Just saw "Jaws" again last night on the big screen

Fascinating. Now listen to Meat Loaf - Bat out of Hell on an analogue stereo and tell us your refreshed impressions.

Mrs Kintner is Edie Beale-adjacent

Honestly as someone who was born in 1987 and saw it as a kid, I didn’t get it. I didn’t think it was that good.

Poor Mrs. Kintner, I always imagined her a secretly lesbian mom who now loses her beloved child from (and is left to deal alone with) that beard of a husband of hers. :(

r3 I was born in '80 and found of it hokey too. The USS Indianapolis conversation on the boat between the three men was the best part IMO.

*most of it

I read a long time ago that the three men on the boat really were drunk in that scene.

Mrs. Kintner has full bush and only shaves her legs to the knee.

The actress playing Mrs. Kitner had to leave the shooting early as she had an already scheduled tennis match with Bobby Riggs at the Astrodome.

Mrs. Kitner must have given birth at 55.

Andre Martin did a good Mrs. Kitner on SCTV, 1:50 @ link:

Even as a child I wondered why they cast a 60 year old woman to play Billy's mom.

Alex.

[quote]Did she have weird hats of every color at home for different occasions?

I’m not sure — we’d need to do some research on this fictional character to get to the bottom of your query.

[Quote] I didn’t think it was that good.

FASCINATING

[Quote] FASCINATING

Unfortunately, the movie isn't. John Williams' score is a considerable asset to this film, but Jaws peaks early and drags by the second hour.

"What this movie is about, and where it succeeds best, is the primordial level of fear. The characters, for the most part, and the non-fish elements in the story, are comparatively weak and not believable" [20 June 1975]-Chicago Tribune Gene Siskel

I finally watched (most of) it years after its release and have no idea why it seems to have so high a place in rankings if American films. It is very American, the score is effective, but it has all the qualities of a quickly written Stephen King short story, one of the more mediocre of a mediocre lot.

I love this film!

"Jaws" spawned sequels, copycats, "Shark Weeks." It nonetheless remains THE movie about sharks, no matter how many others followed. It is still discussed. It is still quoted.

In its time "Jaws" was to the ocean as "Psycho" was to showers, as "Dressed to Kill" was to elevators: The primal fear of trapped vulnerability. The sudden violent piercing and ripping, destroying beauty.

The shark is kept out of our full view until it breeches to greet Brody chumming to shock him and us (like Norman's Mother in her chair), but also to illustrate how we often don't see danger lurking near us. "Hell is murky" ("Macbeth," a Witch).

I'm right now watching TCM's "Looking For Mr. Goodbar." Same theme, just a different "trap."

Act 3, as it were, the resolution, is not as threatening, with its sweeping Williams score (is there another kind?) and hearty camaraderie, punctured by the tale of the "Indianapolis" and its men killed savagely after delivering to Tinian Island the components of the atomic bomb, a brutal killer sans peer.

Finally, Quint meets his demise, the shark meets its, and the sea is calmed. The survival of Brody and Hooper, unlike too many on the "Indianapolis," survive, and we experience catharsis.

In terms of excitement, the elements of surprise and shock, perfect casting, terrific special effects, and plot, "Jaws" is darn near perfect!

The shark popping out of the water while Brody is tossing chum is an amazing shot.

[Quote] but Jaws peaks early and drags by the second hour.

🤡

I love the setting on Martha’s Vineyard.

let DL know when your collection of film criticism From the Basement is available so we can quote you R22🤡🤡🤡

“Jaws” consists of two separate stories, clumsily stitched together.-NY Times

[Quote] let DL know when your collection of film criticism From the Basement is available

That would be redundant of your citation of gene siskel (thumbs and all) as proof!

Yes I agree the movie really loses steam in the second half.

I like Jaws. I also think it’s difficult to place it into the context of which it was created compared to the context in which we’re experiencing it now. Same goes for many older movies that pushed the envelope/changed the game in their initial release.

Jaws is a fantastic film from beginning to end. I'd love to know which movies the oh-so-edgy "Jaws is boring" posters think represent the best in filmmaking.

The scene at the dinner table with Roy Scheider and his son—you can see that first little glimmer of maudlin Spielbergian moments that would become the hallmark of ET etc

[Quote] That would be redundant of your citation of gene siskel (thumbs and all) as proof!

It wouldn't be redundant R26 It would be pointless since your understanding of syntax is weak.🤡🤡🤡

What's happening?!!

[quote]Did she have weird hats of every color at home for different occasions?

I know I do.

Completely realistic beach hat to shade from the sun. And she’s not 60.

Mrs. Knitter reunited with Alex.

Billy’s mom isn’t nearly as old as the woman in Scrooge The Musical who tells everyone singing “Thank You Very Much” too shush because they woke her baby (at 2;13 ish)

Oops! Kintner ^

I’ve always been glad that we didn’t have to see what happens to Pippit. We know what had to have happened but Spielberg doesn’t make us see it, for which I’m duly grateful.

Jaws is one of my go-to movies for when life’s too much and I need the sense of safety and security that arises from knowing it by heart. I love that movie.

