Jaws - Defining the Summer Blockbuster

The modern summer blockbuster and the mega
movie event as a whole

can be traced back to the summer of 1975

and the debut of director
Steven Spielberg's

JAWS

In an instant, the Hollywood system of
film making was altered forever, and the

and the idea of a summer Blockbuster film
was born.

The years preceding the hit film were
filled with decidedly smaller

budget cinema, with more films that fell
auteur theory of filmmaking,

defining the landscape like never before

The post Jaw's world of Hollywood,
would soon be defined

by big budget special effects
heavy cinema like Star Wars,

which brought in huge crowds for
especially huge profits.

The story of a great white shark
terrorizing

the people of Amity Island in the summer
and police Chief

Martin Brody, played by
Roy Shider,

the man dedicated to stopping it,

quickly became the highest film

of all time both in North America and
internationally.

It's a moment in history that is

still being felt today. While
Jaw's massive success and influence

can be attributed to the idea of

right time, right place, right movie.

Spielberg's mega hit is not
a touchstone film

simply because of its box office
reshaping profits.

Rather, Jaw's is a high watermark when it
comes to

the so-called popcorn film.

In its wake,

countless massively budgeted
movies have attempted

to replicate its formula pop culture,

influence, and legacy.

Although there are dozens of
like-minded films

that have come along in the
decades since,

JAWS remains the paragon of Blockbuster
film making.

Understanding its incomparable
success and its many elements

is to understand what makes or breaks

any big budget mainstream movie.

A defining quality of Blockbuster cinema
is high concept effects,

focus spectacle that dazzles the audience
but not necessarily the critics.

But Spielberg and screenwriter Peter
Benchley, who wrote the original novel

and Carl Gottlieb understood was,
characters were the way the audiences

were truly hooked into the narrative.

Through relatable protagonists, the
stakes become more personal

far scarier and much more memorable.

While the concept of a killer shark and

the quest to kill it is simple enough,
the team behind Jaws

did not speak down to the audience.

Instead, the nuance character work
throughout the film

makes it much more engaging than many of
the films that would imitate it in the

following decades.

One of the most crucial pieces to the
successful puzzle that is Jaws,

is that during the adaptation process,
the characters of Benchley's Novel

were made far more likeable for the big
screen.

While the story as a whole is largely
intact, an affair between

an affair between Matts Hooper played by

Richard Dreyfuss and Brody's wife Ellen

played by Lorraine Gary was eliminated.

A great amount of levity within the
narrative was added and the characters in

general were made into people that the
audience could more easily identify with

and root for from the start.

That last bit is absolutely essential here

as Jaws is far more interested in having

an intimate focus on its protagonists

than just on the thrills and chills.

That in large part is why the film has
aged so magnificently.

While the language of cinema has continued
to speed up and the special effects

featured have looked worse over time,

audiences are still captivated because of

how Spielberg makes them invest so deeply
into the story.

Brody in particular stands as the
quintessential workingman hero whose

blue-collar life, nuclear family, and
common decency

connect with a mass audience.

While most will immediately think of the
shark attacks and high-seas thrills

when they recall Jaws, there are large
portions of the film

that are devoted to much smaller
character moments

far removed from anything shark-related.

By tracking Chief Brody through daily life
in Amity

and paying attention to the relationships

he has with his wife and sons, audiences

better understand the protagonist of the
film,

as well as the quaint life that defines
the Island town.

Moments like a receptionist describing a
complaint about a group of kid's

karateing a neighbor's fence or Brody's
walk-through town

that is constantly interrupted by local
requests of locals,

are given just as much thought as the
special effects-heavy action set pieces.

Throughout the film, these character-
focused scenes

balance and stand in direct juxtaposition

to the shark related horrors.

Brody's paranoid watching of the Fourth
of July beachgoers

is constantly interrupted by the off-
kilter locals

which inevitably leads to tragedy

a long day of shark hunting gives way
to a night of drinking

and storytelling between Brody, Quint,
and Hooper

resulting in the Stellar speech concerning
the USS Indianapolis,

which gives greater context to
Quinn's mindset.

Each of these moments push forward
character development

and create a more robust setting for
the film.

Amity island is both widely relatable

and also, distinctly quirky just like as
many characters.

It's a complete integration of character
details

and narrative that cannot be
unraveled

because Spielberg specifically wanted it
to be part of his film.

Hiring Gottlieb to improve Benchley's
original draft

through detailed character work,

as well as the help of several other
writers

and the use of improvisations
from the actors.

Too many Blockbusters put generic
archetypes as their leads

and hope that the spectacle around them
will excuse it.

