Thursday 5 March 2015

JAWS (1975)



Jaws, Steven Spielberg's shark mega-hit was released on June 1, 1975. It was based off Peter Benchley's best selling novel which was released a year before.(FUN FACT**Peter Benchley made a special appearance in the movie as a news reporter)


(WOO!!! PETER BENCHLEY)


The legendary, Steven Spielberg who is well known for his amazing films (Indiana Jones, E.T, Jurassic Park, e.g.) was only 29 years old at the time. Can you imagine, at 29, being able to produce the FIRST EVER summer blockbuster?? (Yes, it was the first ever summer blockbuster to ever come about) Pretty JAWSome if I can say so myself. It is also known to be one of the greatest movies of all time, and has won more awards than the number of times I daydream about Nandos (and Nandos is usually all I ever think about)

(STEPHEN SPIELBERG!! LEGENDARY)

The movie stars actors, Roy Scheider as Martin Brody, a police chief, Richard Dreyfuss as Matt Hooper, a shark specialist and Robert Shaw as Quint who is a professional shark hunter. They are the main characters and icons of the movie. When you think of Jaws, you think of them (whoa) And the shark. The shark eating everyone up. 

(THE TRIO!!!)

Now, I am pretty sure, my blog is not the only time you have read or heard about how amazing Jaws is, or how many awards it scored. It is amazing, therefore it gets amazing reviews and wins countless awards. But what is it... What is it actually, that makes Jaws so amazing? What are the elements implemented that bring it to the top?

For me, what I think is really mind blowing are the special effects. We're talking about the 70s here. They did not have all the fancy schmancy technology we have now, but still they managed to produce such an awesome outcome. For example, the shark, which is one of the most important roles in the movie; the icon of Jaws. 



This terrifying icon was actually a robot, a mechanical shark. "But it seemed so real" yes it did. I remember thinking to myself when I first watched the movie, "How do they train the shark this well that it knows not to eat the people up, but to only pretend just for the movie???" 

They really managed to make the (mechanical) shark so scary, so terrifying and vicious in its movements, hats off to them. (like when the shark was attacking a victim, its big, sharp white teeth tearing them to pieces; really terrifyingly detailed making it very real)

(RAWRRRRRR)

With a click of a button, the shark will begin its terrifying, vicious movements and attacks in the water, like how you press go on the remote of a remote controlled toy car for it to start moving. 

This is really mind blowing to me, the fact that they managed to make something so advanced like this last time without all the modern-day gadgets and technology. This shows that there are seriously no limits to what you do. If you want it, you work for it, and you'll get it. And that is exactly what Steven Spielberg did.

*FUN FACT?? throughout the movie, there were actually a few technical difficulties that kept on re-occuring with the shark, (It kept on breaking down) but, they managed to work around this problem by making it look as if they were creating suspense & that is why the shark did not appear much (the actual reason being: the shark could not function so we have to improvise) But at the end of the day, the shark still managed to scare the living daylights out of millions of people.

The actors and actresses (characters) of the movie are also a part of what makes an amazing movie, amazing. Let's say, if their performances were not up to par, would the movie still look good? Of course not. This is why, the casting, is very important. Steven Spielberg did a good job with it.

The performances of the characters onscreen in Jaws was really very convincing (convinces you that they are real people, in real situations) Each of the actors and actresses managed to accurately capture and dominate their roles in the movie very well. For example, Roy Scheider as Martin Brody, a police chief. He incorporated all of his character's (Chief Brody) characteristics and personality traits fairly well (e.g. he is very scared of water)

 (ROY SCHEIDER!!)

This film is not exactly suitable for those of younger ages. This is because it does contain violence (considering the shark gnarling on his victims and all the blood) This may traumatise the younger ones. Let them stick to their own adorable little movies first, they'll be able to watch Jaws before they know it.

This film is a mixture of thriller and comedy. A little romantic too. A thriller because of its exciting plot (WHAT ISN'T EXCITING ABOUT SHARKS??), a comedy because it is funny (funny because of characters, characters' actions)

(Uh,Matt....?)

 And a little romantic because of some romantic elements involved (Chief Brody and his wife are very loving)


The following are a few elements that a good movie possesses:
good storyline
good acting
good script
good editing of footage
good special effects

It is safe to say that Jaws has all of the above. The storyline is awesome, characters and acting was on point, the script was great, editing of footage was amazing and so were the special effects, without a doubt. **no sign of bad movie elements here**

I recommend for you (YES YOUU) if you have not watched it to watch it! You have to. Even if you are not exactly a fan of movies like this, watch it. There would be no regrets, I promise. Take it from me honestly, as at first (before I watched the movie) I thought of it as just one of those shark movies with no story, just a lot of killing. Those never appealed to me. But Jaws, Jaws is NOT like that. It is worth the time and money.  


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