Jaws
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Starring: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss
Available from Universal
Reviewer: Horrorphilia Jason

The Lowdown: Watch Jaws eat people in glorious restored HD!

The Story
Let’s just make this simple. Jaws, a great white shark, is eating the people on the small island community of Amity. A fisherman named Quint, a marine scientist named Hooper and a police chief named Brody, go off on a mission to kill the shark once and for all.

Believe it or not I’m almost 38 years and I’ve never watched this movie all the way through. When I was a little kid I enjoyed it all the way until Quint showed up for the hunt then I got bored to tears and would just turn it off and leave. But I have seen all the sequels, including the cheesy part 3, dozens of times. A few years back I wanted to finally watch it again to see if it lived up to the hype but I said screw it and I’ll just wait a few more years for the blu-ray, and it was well worth the wait.

It’s Spielberg and John Williams so I knew the direction and music was going to be top notch, but there were two areas in particular that I was wanting to see how it panned out. First off, would the actual shark scenes look cool? Not only does it look cool but I was shocked how bad ass and effective the scenes were. From the first brutal attack until the finale, the shark attacks were intense and everything I was hoping for. I’ll take practical effects over shoddy cgi any day. Also the way the mechanical shark mixed with the live shots blended seamlessly. Now for my second point of contention, would the awesome dialogue scenes I’ve heard about live up to the hype? Unfortunately in this area I wasn’t impressed. I’ve always heard how the Quint and Hopper scene in the boat before the final attack was so gripping and cool. It was a’iight I guess. I’m sure 35 years ago it would have been different for a mass blockbuster movie but when you grow up with Tarantino and other great movies with awesome dialogue it just seemed slightly above average in comparison. That also leads me to my final minor criticism. Quint and Hooper are such strong memorable characters it makes Roy Scheider’s Brody seem weak in comparison. I’m not sure if it was suppose to be how his character was written but I didn’t want him to be the final character and Jaws slayer. He just seem to weak without the to be in that position.

Being completely fair without having any nostalgia clouding my judgement, I can honestly say that Jaws is still a great movie. I personally wouldn’t call it a masterpiece but it’s pretty damn close. Now you get to see it in all it’s restored glory on blu-ray thats packed with awesome special features. Between the making of and the impact of Jaws segment you have almost 4 hours worth of extra footage to delve into. Here’s a full rundown of all the special features:

Special Features
- Digitally remastered and fully restored from high resolution 35MM original film elements to get the most from your HDTV

- Digital Copy of Jaws (download by 12/31/2013)

- UltraViolet Copy of Jaws (download/redeem by 12/31/2013)

The Shark is Still Working: The Impact & Legacy of Jaws – All-new feature-length documentary featuring never-before-seen footage and interviews with cast and crew including Steven Spielberg, Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider

- The Making of Jaws: A feature-length documentary featuring interviews with key cast and crew

- Jaws: The Restoration – An all-new in-depth look at the intricate process of restoring the movie
Deleted Scenes and Outtakes From the Set: An insider’s look at life on the set of Jaws, featuring an interview with Steven Spielberg Storyboards Production Photos

- Marketing Jaws

- Jaws Phenomenon

- Original Theatrical Trailer

- pocket BLU: App for smartphones and tablets – take content on the go! BD-Live: Internet-connected features

- My Scenes: Bookmark your favorite scenes

Final Rating: 8.5/10

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