Jaws Movie Review - Starring Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw

By David Terr

"Jaws" is a terrific and terribly frightening horror film about an enormous man-eating great white shark that terrorizes a summer resort town in New England. The special effects are incredible, especially for the time. The acting is also quite good. "Jaws" set the tone for many disaster and horror films in years to come. It also spawned three sequels, though none were anywhere near the caliper of the original.

"Jaws" takes place on Amity Island, a fictitious small resort town in New England. One night a young woman goes swimming and gets attacked and killed by a giant shark. The next day, while investigating her disappearance, Chief Brody and his deputy find her remains on the beach. Brody wants to report a shark attack, but the mayor becomes concerned that this will frighten visitors away from the upcoming Fourth of July celebration, so he tells Brody to report it as a propellor accident.

A few days later, a young boy is killed by the shark. His mother becomes very upset at Brody for not closing down the beach following the first fatality. She also puts a $3000 bounty on finding the shark. Shortly thereafter, some novice fishermen catch a large tiger shark, which they assume is the culprit. However, marine biologist Matt Hooper (Dreyfuss) says its teeth don't match the victim's wounds and suggests to Brody to cut up the shark's stomach. They decide to do so at night in order not to cause a spectacle. They find no evidence of human remains, whence they conclude that the culprit shark is still on the loose.

Brody and Hooper go out on Hooper's boat to look for the shark. They find a half-sunken boat. Adorned with scuba gear, they go to investigate. Hooper finds a large shark's tooth, but shortly thereafter discovers a human head and very frightenedly drops the tooth. Despite their alarming, discovery, Mayor Vaughn still refuses to close the beach.

Come the Fourth of July, more trouble arises. Although the tourists are hesitant to go swimming, he encourages several of them to do so. One kid scares a large group of swimmers with his fake shark's tail. But then the real shark comes and attacks, killing another kid. Everyone rushes out of the water and the mayor finally closes the beach and charters a boat for Brody to hunt the shark.

Brody goes out with Hooper and the rugged fisherman Quint (Shaw) on his boat, the Orca. Brody's given the task of throwing out fish parts and blood to attract the shark. Eventually it surfaces. Once Brody sees how big it is, he insists on going back for a bigger boat, but Quint refuses. Quint manages to harpoon the shark and attempts to weigh it down with three barrels, but it manages to get away, severely damaging the boat in the process.

With few options left, Hooper decides to go into a metal cage with his scuba gear and a large poisoned hypodermic needle with which to try to kill the shark. The shark rips through the cage and nearly kills him, but he manages to escape. Brody and Quint reel the cage back in to find it empty and badly damaged. The shark then slides onto the boat and swallows Quint.

With only Brody left on the sinking boat, all seems lost. But he manages to trick the shark into swallowing some tanks filled with compressed oxygen. Then he shoots at the tanks with a powerful rifle. Finally after several shots, he hits the tank, causing it to explode inside the shark's mouth and destroy the shark. Hooper comes out of the water shortly thereafter. The two manage to make it back to shore safely using the flotation barrels as a raft.

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