Jaws - Will's Review

As we approach the end of the list, it's no surprise that we're encountering more and more bonafide classics, but Jaws is one of those rare genre movies which is also a modern classic of mainstream cinema; in fact, this is the movie which more or less invented the summer blockbuster.

There's some debate amongst movie fans whether Jaws even counts as a horror movie, while some go as far as to claim it's a slasher movie; I wouldn't class it as a slasher myself, but in the film's final act, I can certainly see the parallels, and there's no question in my mind that it qualifies as horror!

Solidly acted and directed, Jaws has a slightly unusual pacing, due to its four-act structure, but this is by no means s bad thing. In a strange way it makes the movie feel longer than its runtime, but without ever dragging.

Some of the effects are starting to look a little dated, but by no means bad, with flaws being hidden by the fact the shark is barely glimpsed through most of the film; a fact which works to the film's advantage, ramping up the tension expertly, but was actually born of necessity - the shark played a much bigger role in the script, but the animatronic creature was fraught with technical difficulties.

Jaws is 40 years old this year, which I can't quite get my head around, and it's returning to the big screen; if it plays near you, go and see it on the big screen, otherwise check it out again on DVD (I know you've seen it before, everyone has; that's why I said "again").