Jaws Movie Evaluation

Review-http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20000820/REVIEWS08/8200301/1023
By Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times     Reviewed in 2000


My evaluation of his review-
      I agree with Roger's review. The movie was a milestone in movie making and it was definitely an inspiration to other movies. The shark was one of the first realistic mechanical animal props successfully used in the film industry. The effects were great but other factors played a role too. Roger believed that positioning of the shark was crucial to the success of the film. Floating objects moving across the water suggested that the shark was there without actually revealing the semi-realistic shark. This allowed the director to pull off many scenes in the film with the shark in it without actually having to use "Bruce", the shark prop. Roger, like me, agrees that the scripting of the movie also lead to its success. Key phrases such as "Your going to need a bigger boat"(Jaws), were simple yet so very effective. Roger Ebert states that, "The shark has been so thoroughly established, through dialogue and quasi-documentary material, that its actual presence is enhanced in our imaginations by all we've seen and heard"(Ebert). I agree with this statement because through dialogue, the movie makers have created an imaginary being that comes to life and manifests in the mechanical shark. The technique for creating suspense was the Alfred Hitchcock technique. The director leaves the shark off the screen for the majority of the movie in order to build up suspense, and later brings it back up for terror. I do not agree that the scar trading scene was the best. It was comprised with a long monologue that might have created suspense for some, but bored people like me. The scene I liked the best was the scene when Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) was in the shark cage as the shark broke through the steel bars. It was so unexpected since the viewer saw the shark swim away. It then comes back ramming the cage and leaving it destroyed. "Jaws" has become a legend as it created the summer movie industry. Roger describes it as, "The major Hollywood studios, which had avoided summer, now identified it as the prime releasing season, and "Jaws" inspired hundreds of summer thrillers and f/x pictures" (Ebert). The director of "Jaws" truly did a wonderful job he had good past experiences. "Before "Jaws," he was known as the gifted young director of films such as "Duel" (1971) and "Sugarland Express" (1974), After "Jaws," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977) and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981), he was the king"(Ebert). Overall, the movie was a big success for reasons such as timing of release, director quality, and colorful dialogue.  I really enjoyed the movie as a break from all the new movies in theaters. Modern movies are sometimes so overloaded with special effects that directors forget the core values of filming: the scripting, camera angles, and lighting.