Jaws: Defined The Modern Blockbuster

Run for your lives, for your limbs, for your guts! Spielberg’s white death creation lurks in the surrounding seas of Amity Island and it WILL devour your children’s wimpy legs. Running is exactly what beach goers of the mid 70’s did after the release of Jaws, just, not towards the beach. Instead they ran away, very far away. Coastal resorts lost tons of business and Spielberg’s summer flick went on to profit by SO many millions that it shaped the world of Hollywood summer blockbusters as we know them today. What a movie!

Jaws initiated a wave of simple concept movies that would appeal to the masses, thus raking in millions—in other words, blockbusters. However, simple concept does not mean simple characters, quite the contrary (if you want it done right). In Jaws, three very profound and real characters beautifully hold together the story’s simple premise, a summer town of naïve inhabitants terrorized by the ferocious jaws of the Great White. These characters, Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), and Quint (Robert Shaw), are the results of an exceptionally well-developed script, based on the novel by Peter Benchley.

There’s a lot of “planting” in the first act of the movie, subtleties and character quirks that reveal a great deal about our protagonists and bring the audience closer to them. Brody is a responsible man who cares about the welfare of others. Actually he seems to be the only responsible soul on the island. The rest of the citizens are concerned only with their tans. His reaction to the first shark attack, a young woman eaten while skinny-dipping late at night, is to immediately close the beach. Shady Mayor Vaughn (Murray Hamilton), however, doesn’t allow this as the town’s economy relies heavily on the beach’s tourists. Vaughn suggests a boat killed the girl instead.

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Later, the shark attacks are officially confirmed as a little boy is massacred by the Great White in plain daylight and in front of hundreds of Amity’s best, including, the rotund woman who floats listlessly, the foolish boys who pretend to be a shark scaring others, and Chief Brody himself. The townspeople are officially terrified and in walks the “expert,” Matt Hooper, a marine biologist with a childhood passion for sharks.

Hooper “walks” in with style, immediately identifying an innocent shark caught by the not so well-educated shark hunters roaming the island for a bounty prize of $3000 dollars. “Tiger shark,” says Hooper. “The waaaah?” says the slow-witted dolt who thinks he caught the killer shark. Hooper’s the guy who throws around the fancy terms: “Carcharodon carcharias,” scientific name for the great white shark. He’s also the guy who pushes along the plot in a believable manner by defending that Ms. Skinny Dipping’s killer will be confirmed only after comparing bite sizes on her body to the mouth of the actual shark—intelligent and admirable.

Strongly contrasting Hooper’s book smarts and fancy terms is the rough looking Quint, Moby Dick’s Captain Ahab but in a shark obsessed, Spielberg style. He’s been to war and he’s tough and pretentious. According to him, for ten thousand dollars he guarantees the citizens of Amity the Great White’s head, tail, and soul.

The initial planting of these character’s idiosyncrasies pays off in the form of interesting movie conflict once they’re stuck at sea in a sinking boat. The opposing characters’ opinions, book-smart Hooper vs. tough war veteran Quint, constantly clash while Brody gets caught in between—he’s just a grieving father trying to save his town. The conflict is palpable because time was invested in making these characters real. In addition to that, Spielberg masterfully creates a suspenseful atmosphere between audience and monster shark.

The shark’s presence is, at many moments, also strongly suggested by renowned composer John William’s musical theme for the film, which won the Oscar for Best Original Dramatic Score (and traumatized audiences everywhere). The music’s fear-inducing notes pound at just the right moments leaving you to either grasp, very tightly, your date’s hand, or, cry like a baby. Okay, maybe not cry, but the music will certainly haunt your dreams and mark your summer days at the beach forever, as it has. The score to Jaws is one of the most memorable. Ever.

With Jaws, Steven Spielberg launched his directing career. If a movie’s goal is to touch, inspire, and convince, then this one has triumphed. It has proceeded to “encourage” millions away from the unknown waters of the sea. Who doesn’t fear Jaws?