Jaws

1975 | Steven Spielberg | Roy Scheider | Richard Dreyfuss | Murray Hamilton | Fear the Water | Book Adaptations “Jaws” still remains a masterpiece. A groundbreaking film that not only kicked-off the career of one of the greatest directors of all time, Steven Spielberg, but also invented the summer blockbuster and changed film and the industry forever. The impact this film had is indescribable and goes beyond the film world, as it scared generations out of the water. Additionally, this is one amazing book adaptation. Just finished reading Peter Benchley’s book yesterday and absolutely loved it. Probably one of the best books I ever read. And this film does an amazing job at adapting the book and translating it to the big screen. This has all the important plot-points of the book and the story has the same developments and beats, but there are differences. It pretty much leaves out whole characters like Harry Meadows who has a rather big part in the book, reduces Deputy Hendricks to even more of a side character and those are not the only ones, although the most important. It leaves out the main motivation the mayor has for not closing the beaches, which I thinks makes this work even better, and the Brody family has a different backstory. And it obviously changes other things, some smaller, some bigger. Quint is introduced a lot earlier, for example. The biggest difference tho is the relationship between Ellen Brody and Hooper, who don’t know each other here, which they do in the book. The book even has Ellen cheating on Brody with Hooper. And Hooper and Brody are super nice to each other here, whereas in the book, they pretty much hated each other at the end. They even had a small physical fight. And also, Hooper dies in the book. In general, the film is less dark, leaves out most of the characters melodrama and focuses more on the adventure part. It leaner, tighter and boils it all down to the core elements. And that works. The film changes some things, but captures the essence of the book perfectly. And the best scene of the film isn’t even in the book. The scene on the Orca, when they’re sitting together at night and Quint has his monologue might very well be the best scene in the film. It develops a huge intensity and I would say it’s just perfect. Another thing that’s perfect is Spielberg’s direction. This film is incredibly made. Sure, the shark-effects are amazing, the pacing perfect, the casting and performances outstanding and the summer atmosphere impeccable, but the film is a technical marvel too. The score obviously being one of the most iconic of all time, but the cinematography and editing are marvelous. The editing right before the sharks second attack when Brody is sitting on the beach is amazing. And the film has so many shots that are just beautiful. It’s incredible that Spielberg was only 26 when he directed this, cause the direction is absolutely masterful. And the film also is so good at building tension. Obviously in specific scenes, but also over-all. There is a general tension that keeps building throughout this whole film. “Jaws” is one of the rare cases of the adaptation being just as good as the book, of not even better. A perfect film that left a huge mark in film history and deserves every bit of praise it gets and the reputation it has. And obviously, this is one of Spielberg’s best!