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Technical Information
Studio:
Universal Studios Home Video
Year of Theatrical Release: 1975
Disc Format: 1
single-sided, Dual Layer
Image Format: Anamorphic
Widescreen
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Region Encoding: 1
Sound Format: Dolby
Digital 5.1 or DTS (offered separately)
Running Time: 120
minutes
Director: Steven
Spielberg
Stars: Roy Scheider,
Richard Dreyfus, Murray Hamilton, Robert Shaw, Lorraine Gary
MPAA Rating: PG
Disc Supplements:
- The Making of Jaws documentary
- Deleted scenes
- Bloopers
- Outtakes
- Shark World documentary
- Theatrical trailer
- Trivia game
- Photo galleries
- DVD-ROM content
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All of the action in Jaws takes place on the
small island of Amity. That the film places itself on an island
is significant from an audience standpoint. The small island
helps to reinforce the trapped feelings our protagonists experience..
Amity, a popular vacation spot, vitally depends
on the summer tourist season. The last thing the community needs
is a giant Great White shark that has developed a taste for
scantily clad coeds. Unfortunately, that’s exactly the
sort of problem they have.
The mayor of Amity, Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton)
refuses to close the beaches with the summer season just about
to get underway. Police Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) doesn’t
agree with the mayor, but reluctantly complies. The mayor’s
shortsightedness ends in disaster as the shark continues to
view the tourists as free snacks.
With few other options left, Brody teams up
with oceanologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfus) and a fisherman
named Quint (Robert Shaw). They set out upon the ocean to track
down the shark and destroy it. What they don’t realize
(until it’s too late) is that while they are hunting the
shark, it is also hunting them.
This film is a superb example of storytelling.
One of Steven Spielberg’s early efforts, it remains a
masterpiece in terror and suspense. We are not given a lot of
unnecessary baggage with this film. The audience is given just
enough to drive the story along and that’s exactly the
correct choice.
What's even more amazing, and further
testament to the excellent storytelling, is just how effective
the shark is even though he never appears all that much on film.
In fact, most audiences will likely remember far more of the
shark than is actually there.
Though there are slow spots, the film
never drags and you never get the feeling that something is
being said just for the benefit of the audience. Overall, I
was amazed that this film is just as effective now, 25 years
later, as it was during its initial release.
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top |
I knew that Universal was putting
a lot of work into cleaning up this film for DVD release, and still,
I was honestly shocked by how great this disc looked. I guarantee
that you will never have seen this film look as good as it does
here. There are some minor bits of dust and scratches, but surpisingly
few -- almost all such artifacts have been cleaned up and removed.
Although the colors aren't quite as rich as a modern release, a
byproduct of the filming techniques and technology of the time,
they are still very rich and, again, far better than anything you've
ever seen for this film. I spotted no instances of digital compression
and only the slightest amount of artifacting.
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There can be no denying that the
John Williams scores of the 1970's are now classics and instantly
recognizable. What movie fan doesn't instantly recognize the thrumming
rhythm of Williams' score for Jaws? The brand new 5.1 surround mix
brings this musical masterpiece to new levels, with better dynamic
range and the punch it deserves. The sound effects also benefit
from the remastered power of 5.1. On the negative side, the dialog
still retains the almost tinny sound of the original mono track,
placing it a bit at odds with the rest of the sound mix. Still,
this is a very capable and decent track and a worthy upgrade from
the original.
Universal also offers a DTS version
of Jaws, with the same special features and identical image quality.
The DTS track seems to be a bit of an improvement over the Dolby
Digital, with increased dynamic range of the dialog, creating better
blending between it and the music and sound effects.
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Universal has included a pretty
decent array of extras here. Starting things off is the hour long
documentary The Making of Jaws. A two hour version
of this was included with the laserdisc edition, but for my money,
I'm OK with this shorter presentation. The documentary certainly
presents a wealth of interesting information, but much more than
an hour might have been tough to sit through.
A series of Deleted Scenes
are included and while interesting to watch, it is clear that they
had no real place in the final edit of the film. Also included are
a series of outtakes and bloopers
that focus quite a bit on the ever problematic mechanical shark,
Bruce.
Shark World is a
documentary that offers up some brief information about real sharks.
A little more to this feature would have been nice, but as is, there
are some interesting tidbits.
Next, in addition to the original
theatrical trailer, the disc offers up a Trivia
Game, Still Images, Storyboards
and some Production Photos.
Finishing things up on the disc is
some DVD-ROM content that includes a screensaver
and web links.
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Jaws is a classic piece of film history that
belongs in any collection and this DVD seems to be the version to
own. A Spielberg commentary would have made this disc perfect, but
it’s close enough as it is.
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| Jaws is a horror movie.
By today's standards, it may seem rather tame in respect to the amount
of visible violence and gore, this is still a rather intense film
emotionally. The younger kids should be kept away, but the older kids
can handle it. |
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| -- By Robert Wurth. Copyright
© 2003. |
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