Op I hated her because she was ugly and a Debbie Downer.

Kitner was an ugly bitch!

It was the 1970s and Spielberg was doing the feminist thing by not having glamour pusses as actresses in his movies. No Tippi Hedrin or Liz Taylor types for him. Later on his actresses became more attractive. But the early 70s was kind of plain and earthy, like brown plaid skirted couch sets and harvest gold refrigerators.

Jaws is one of those movies I'll watch any time it's on. Love Robert Shaw.

I was twelve when the film came out, and it scared the shit out of me (like it did most other people). I lived in a beach community in California, and so I witnessed firsthand the impact on tourism -the advertising slogan "Don't go into the water" was taken very seriously. Even today, decades (and decades) later I know people who won't go in the ocean for fear of a shark attack. The film was the first real summer blockbuster, and for years was the highest-grossing film of all time. Not bad for a flick that drags in the second hour...

I also read the original novel, which was quite different from the film. In the book, Chief Brody's wife has a one-nighter with Matt Hooper to try to rekindle her youth (she dated Hooper's older brother before marrying Brody). And Hooper actually does get eaten by the shark when he goes down in the cage. Punishment for fucking a married woman, maybe? Also, Quint dies differently in the book. He isn't eaten by the shark. Instead, he shoots the shark with a harpoon and gets his foot tangled in the line. The shark sinks, pulling him under and drowning him. The shark isn't quite dead though, so Brody is left alone, treading water as the shark makes its way toward him...

As a teen I read the novel before I saw the movie, and I remember there was a reference to Chief Brody's erection; when I saw the movie, I was so disappointed they didn't get Roy Scheider to show his.

Jaws is to Ibsen what Clueless is to Austen.

Robert Shaw is amazing in this! So hammy and fun. He understood the assignment

R36, His movie name is ALEX Kintner! You were corrected earlier!

Yes, Spielberg made the good decision to eliminate the sex episode between Mrs. Brody and Hooper. Plus, Quint and the harpoon cuts too close to Melville.

I understand Lorraine Gary was disappointed that they cut out the romance between Hooper and Ellen Brody, not only because it diminished her role, but also because she was excited about the possibility of flashing beav...it was the 70s and everyone was doing it.

Present for you, r46: The details of Robert Shaw's genius re-write and uninterrupted delivery of the "Indianapolis" monologue:

[Quote] I understand Lorraine Gary was disappointed that they cut out the romance between Hooper and Ellen Brody, not only because it diminished her role, but also because she was excited about the possibility of flashing beav...it was the 70s and everyone was doing it.

Smart move. Sounds like an unnecessary subplot has no bearing on the story of Jaws. And no bev would be shown in a film that needed a PG rating.

[Quote] I understand Lorraine Gary was disappointed that they cut out the romance between Hooper and Ellen Brody, not only because it diminished her role, but also because she was excited about the possibility of flashing beav...it was the 70s and everyone was doing it.

Smart move. Sounds like an unnecessary subplot that has no bearing on the main plot. And no beav would be shown in a film that needed a PG rating.

Spielberg was smart not to do a closeup of Quint during the Indianapolis monologue. Instead, it was a longer shot that included Hooper, staring at Quint in horrified fascination.

IMO, the Mrs Kintner slap scene was intended to be the emotional analogue to the "I think you're evil!" slap scene from Hitchcock's 'The Birds' (1963).

funny at awwwl

[quote] I love the setting on Martha’s Vineyard.

And yet it's not set there. It's set on the fictional Amity Island off the coast of Long Island.

[Quote] It's set on the fictional Amity Island off the coast of Long Island.

Not far from Amityville I gather

I hold space for all sorts of looks, but Mrs. Kintner was a WOOFER. Yowza. She's insulting to my eyes. Her ugliness makes me irate.

That being said, I have a strange crush on Robert Shaw.

[quote] I hold space for all sorts of looks, but Mrs. Kintner was a WOOFER. Yowza. She's insulting to my eyes. Her ugliness makes me irate.

You say that only because of her weirdly crocheted hat and dorky wire-rim glasses.

Just put her in a sequined gown, and give her some hipper plastic eyeframes, and she'd be a complete stunner.

For r55, unfamiliar with the concept of movie locales.

I love that movie even though at the time people complained the shark didn't look real. It didn't matter, it was the fear that made it great. I wouldn't have cared if we never even saw the shark.

Mr. Shaw and Rita (not Chita)

My friend said. Here’s to drinking with bow legged women, for twenty years, after it came out.

R38

I agree - it’s one of about ten movies (but is at the top) that I seek out when I need a break from the real world. I was nine when it was released and it was all we talked about all summer long.

I don’t mind the “maudlin” moments because I think Spielberg does such a good, naturalistic job with kid actors and dialogue and the final act is brilliant, moving, and still exciting to watch.

[quote] My friend said. Here’s to drinking with bow legged women, for twenty years, after it came out.

And yet Quint said "Here's to swimmin' with bowlegged women." Your friend might not be overly bright.