Movie Review: JAWS... (I'm 47 Years Too Late, But It's All Good)

"You're gonna need a bigger boat." I finally understood the context of this memorable line from Jaws after watching Steven Spielberg's classic 1975 adventure thriller—the very first summer blockbuster ever made—in IMAX at AMC theaters today.

While it doesn't have the high-octane energy that action scenes in today's blockbusters have, Jaws was nevertheless a very enjoyable film...and one whose message still has resonance today. Just as how some people in the 21st century willfully ignore the dangers of exploiting Mother Nature (resulting in issues such as climate change) to continue making a buck, the folks of Amity—a fictional island community off the coast of New England—refused to do anything about a ravenous great white shark that threatened their ability to earn lots of money through tourists visiting from the U.S. mainland on the Fourth of July until it was too late.

Considering that it was released almost a decade before the PG-13 rating was created (in 1984 thanks to Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom), it's amusing to know that Jaws was merely PG—what with the implied nudity (via that unlucky female skinny-dipper in the opening scene and the poster above), drug use (also in the opening scene) and bloody depictions of people getting attacked and maimed by that great white throughout the film.

There was even a moment or two where Jaws really gave me a jump-scare...one of them being when oceanographer Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) dove into the water to examine a seemingly-abandoned boat that was attacked by the shark, only to discover that someone was still onboard—but clearly no longer breathing.

The final act where Amity's police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), the shark hunter named Quint (Robert Shaw) and Hooper sail out to sea to hunt down that great white was no doubt an exciting sequence 47 years ago. To watch these three characters put their lives on the line as they chase after an apex predator in its own habitat was an enjoyable thrill to see.

And the fact that the shark met its demise in such an epic and explosive manner makes Jaws so revolutionary for its time. No wonder why Quentin Tarantino recently called Jaws "the greatest movie ever made." That's obviously not true—but I understand the sentiment behind it!

Also, it was great to hear John Williams' classic Jaws theme in the film itself...on the big screen. It wasn't great that Amity's repulsive mayor (Larry Vaughn, aptly played by Murray Hamilton) managed to get through this entire movie without a single shark bite, but oh well.