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Jaws Details

1975 Certificate 12
  • Rated:
  • 70
  • from 39,843 members

From the best-selling novel by Peter Benchley, Steven Spielberg directed this thrill ride of terror. During the height of beach season, the Massachusetts resort town of Amity Island is terrorized one summer by surprise attacks from a great white shark. Three unlikely partners team up to hunt down the rogue and destroy it: the .. Read more

Starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary
Director Steven Spielberg
Genres Thriller

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Jaws

From the best-selling novel by Peter Benchley, Steven Spielberg directed this thrill ride of terror. During the height of beach season, the Massachusetts resort town of Amity Island is terrorized one summer by surprise attacks from a great white shark. Three unlikely partners team up to hunt down the rogue and destroy it: the new chief of police from New York (Roy Scheider), a young university-educated oceanographer (Richard Dreyfuss), and a crusty old-time fisherman (Robert Shaw). The film shoot was notoriously difficult for the young Spielberg, who had directed only one feature film before JAWS. The mechanical shark seldom operated correctly, and Spielberg was frequently forced to create the idea of terror without actually showing the shark. However, after the film premiered it went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time--surpassing THE GODFATHER and becoming the first film to gross more than one million dollars. Composer John Williams created the score to JAWS, which has since become a well-known theme of impending doom. Ron and Valerie Taylor were responsible for filming live sharks in Australia; their sequences were later mixed with footage of the mechanical shark.

Starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Susan Backlinie, Lee Fierro, Jonathan Filley, Carl Gottlieb, Jeffrey Kramer, Jay Mello, Peter Benchley
Director Steven Spielberg
Studio SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time DVD: 1 hr 59 mins
Certificate Certificate 12
Collections 100 Horror Films, 100 Top Thrillers
Genres Thriller
Language DVD: English
Dubbed French, German, Italian, Spanish
Subtitles DVD: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
Released DVD: 01 Dec 2003
Production year: 1975
Format DVD

Jaws (1975)

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  • Critics' reviews (2) of Jaws

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  • 5 stars out of 5

    Peter Benchley's pulp bestseller is here turned into the scariest sea saga ever filmed, with Steven Spielberg creating maximum suspense in the first dark moments and then maintaining the momentum with brilliant sleight-of-hand direction. The tale of a great white shark terrorising a New England resort community and the modern-day Captain Ahab (Robert Shaw) employed to kill it is now a classic of the suspense thriller genre. John Williams's Oscar-winning music and the excellent performances of Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss add to the ingeniously mounted tension that cleverly plays on all our deepest primeval fears.

    • Radio Times
  • 2 stars out of 4

    In the exploitation-hungry seventies this film took more money than any other. In itself, despite genuinely suspenseful and frightening sequences, it is a slackly narrated and sometimes flatly handled thriller with an over-abundance of dialogue and, when

    • Halliwell's Film Guide
  • Most helpful member's review of Jaws

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  • 22 out of 25 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars [Highly rated reviewer]

    We need a bigger boat

    Principally, 'Jaws' is about a huge shark terrorizing a commonly serene coastal town up in the north-eastern United States. After the attacks grow to be more horrifying, repetitive, and was also involving children; a police chief, a somewhat eccentric sailor and a marine biologist set sail to track down the shark. The main difficulty is that they have no idea what they are getting themselves into.

    Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider performed outstandingly, but it is Robert Shaw and his representation of the crazy sailor Quint that steals the show. The three characters fail to get along with each other while in the boat, but need each other to survive, since it soon becomes clear that they’ve bitten off a little more than tey can chew, and their lives are at stake

    Bottom line, this film is incredible. 'Jaws' is THE film to watch before heading out to the beach.

    • JediSi
      • JediSi
  • Most recent members' review of Jaws

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  • 3 out of 4 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    A True Classic

    This film is definitely in my top ten all time favourite films; it’s a work of genius! I have watched it on more than one occasion, in fact probably 100 times or more and I still love it!

    It’s my favourite Steven Spielberg film; I just love the way he shot and put this film together. The casting is phenomenal especially the main three, Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss.

    My favourite is Richard Dreyfuss though; he truly shines in this movie particularly the scenes he shares with Roy Scheider at the beginning of the film.

    In fact everyone involved in this film is fantastic, from the real life locals used as extras to Peter Benchley, the book’s author playing a news reporter. Ok, so the actual model of the shark looks a little shaky at times but to be perfectly honest I wouldn’t have it any other way.

    If you’ve never watched this film before then your extremely lucky, I would give anything to be watching it for the first time!

      • Kirst1 from London
  • News and features

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    Holocaust

    Director races to complete Scheider's last film

    • 02 Dec 2009

    Moviemaker Joshua Newton is racing to complete the film that has become Jaws star Roy Scheider's final project, so the actor can be considered for a posthumous Best Actor Oscar. Scheider was twice nominated for an Academy Award during his life, and Newton is determined to do what he can to make sure his late star lands a third nod. The director must screen his unfinished movie at least once before Christmas (09) for it to meet consideration deadlines. Roy Scheider, who earned his nominations... Read more

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Rating breakdown

39,843 Member ratings
  • 100
7,017
  • 90
5,062
  • 80
8,071
  • 70
7,090
  • 60
5,976
  • 50
3,169
  • 40
1,579
  • 30
953
  • 20
621
  • 10
305

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    • Jaws
      From the best-selling novel by Peter Benchley, Steven Spielberg directed this thrill ride of terror. During the height of beach season, the Massachusetts resort town of Amity Island is terrorized one summer by surprise attacks from a great white shark. Three unlikely partners team up to hunt down ...