Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest film of all time.

"Jaws" is a movie that does not deserve to be nearly as good as it is.  This thing should have been stupid, campy, and loaded with cheap thrills and scares that wore useless seconds after they appeared on screen.  Instead a young director by the name of Steven Spielberg turned this potential B-movie formula into one of the greatest films ever made.

Just about everyone knows the story (if you don't, just turn on any Turner network on TV; it comes on at least three times a week).  Shark eats girl.  Nobody listens to sheriff.  Shark eats little boy.  Shark gains itself a bounty.  Crazed old sea salt volunteers his services.  Young scientist enters, joins sheriff and hunter.  Hunt begins for shark.  Sea salt looses life.  Shark goes boom.  The end.

Sounds like just another monster movie, right?  Well with Spielberg behind the camera and a cast of wonderful talent in front of the lenses, "Jaws" was not only crittically acclaimed, but it became the first bonified Summer blockbuster.  It is because of "Jaws" that every June we can expect major releases like last year's "Spider-Man 2," this year's "War of the Worlds" and "Batman Begins" (*drool*), and next year's "Superman Returns."

But, as anyone who has seen "Jaws" knows, it is not all about the action and thrills.  As a matter of fact, it can be argued that what is not seen on film is even scarier than what is presented.  One of my favorite scenes is the man in the boat who gets his leg torn off before becoming shark food.  It's not the fact that he is getting eaten by a rubber shark that is scary.  It's the fact that the only parts of said rubber shark that you see are the rolled back eyes and glistening teeth.  Add in a man screaming for his life and you get a rather scary and disturbing image.

And lets not forget the music.  John Williams has become a staple in creating memorable scores, and as just about everyone knows, "Jaws" is know different.  It's not just the "dum-dum, dum-dum," but also the heroic tunes that sound like foreshadow to Williams' classic "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" themes.  Surely, the music makes the film work.  I can remember being in a swimming pool when I was five or six and from somewhere on the nearby board walk, the theme began to play.  In the blink of an eye, I was out of that pool and watching the water.  How many scores can do that to somebody?

"Jaws" is a great film... the greatest.  And though usually I like to give a "fuck you" to studio re-releases, I made a definite exception for this one.  "Jaws" not only entertains, but it influences myself as well as countless other writers and filmmakers.

The greatest film of all time.

Movie: ***** out of **** (not a typo)

DVD Extras: **** out of ****

The biggest improvement to this DVD is the fact that the viewers finally get the complete, un-edited 2-hour documentary on the making of "Jaws," entitled, coincidentally enough, "The Making of Jaws."  Also new to this edition is a feature entitled "From The Set," in which a young Steven Spielberg give a rarely seen interview.  Finally, we get the deleted scenes, outtakes, and storyboards that where on the first set.  Unfortunately, missing from the set was the rumored inclusion of "The Shark is Still Working," a brand new retrospective documentary.  Apparently, though, it was not finished.  Hopefully, we'll be seeing it on DVD by year's end.  Also rumored to be on the set was the fantastic fan film, "Courage & Stupidity."  Though I have a copy of my own, it would have been nice to see this funny little movie on the disc.  To find out more about "Courage & Stupidity" (and how to get your own copy) follow this link:

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2665894