Steven Spielberg’s legendary run of blockbuster success began well and truly because of the film that ushered in the modern blockbuster era.
Based on his novel, Peter Benchley co-adapted with Carl Cottlieb (with some input from Howard Sackler) the screenplay into one of the true rollercoaster rides of cinema, in which the local townspeople of Amity, Rhode Island have to deal with a great white shark that has swum into their local waters and proceeds to claim a young woman and boy as its’ first victims.
Newly appointed police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) is up against it and promptly closes the beaches against the wishes of money-mad Mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) who wants the beaches open to preserve the success of the resort, but concerns from expert Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) fall on deaf ears, but the shark is not money-minded and has other plans for the locals.
The stories of the film’s production history have been well documented over the decades and Spielberg openly admitted that the film was a nightmare to make, but the results stand for themselves with JAWS being one of the most terrifying films of all time and a film that came with a warning on the poster when it was originally released in the UK. Add John Williams’ simple but embracing Oscar-winning score as well and all the elements are in place.