FILM: Jaws (12A)

JUST when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, Steven Spielberg’s ruthlessly efficient 1975 thriller swims back into cinemas for another bite at the box office.
By The Newsroom
Published 22nd Jun 2012, 19:00 BST

Based on a novel by Peter Benchley, Jaws was the director’s first blockbuster and confirmed his reputation as a film-maker capable of engaging and entertaining international audiences.

Behind the scenes, filming was somewhat chaotic and the production began without a finished script.

However, the finished picture certainly delivered.

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The premise - a monster great white shark terrorises the new England resort of Amity Island - is simplistic but Spielberg directs brilliantly, leading local police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), marine expert Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and salty seadog Quint (Robert Shaw) in search of the beast. John Williams’s inexorable theme sets the mood and sets our nerves on edge while Scheider’s ad-libbed quip - “You’re gonna need a bigger boat!” - is now firmly installed in the annuls of cinema history.

Released: June 15 (UK & Ireland, selected cinemas), 124 mins

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