By: Dave Clark
When I sat down to think of what films would be on my list, I was surprised how many of them were movies I saw when I was just a kid or young teenager. Were my parents irresponsible for letting such an "impressionable" youth see such violent and horrifying materials? NOPE! First, I probably snuck away to see them, watching them when they weren't home or when I was away for a sleepover or something. Secondly, my parents taught me at very young age what was right and what was wrong, and that there are consequences for our actions. So I was saved from becoming some psychotic axe murderer or something. Still these movies did scare me at a young age, but so did Michael Jackson's video for Thriller. Anyways, let me get down from my soapbox and begin my review for our #7 film, Jaws...
Let's get the formalities out of the way, Jaws was released in the summer of 1975 and was the first official Summer Blockbuster, starting a trend that continues to this day. It was directed by Steven Spielberg and was based upon Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. Production for this film was filled with headaches, so much so that the crew renamed the film "Flaws" while they were filming. The movie centered on a small Massachusetts town, Amity Island, and its holiday season nearing. It saw police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), a man with a great fear of the water, overseeing this influx of tourists as a menace from the deep began terrorizing the beach. If you don't know the plot of Jaws, there may be something wrong with you.
This film is filled with iconic images and quotes that to this day bring a smile to my face. The movie, in my opinion, holds up, again the special effects are dated but still fun to see. The shark is a practical effect, no CGI back in 1975. They had a mechanical beast they named "Bruce" on set, to terrorize the actors. The tagline that preceded this film held true, it made people afraid to go into the water. Who knows what's just below your feet in the deep dark waters of the ocean.
I still remember hearing Quint (Robert Shaw) tell the story of the USS Indianapolis and the ensuing attack after he finished the story. I can vividly recall the arrival of marine biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfus) and his examination of Chrissie's remains saying, "this was no boating accident." Brody firing off his gun at the mouth of the shark and the insane explosion that followed.
And who can forget the opening scene, the death of young Chrissie during her late night skinny dipping session.
If you've never seen Jaws...well get out from under the rock you currently reside beneath and watch it! Its a timeless classic and deserves to be on not just a Horror Film Top 10, but of all genres. But that's what we here at Atomic Geekdom think, what do you think? Would this movie make your list? Would it be higher or lower? How are you enjoying the list thus far?