...a classic, action-adventure monster movie, maybe the best ever made.
Spielberg says his favorite scene in the film is when the three men are alone on the ocean and Quint is telling of his experiences as one of the few survivors of a horrendous shark attack. The tale is based on a true event, the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis in World War II. Eleven hundred men went into the water and only 316 came out alive. Shortly after Quint tells his story, the giant shark attacks the boat, and we are all the more frightened for the mood that's been created beforehand. Further hair-raising episodes occur when the shark attacks Hooper in a diving cage, when the shark begins eating its way through the boat, and when the shark begins devouring the megalomaniacal skipper. Farewell and adieu to ye, poor Captain Quint. The movie's climax may be its least believable moment, but it brings the proceedings to a slam-bang conclusion.
Video:
Universal have reproduced the film's original Panavision scope and Technicolor picture about as well as could be expected from a quarter-century-old print. The image quality, projected in a 2.21:1 ratio anamorphic widescreen, is generally excellent. There is an ever-so-slight roughness about the edges, some traces of grain, especially in nighttime shots, and some very minor color bleed-through, hardly noticeable in an otherwise bright, vivid transfer.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio has a reasonably wide front stereo spread, and a surprising lot of rear-channel information, subtle but effective, used mainly for musical ambiance. This newly remixed sound is quite a ways removed from the video tape I've been living with for years, marked "Hi-Fi," an industry euphemism for monaural.
Extras:
Where Universal DVDs have always provided value is in their collection of bonus materials, and this Collector's Edition is no exception. The only thing I found wanting was a director's commentary, but one can understand Spielberg's probably not having the time for such a project. That aside, the disc contains just about everything else. To begin, there's a one-hour documentary called "The Making of Jaws" that is as entertaining and revealing as any documentary I've seen. It features interviews with cast members, director, producers, and writers, and provides endless behind-the-scenes insights. Did you know, for instance, that Lee Marvin was Spielberg's first choice for Quint, but the actor refused? Or that second choice Sterling Hayden was unavailable? Both men would have been fine, but today we can't imagine anyone but Shaw in the role. Production photos and storyboards also seem to go on without end, so many that as with other Universal discs, I had to stop in the middle and move on. Next, we find over a dozen deleted scenes and outtakes to occupy our time. For those who like to read, written information can be found in the "Shark World" and production notes segments as well as in the cast and filmmaker biographies. Then, after watching the film and the documentary, you can test your skills of observation with the "Get Out of the Water" trivia game. For the PC, there's a DVD screensaver available to download, and for the Internet there's a DVD newsletter to investigate. Spoken language choices and subtitles are in English and French, scene selections number twenty, and of theatrical trailers there are several. As I said, a nice bundle of extras.
Parting Thoughts:
"Jaws" is fun, funny, rousing, and scary at the same time. It would be another four years before audiences got as frightened in a movie house again, this time with "Alien," and nothing has come close to either film since in terms of roller-coaster excitement. Universal's DVD packaging is icing on a very tempting cake.
Video:
Universal have reproduced the film's original Panavision scope and Technicolor picture about as well as could be expected from a quarter-century-old print. The image quality, projected in a 2.21:1 ratio anamorphic widescreen, is generally excellent. There is an ever-so-slight roughness about the edges, some traces of grain, especially in nighttime shots, and some very minor color bleed-through, hardly noticeable in an otherwise bright, vivid transfer.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio has a reasonably wide front stereo spread, and a surprising lot of rear-channel information, subtle but effective, used mainly for musical ambiance. This newly remixed sound is quite a ways removed from the video tape I've been living with for years, marked "Hi-Fi," an industry euphemism for monaural.
Extras:
Where Universal DVDs have always provided value is in their collection of bonus materials, and this Collector's Edition is no exception. The only thing I found wanting was a director's commentary, but one can understand Spielberg's probably not having the time for such a project. That aside, the disc contains just about everything else. To begin, there's a one-hour documentary called "The Making of Jaws" that is as entertaining and revealing as any documentary I've seen. It features interviews with cast members, director, producers, and writers, and provides endless behind-the-scenes insights. Did you know, for instance, that Lee Marvin was Spielberg's first choice for Quint, but the actor refused? Or that second choice Sterling Hayden was unavailable? Both men would have been fine, but today we can't imagine anyone but Shaw in the role. Production photos and storyboards also seem to go on without end, so many that as with other Universal discs, I had to stop in the middle and move on. Next, we find over a dozen deleted scenes and outtakes to occupy our time. For those who like to read, written information can be found in the "Shark World" and production notes segments as well as in the cast and filmmaker biographies. Then, after watching the film and the documentary, you can test your skills of observation with the "Get Out of the Water" trivia game. For the PC, there's a DVD screensaver available to download, and for the Internet there's a DVD newsletter to investigate. Spoken language choices and subtitles are in English and French, scene selections number twenty, and of theatrical trailers there are several. As I said, a nice bundle of extras.
Parting Thoughts:
"Jaws" is fun, funny, rousing, and scary at the same time. It would be another four years before audiences got as frightened in a movie house again, this time with "Alien," and nothing has come close to either film since in terms of roller-coaster excitement. Universal's DVD packaging is icing on a very tempting cake.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]4744[/release]