Others throw in a moment of character
development

as an afterthought, pasting it
into the script

once everything else is done

in order to avoid accusations of
cardboard characters.

Too bad it's just as noticeable as not
having it in in the film.

Why does Jaws have such big Stakes
despite having

a generally small focus in its story?

Because it's legitimately terrifying.

It's amazing that this film was rated PG

long before the creation of PG-13,

and has remained a mainstream

feature scene by people of all ages.

There are severed limbs

in all their stumpy glory,

decapitations,

images of real-life shark
attacks

and the blood squirting

death of a child.

it's messed up!

Yet Spielberg's magical touch
renders the whole thing magnetic

and insanely watchable.

From the very first shot

Spielberg creates a language of skin
crawling vulnerability

through the use of shark POV
as it hunts underwater

bolstered by composer John Williams
indelible - lurking two notes score

Think of just how many shots are simply
focused on the legs of potential victims.

Swimming carefree in the ocean,

the residents of Amy Island are

defenseless oblivious and ready to be
ripped into at any moment.

Nearly every victim is taken from
the feet up which

which preserves the air of mystery
around the shark

while making the idea of fighting back
laughable.

While Jaws shouldn't be classified

as a horror movie because of its adventure
film language and structure

it uses the strengths of the strengths

of the genre to its advantage whenever
it has the chance.

This creates a lurking Menace
that forces Brody into action.

The real terror Spielberg creates

is combined with delicately
human moments

which means that once the bodies
start piling up

the deaths feel far more human,

and begin to weigh heavily on Brody in
particular.

Mrs. Kintner slapping Brody in the wake
of her son's death

and his broken-hearted moments with his
young son

at the dinner table that follow, are

quietly crushing.

They believably fuel his dedication

throughout the rest of the film

which is tempered by a very human,

and correct,

fear.

"Give us a kiss"

"Why?"

"I need it"

As the film brilliantly transitions

into its narrowly focused

yet adventurous second half,

the fear felt previously informs

what could be a much more

light-hearted Adventure.

The mystery of the shark is slowly
pulled back

through subsequent reveals

but it only grows

more terrifyingly active

as the ocean-bound triumph route

of Brody, Hooper and Quint

find themselves outmatched

against the 25t sea beast

we fear for their lives and thrill at
their triumphs.

All three actors deliver Stellar
performances

bouncing off one another in the most
electric of ways,

as Spielberg continues to balance the big
moments with the small.

"You go inside the cage.

Cage goes in the water.

You go in the water.

Shark's in the water.

Our shark."

"Farewell and adieu

to your fair Spanish ladies..."

"Farewell and adieu

you ladies..."

The three may be voluntarily at war
with a great white

but they are in no less danger than

the unsuspecting swimmers back
at Amity.

It's easy to see that in the wake
of Jaws

movie studios began to search

for the next big summer hit

that would put their finances well into
the black.

The summer movie season became the time

for big budget adventures that would
bring in

the widest audience possible.

And while that would result in

in as many possitives

like clearing the way for

Star Wars,

Superman,

Indiana Jones and the like as negatives,

the slow but sure sidelining of financing

for Niche films in favor of surefire
Blockbusters

it's far more

interesting to look at jaw's influence

on film creation over film financing.

Spielberg had no ambition

of making a film that changed
lives with JAWS.

although its lasting impact on shark
related fears

is most certainly indicative

of its success in scaring audiences.

But that doesn't mean that he
looked to create

a quickly forgotten
piece of cinematic gossamer.

Most Blockbuster films are not
designed to be

worldview altering experiences
for viewers,

However,

they have no excuse
for being forgettable junk food.

The Transformers franchises of the world
are not the child of jaws

they are result of studios who would
rather shell out a name brand

than a thought-out film.

Films like Mad Max, Fury roads, Star Wars,

Jurassic Park, the Dark Knight, and more

prove that a high concept film can have
a large budget

simple premise and a wide appeal

but also be determined to be the absolute
best that it can be.

should Jaws have been as truly

stupid as the hundreds of would-be
Blockbuster films

that look to be as successful as

Spielberg's Landmark movie.
then the idea of a

summer blockbuster would not have
been born in 19 75.

The films that seek to capture the magic,
thrills and innovation of Jaws

innovation of Jaws are the ones that

are the ones that will be remembered
across the decades to follow

that may not always result in the

massive box office success that Jaws once
had, but that's not the true legacy

of this Timeless Masterpiece

Jaw's true Legacy can be seen in the
best and brigthest of films that captivate

and brightest of films that captivate

the entire world.

Smile you son of a

and as for itself it remains and will

continue to remain one of the classic

masterpieces of Blockbuster film making.

Music playing.