You know the title….you know the theme….you know the setting….you know the moments…… Now JAWS is back in IMAX for generations new and old.
It seems pointless even contemplating finding additional criticisms, praise or words for Steven Spielberg‘s ground-breaking, pace-making and trend-setting 1975 classic adaptation of Peter Benchley‘s novel, given the addition of a new Disney+ documentary reflecting on the half-century and the countless content that has come before it, including Matt Taylor‘s coffee table book JAWS: MEMORIES FROM MARTHA’S VINEYARD and Carl Gottlieb‘s JAWS LOG which told the story as it happened and became best sellers in themselves.
Just in case there is somebody here who doesn’t know the background, here is a simplified version:
- Book is optioned by producers Richard Zanuck and David Brown
- Book in galley form is read by Spielberg
- Book is adapted by Benchley and Howard Sackler into a screenplay which reflects the high-seas adventures and eliminates some interpersonal relationships out of the book
- Film causes nightmares in production for studio and Spielberg, who seems to think it will end its’ career. Spielberg only recently revisited the film for the 50th Anniversary, after decades of nightmares about water from his trauma of making the film
- John Williams jokes to Spielberg about a two-note theme
- Film plays well in a preview in Martha’s Vineyard.
- Becomes the first wide-release of the modern cinema era and a super-blockbuster hit that has endured to this day
- Ushers in the blockbuster summer era which is followed two years later after its’ original release by another groundbreaker, George Lucas‘ STAR WARS.
So, how does the film stand up in its’ brand-new IMAX release for the fiftieth? Well, a crisp new IMAX Digital presentation has been wowing audiences during the late Summer of 2025. Given the recent success of the two screenings of STAR WARS in its’ original version at the BFI, I would not be surprised if Disney decide to upgrade that film to IMAX for its’ own 50th Anniversary in two years time.
The joy of seeing JAWS in this version will certainly take fans of the original release generation back a decade or two (as well as people like me who experienced it on its’ ITV debut in October 1981 when it set a record audience at that time (23.25 – 23.3 million, when there were only three UK TV channels) ) back to when there were single screens with a circle and stalls still rather than the multiplexes that started to appear in the mid to late 1980s.
The remastering of JAWS which was put together for the Universal 100th Anniversary series for Blu-Ray has made the experience all the more involving and it is interesting to see how the fusion of great performances and key moments present themselves this time to the audience (one friend told me recently that one key scare moment still got her today at her own IMAX viewing – if you know the film, you probably can guess which one it is, but don’t tell those who haven’t seen it)
Across the board, the ensemble of actors are near perfect. Roy Scheider‘s Martin Brody is the newcomer and outsider battling Murray Hamilton‘s Amity Mayor Larry Vaughn who doesn’t think the presence of a shark will impact profits for the ‘summer dollars’ he desperately craves.
Lorraine Gary holds her own as Brody’s wife, whilst it is Robert Shaw as the gruff and determined Quint out to get the shark for 10k (head, tail and the whole darn thing as he so eloquently describes in the town meeting when concern over the beaches being closed) who provides the grounded reality as he and others face the shark in the final third of the film.
Richard Dreyfuss provides the fun element as Matt Hooper, the ocean expert and a great foil to Shaw (who at the time was in his twilight years of his career before his untimely death in 1978 after completing AVALANCHE EXPRESS with Lee Marvin.)
Well, that is it from me. Just seek out the screenings and go and appreciate and enjoy this classic where it well and truly belongs.