Jaws (40th Anniversary)

We've all seen re-released films throughout film history, and even though some should have never been re-released, a handful come to mind that remind us that film history is so important so as to realize where we've come from: "The Wizard of Oz", "2001: A Space Odyssey", "Ghostbusters". So why not bring us TCM's, "Jaws- 40th Anniversary" to the big screen for us to revel in?

It's a hot summer on Amity Island, a small community whose main business is its beaches. When new Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) discovers the remains of a shark attack victim, his first inclination is to close the beaches to swimmers. This doesn't sit well with Mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) and several of the local businessmen, this being the 4th of July coming up soon. Brody decides to back down only to regret his decision by next weekend considering that a young boy is killed by the predator. The dead boy's mother, Mrs. Kintner (Lee Fierro) puts out a bounty on the shark and Amity is soon swamped with amateur hunters and fishermen hoping to cash in on the reward. A crusty local fisherman with much experience hunting sharks, Quint (Robert Shaw) offers to hunt down the creature for a hefty fee and soon Quint, Brody and Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) from the Oceanographic Institute are at sea hunting the Great White shark. When Brody finally comes face to face with the shark, he succinctly surmises after that first encounter, by that famous line, "We're gonna need a bigger boat".

Others to round out the cast are Lorraine Gary as Helen Brody, Chief Brody's wife, Carl Gottlieb as Meadows, Jeffrey C. Kramer as Hendricks, Susan Blacklinie as Chrissie, Jonathan Filley as Cassidy, Chris Rebello as Michael Brody and Jay Mello as Sean Brody as Chief Brody and Helen children, Jeffrey Voorhees as Alex Kintner, Craig Kingsbury as Ben Gardner and Robert Nevin as Medical Examiner.

This was directed by the incomparable Steven Spielberg ("Duel" (TV movie) '71, "The Sugarland Express" '74, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" '77, "1941" '79. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" '81, "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial" '82, "The Color Purple" '85, "Jurassic Park" '93, "Schindler's List" '93, "Amistad" '97, "Saving Private Ryan" '98, "Minority Report" '02, "The Terminal" '04, "Munich" '05, "The Adventures of Tintin" '11, "War Horse" '11, "Lincoln" '12) plus many others. This film actually catapulted Spielberg into the light as the next creative director at the age of only 27. The way he worked with cinematographer, Bill Butler in making this look as though it's coming from the shark's perspective in a very claustrophobic way was brilliant. This was cutting-edge filmmaking that isn't even used today. The haunting music by the amazing John Williams was incredibly simplistic and chilling. In fact when Williams brought Spielberg the music he wrote to show him, Spielberg just chuckled and asked him what the real music was. Today, Spielberg could not imagine how "Jaws" could have been the film it was without that score. I sought to see this again which was tough considering that it's not playing widespread, because the last time I saw this was 40 years ago in the theater when it was released on June 20, 1975. It was written by Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb based on Benchley's novel. It was written is succinct order and using novelist Benchley as one of the screenwriters was strategic in that it followed the novel better than most films based on novels today. This film is a timeless film and that makes it fit in for any generation.

Trust me, if you can find this gem in a theater near you, you gotta see this on the large screen, especially if you've never seen it on the big screen. It's a film you will not soon forget. and you'll then know why and how this young 27-year-old director is the filmmaker he's become today.

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                 Rated: PG                             124mins.