Fifty Years Later, Jaws Is Still The GOAT

Jaws on its 50th Anniversary

We’ve all seen a parody of it somewhere. Someone is swimming in a large body of water, enjoying themselves, and having a good time. Then all of a sudden, the dramatic music plays as an unseen entity starts lurking underneath the surface. We know what’s coming, how much danger people are in, but by the time they figure it out, it’s too late! The predator of the deep has dragged them to their doom! For more than half a century, shark attacks have frightened many a beachgoer. And it all traces back to a single work: Jaws.

Released in June 1975 and based on the 1974 novel of the same name, Jaws is a watershed moment in the history of cinema. It was the genesis for the summer blockbuster. It kickstarted the careers of one of the greatest film directors in history, and it’s greatest composer. While it has been parodied, satirized, and referenced countless times since then, nothing can truly compare to the experience of seeing the original Jaws on the big screen all those years ago. In many ways, it made modern movies what they are today.

And it did all of this despite the odds being against it.

Jaws went through a lot of issues…

While the book that inspired the movie was release in 1974, the story of Jaws starts back in 1916. In July of that year, a series of shark attacks took place along the New Jersey coast. Those attacks led to the four people and another one’s injury. Decades later, writer Peter Benchley, already inspired by the exploits of shark hunters, used it as the basis for his book. One year later, it got its legendary film adaptation. But how did it have such a quick turnaround time?

Simple: the film was being made before the book came out.

A year before the book release, Producers Robert Zanuck and David Brown of Universal got a copy of what Benchley was working. And for $175K, they got the film rights and the initial screenplay. After that, they tapped a young man by the name of Steven Spielberg to direct what would either make or break his career. Yet the stress almost broke him and everyone else working on the film.

Firstly, the screenplay had to go through multiple rewrites, even during the time it was filming. Changing the movie up as you’re making it is not always a good idea. Secondly, Spielberg’s decision to film most of Jaws on the actual sea, while brilliant, also meant it was at the whims of Mother Nature. And she often didn’t want to cooperate.

The biggest problem of all, though, was the shark itself: it wouldn’t work.

…And the Shark Was a diva…

For the film, the crew had constructed a mechanical shark to use as the titular Jaws. For much of the film’s production, though, it refused to work right. As a result, the time we actually see the shark onscreen is limited to only a handful of scenes.

Between the rewrites, parts of the cast not liking each other, and Mother Nature hampering production, there were moments where it looked like Jaws wouldn’t be made. Rather than let that happen, though, Spielberg improvised.

Instead of showing the shark as much as possible, the tension and paranoia of not seeing would be what fueled Jaws. Thanks to composer John Williams’ ability to tell a story through music alone, the film could sustain the fear without relying on the shark itself. When the beast did appear onscreen, its impact would feel all the more important, especially at the climax.

Needless to say, this gamble would end up paying off big time. Unfortunately, the fictional shark in the film would end up giving real-life sharks a bad reputation.

…And the Film Didn’t Help Sharks Rep..

As unbelievable as it sounds, Quint’s story about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis is very, very real. When the ship was felled by a Japanese sub, hundreds of sailors were left stranded in the ocean for days. By the time rescue arrived, many of them got picked off by passing sharks. Despite this, and the 1916 attacks that inspired Jaws, shark attacks aren’t as frequent as one would think. Sharks tend to leave humans alone, preferring their normal prey of marine to us. Some sharks have even been downright friendly around humans they’re familiar with.

Sadly, Jaws didn’t help the reputations of sharks at all. They were already being hunted by fishers for their meat and fins, but the film only made things worse. It’s only in recent years and conservation efforts that people have started to realize how what happens in Jaws is the exception, not the norm.

Sharks are dangerous, but so are many animals that live on Earth. That doesn’t make them evil, though, and they are a necessary part of the ocean’s ecosystems. While we shouldn’t go out of our way to befriend them and treat them like pets, we also shouldn’t be that scared of them. Hopefully, future generations will understand this.

…But man, did it pay off!!

Despite all the stress and the bad rep it gave sharks, Jaws proved to be worth everything.

Despite all of the setbacks and stress, Jaws proved to be an absolute success. People lined up by the hundreds to see it in theaters in the summer of 1975. Once thought to be one of the worst times of the year for movies, Jaws proved that summer flicks could not only be good, but could make big bucks. To this day, some of the biggest and most exciting films of the year are released during the summertime, giving rise to the summer blockbuster.

While the original film would spawn several sequels that were nowhere near as good, it’s impact on pop culture was already set. From being the subject of parodies and satires to inspiring similar films, Jaws has become one of the most influential films of all time. It’s true legacy, though, is in how it started the careers of two important figures in cinema history: Steven Spielberg and John Williams. With Jaws being only the first of many legendary hits, Spielberg’s considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. As for John Williams, he has gone on to be one of, if not the greatest, composers in film history. Besides his continual collaborations with Spielberg, Williams would work with the man’s close friend, George Lucas, on a little film called Star Wars.

All of this is the legacy of Jaws, and all of it is why it’s one of the GOATS. Not bad for a film with a mechanical shark that didn’t work right. Speaking of which, the mold of the shark is now on display at the Academy for Motion Picture Arts in Los Angeles.