Jaws

Release date 20th June 1975
Country : USA
Running time : 125 mins
Genre : Thriller
Starring Rory Schneider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss
Screenplay by Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb
Directed by Steven Spielberg



The resort town of Amity becomes the private feeding ground of a great white shark. The police chief wants to close the beaches but is thwarted by the town's mayor. Eventually the chief gets his way and accompanied by a scientist and fisherman takes to the sea to kill the shark.  

The first big holiday blockbuster of the modern cinema still works pretty well. The music and editing combine to create some genuinely frightening and suspenseful sequences. The shark itself is kept out of view as much as possible since the full-scale version isn't really very convincing, much better and scarier to have it as an unseen presence. 

The mechanical shark kept breaking down during shooting, eventually Spielberg had to shoot from the shark's point of view meaning the camera was the shark. It probably worked in the movie's favour.