Greetings,
Ever been scared to go near any body of water bigger than a puddle? I bet I know why. Could it have something to do with the fine movie I am discussing today? Of course. So many thanks to both Jaws and its makers for turning us all into more cautious and paranoid swimmers. Fair warning. I am going through the whole plot of this film, so spoilers. Now on to the show.
Jaws is a legendary movie for so many reasons. First of all, it's awesome. Second, it had one of the most troublesome productions in history, which must and will be talked about here. I can't imagine that anyone involved with it had many jovial memories of the experience. That includes the studio. This movie went more than a hundred days over schedule, and who knows how much over budget. They probably stopped counting after $5,000,000. And, oh, the technical difficulties of the shoot. There was the decision to film in the ocean instead of a studio tank, because the ocean is far more predictable. And, of course, there was the mechanical shark, which many of the crew nicknamed "Flaws" because of all of its problems. Hey, you'll call that thing by its proper name, Bruce, and you'll like it. Now some of these problems actually made things better, and I'll discuss that later. But it has been nearly forty years since this movie came out and just by mentioning those difficulties, you can practically hear Spielberg's jaw clench in frustration to this day.
Besides all of those setbacks, there was the cast. I don't think they got a single number one pick on their list of actor possibilities for the three main leads. First, Brody. They wanted Robert Duvall for that part, but he wanted to play Quint. Okay, don't know why they didn't just let him. Charlton Heston did consider the role, and they said no to him, because I guess they thought he would just part the ocean and suffocate the shark, which was totally not in the script. They settled(?) on Roy Scheider when he showed some interest, though Spielberg was hesitant because he didn't want him playing a tough guy like he did in The French Connection. Seriously, guys, beggars can't be choosers. Next came Quint. They wanted either Lee Marvin or Sterling Hayden, but they both died so I'm assuming that made them unavailable. And since Robert Shaw had just worked with some of the producers on The Sting, they picked him. Finally, Hooper. First choice was Jon Voight. Nope. Also considered were Timothy Bottoms, Joel Gray and . . . Jeff Bridges? Really? I'm not saying "really?" because I don't think he would have been good. I just wonder how different the movie would have been with "The Dude" in that role. Well, in the end, it went to Richard Dreyfuss because George Lucas said so. And he knows best. Although, they did have to rewrite the part to make Dreyfuss happy with it. What a diva!
So there is your technical, behind the scenes history. Now on to the plot. By the way, I am going to be very detailed here, more so than I usually am with my reviews, and I will be giving spoilers. so if you haven't seen Jaws, don't read this and shame on you.
We begin with a nighttime beach party full of young people who I assume, since it's 1975, are on drugs. A boy and girl separate themselves from the group and attempt to take part in lascivious activities, namely skinny dipping. The girl runs and runs, and strips and strips, and makes her way to the water. The boy is too wasted and drops onto the sand, assumingly passed out. Too bad, because that means he missed the show of his would-be conquest getting dragged under the water by . . . something. We don't know what yet. What could it be? If this scene teaches us anything it's that sometimes, just sometimes, being high can save your life. But this first scene is also one I think could have been better with one change. If you haven't seen Scream, skip the next paragraph.
For those of you who have seen Scream, you know that Drew Barrymore, during promotion, was billed as one of the stars and then ends up getting killed about ten minutes in, which surprised audiences to say the least. I always thought that would have been an interesting idea for Jaws. They could have gotten some famous blonde of the day to be the first victim, like Farrah or even maybe Cheryl Tiegs. Then everyone would have thought, "Hey, they're gonna be in this movie", followed by them thinking,"Okay, not so much". Now, while I do believe this may have been an interesting idea, I don't want to undermine the work of Susan Backlinie, the one who got the part. She did a great job, and she managed to save them money, because she was a professional swimmer. That meant she could do the acting and the water work. But since they ended up spending about a hundred times their budget, it probably wouldn't have been a big deal to hire one extra person. Moving on.
The day after that initial incident, the girl, Chrissie Watkins, is reported missing. Her remains are eventually found by Martin Brody. Now Brody is the Chief of Police where he lives in Amity Island, along with his wife and their two sons, Sean and Mike. The medical examiner informs Chief Brody that the girl was killed by - wait for it - a shark! He wants to close down the beaches, but Mayor Larry Vaughn, played by Murray Hamilton, who is a complete blockhead throughout this movie and the next, says no. Because there is no life worth more than the money one can make at the beach in the summer. Then, through no influence by the mayor I'm sure, the M.E. says, "Shark attack, no. Boating accident, yes." And the chief agrees because that's just easier.
