannot frighten them.
The reviews are almost unanimous. Most critics call it a near-flawless piece of suspense, and the praise clusters around Spielberg’s direction, above all his decision to keep the shark out of sight and build dread from reaction shots and empty water. The three lead performances, Robert Shaw’s Quint most often, and John Williams’ score come up in nearly every notice, along with the drinking-and-scars scene as the film’s centre. Several critics also credit the film with inventing the summer blockbuster.
The spread is narrow. Only one review dissents: the Los Angeles Times, in 1975, finds the film coarse and exploitative, too reliant on gruesome attacks, and objects to its PG rating. Collider admires it as a thriller but ends up rooting for the shark, unhappy at what the film did to the reputation of real ones. A few of the older notices are cooler, calling it cracking entertainment rather than anything more, but nobody else calls it a failure.
The critic hails it as the scariest sea saga ever filmed and a classic of suspense that launched the summer blockbuster era, praising Spielberg's direction, the lead performances and the score's tension-building power.
Read the full review →The critic calls it a complete and flawless film where every element from plot to score works impeccably despite troubled production, establishing it as the origin of the modern blockbuster.
Read the full review →The critic hails Jaws as a demonstration of Spielberg's intuitive gifts as a filmmaker. It singles out the director's masterful use of off-screen space, reaction shots, and misdirection over explicit effects for building tension.
Read the full review →The critic praises Jaws as Spielberg's breakthrough and the first summer blockbuster, highlighting its visceral terror, suspenseful unseen shark, and masterful direction including the reverse zoom and score. Production difficulties are noted but the final result is seen as a film of immense power that has lost none of its ability to terrify.
Read the full review →Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” is a sensationally effective action picture and scary thriller that succeeds because it populates the story with developed, relatable human characters. The critic singles out the strong performances, particularly Richard Dreyfuss, and the brilliant, clean-cut storytelling for praise.
Read the full review →The piece celebrates Jaws as a pop masterpiece and happy accident that restructured Hollywood. It praises the film's sly storytelling, attention to working-class detail, and harmonious blend of controlled and chaotic elements as the source of its lasting power.
Read the full review →
The Wages of FearWorking men, dangerous machinery and suspense built from movements too small for comfort.
The BirdsFamiliar surroundings become frightening through patient observation and an enemy without an explanation.
Duel · not reviewed yetAnother ordinary man faces a threat that refuses to be reasoned with.
TremorsA concealed creature, useful supporting characters and jokes that sharpen the danger.
The Host · not reviewed yetA creature attack exposes official incompetence while a disorderly family earns our concern.
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