The last (I promise) of this series of re-watching some of the great films that have already been discussed on this blog, and I must admit - I loved them all again. Z was sheer brilliance this second time viewing it, discovering more and more about Costa-Gavras' style and form of storytelling. Jason and the Argonauts was pure fun - exciting, passionate, and complete Ray Harryhausen. This was a film my children will grow up viewing. Now, we come to Jaws. Jaws remains, in my eyes, one of Spielberg's greatest achievements. In this singular horror film (yep, I'm going to label it that way) he single-handedly creates fear merely by putting a camera underwater and looking up. Iconic and well placed, this continues to be used today by both every genre as a way to institute fear from below. Also, like Jason and the Argonauts, Spielberg doesn't use CGI. These were all hand-made sharks and detailed special effects. The boat did explode, the shark did as well, and that scene in the "pond" where the shark is seen underwater about to eat the man's leg, is stapled into my mind. Fear, combined with true horror, is what makes this PG-rated film an all-time favorite. Absolutely, it is played over and over and over again on nearly every late night cable channel, but watching it today, on my HD-TV, with pure Dolby sound, it was just beautiful.
I also watched the "Making Of" special feature, which, well, was mediocre at best. Having been around for 35 years, the special secrets of this film have already been discovered. It is like watching special features on any Star Wars DVD, you already know most walking into it. The "Making Of" felt boring for some reason, and I just wasn't inspired by what our major players discussed. BUT, what made me uber upset with Jaws (at least this edition) was the lacking audio commentary. I put this in hoping to get one of those by anyone involved, but nothing. This is a film that could use Spielberg or Dreyfuss in the background discussing the hardships of this production, or a funny tale about the shark. Anything would have added to this disc, but honestly, this 30th Anniversary edition seems rather bare bones. Urg.
Found in the same book that I found this one originally, "Defining Moments in Film", and I must admit - I loved, feared, was impressed with Jaws just like the first time I watched it when I was a kid. This movie doesn't age. I think that is what makes the fear remain - sure, there could be bigger guns if filmed today or bigger explosions or fancier clothes, but when you watch Jaws, it just doesn't feel like the 70s is stamped on it. That is what makes Jaws a favorite, that is what makes Jaws more than your average monster movie, and that is why Spielberg has never quite accomplished the same again. Green mark with blue stars again - I cannot wait to see this again and again and again - but PLEASE, could we get some better DVD special features?!?
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