Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

JAWS was one of the few movies I saw in the theater that literally had me white-knuckling the arms of my seat. (Which meant the popcorn and pop tumbled out of my lap and onto the floor.) What a great time I had, all those years ago in the cinema, as watching this thriller was one whale (shark?) of a gasp-fest; I remember walking out of the lobby thinking, "This Spielberg guy might have a future in filmmaking."

Duh. . .

But aside from all the obvious plusses (great story, suspense, characters, timing, musical score, dialogue, etc.) that make watching this film, over the years, such a delight, I tend to marvel at two noteworthy components of this instant classic. The first is the interaction of the Big Three (Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss); the way they play off one another, while rubbing elbows on that tiny boat, is a marvel to behold. And Shaw's monologue--as his character relives his experiences as a survivor of the USS Indianapolis--is perhaps the most riveting monologue in all of cinema.

The other component involves the mechanics of making the movie itself. Just think of it: The difficulties of simulating the power of a giant shark tearing apart a boat in the open ocean (with the limited technology at the time) must have been extraordinary, yet Spielberg and crew accomplish the insurmountable--and make it look totally believable. Accordingly, JAWS is the product of filmmakers at the pinnacle of their craft, which makes it as much fun to watch today as the first time I spilled my soda.
--D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning

I can't understand why JAWS continously pops up on 'Greatest Horror Movie'
lists and critiques...it is NOT great, NOT a horror (more like horrible),
and while it IS a movie, it's just not all that good to me. I guess most people like it because it has a lot of names involved with it. Maybe I'm biased because I am not a swimmer and have never been into water sports, but I just find it extremely boring after the first attack or two. There are far better movies as far as I am concerned...JAWS is one of my least favorite films, never liked it even as a kid.