But then, uh-oh! A little boy is killed by NOT A BOAT, you idiots! That little mishap, eventually, gives us a great scene where the mother of the boy slaps Brody and blames him and the mayor because they knew about the shark. Why she didn't slap the mayor, I'll never know, since we all wanted to do that anyway. But all these incidents concerning sharks bring us Matt Hooper, a very fidgety marine biologist, who informs us that these people were, in fact, killed by sharks. Thanks, man. We also are introduced to Quint, the shark hunter who is FANtastic.
We are treated to some more deaths caused by not a tiger shark either. Brody and Hooper discover the remains of a local fisherman, Ben Gardner. He was clearly killed in a shark attack, and the idiot mayor still won't close the beaches, because the Fourth of July is coming. And that holiday is loads of fun, especially for some stupid kids, probably related to the mayor, who decide to have some fun with a fake shark fin. This distracts everyone as Jaws sneaks into an estuary and kills a dude, witnessed by Mike, who goes into shock. No kidding. So Brody, Hooper and Quint set out on a boat called the Orca to try and find the shark.
Believe it or not, even with all the attacks, it is not until they are on the boat that we finally get to SEE the shark. And that scene is phenomenal! Funny thing is, I think the shark was supposed to be seen throughout the movie, but, as I mentioned, it kept on breaking. So they had to rely on other things to represent it, like the legendary theme music by John Williams. But this scene would not have been as good had it not been the first time. Of course, there still would have been the jump scare, but combine that with it being the first sighting, and you get this perfection. It proves that a problem can sometimes end up being a blessing. Oh, and this is where we get the infamous, "We're gonna need a bigger boat" line. Sweet!
Now I can't talk about the time on the boat without mentioning the little story that Quint told about his experiences with sharks. Specifically, he identifies himself as a survivor of the USS Indianapolis, a ship that had sunk in the War of the Pacific, leaving the crew at the mercy of the ocean and a lot of deadly sharks. Normally, exposition in an action/horror movie tends to be pretty boring, but here, it is one of the most powerful scenes. Probably because it is the telling of a true and devastating story. And Robert Shaw tells it so well.
Back to the action. The next morning our star shows up again, which makes Brody attempt to call the Coast Guard for help. But that doesn't work because Quint destroys the radio, and he does this because . . . I don't know, seemed like a good idea at the time? Plus, he's kind of obsessed with killing the shark himself. There's some good chasing, and Quint has an idea to try and suffocate the shark (not the presumed Charlton Heston way), but he tries way too hard and screws up the engines. Again, seemed like a good idea at the time.
So Hooper goes underwater in scuba gear and a giant cage to try and strychnine the shark to death. Wow, these guys are really grasping at straws at this point. The shark attacks the cage, prompting Hooper to swim out and go hide somewhere underwater. No, seriously. When the damaged cage emerges, they think he's dead. He's not, but guess who does get dead? Yep, Quint's obsession finally catches up with him, and he is eaten by it. And, boy, can we hear a really good crunch on that one? The whole scene, the sound, the angle, it's brilliant and terrifying. And guess what just got moved to the top of everyone's "How I Don't Wanna Die" list?
Eventually, Brody defeats the shark by shooting the air tank it has in its mouth, leading to a magnificent ka-boom. It makes Brody very happy. Like REALLY happy. He pretty much scream laughs like a little girl in a candy store. Then, who should pop up but Hooper, still alive, because Richard Dreyfuss will never go away. The two men swim off happily back home, no doubt surrounded by bloody bits of shark, which will, of course, NOT attract a ton of other sharks. But they don't even notice.
And that was the phenomenal Jaws. This is one of the movies that makes me jealous of those who got to see it in theaters when it first came out. None of us born subsequently will ever have the experience that they did. Still, it is a must see movie. Sure, it might make you stay out of the ocean for awhile . . . or possibly your whole life, but it is so worth it. Nothing could ever taint the name of Jaws. Well, maybe not nothing. Tune in next time as we begin to review the sequels, starting with (duh!) Jaws 2. Oh, this is going to be a long week.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
