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Review
Archives
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Today's
Date is:
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Jaws
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Reviewed
by: |
Rachel
Hughes |
| Genre: |
Suspense/Thriller |
| Video: |
Anamorphic
2.35:1 Widescreen |
| Audio: |
Dolby
Digital 5.1 |
| Language: |
English |
| Subtitle: |
English,
French |
| Length: |
125
min |
| Rating: |
PG |
| Release
Date: |
July
11, 2000 |
| Studio: |
Universal |
| Commentary:
|
None |
| Documentaries:
|
Spotlight
on Location: Making of Jaws |
| Featurettes:
|
None |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
For
Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss |
|
Interviews: |
Featured
in the documentary |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
3
theatrical trailers |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
10
deleted scenes and 2 out-takes |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
Get
Out of the Water Trivia Game, Shark World, Production Photographs,
Storyboard Art, Production Notes, DVD-ROM Screen Saver, Recommendations,
and Universals E-Newsletter |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Roy Scheider,
Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss |
| Screenplay
by: |
Written by
Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb |
| Produced
by: |
Richard D Zanuck and
David Brown |
| Directed
By: |
Steven Spielberg |
| Music: |
John Williams |
| The
Review: |
Jaws is
truly an American Classic. With the 25th anniversary release
of this movie, I find that it still has the power to make people
afraid of the water. This is due to the fact that they are fighting
a real enemy that still exists today. Granted we also know that
most sharks are not the size of Jaws, and are not that aggressive,
but it could be. Spielberg and the whole cast did such an incredible
job in bringing realism to this film that that little seed of
doubt always lingers in the back of your mind when you go out
swimming in the ocean. You can hear John Williams stirring theme
circling around you and you are suddenly overwhelmed by the
urge to get out of the water. As long as there are sharks in
the oceans, Jaws will be one of the greatest thrillers of all
time. As most of you know Jaws is the story of a great white
shark that has claimed the waters off of a popular summer resort
town as its newest feeding ground. After several deaths the
town sheriff, (Rob Scheider) a shark expert, (Richard Dreyfuss),
and shark hunter (Robert Shaw) go out into the ocean to rid
the town of the shark. |
| Image
and Sound |
I have found
this to be a difficult category to write up. With a DVD you
expect a certain quality of picture of sound. What used to be
exceptional now has become status quo. However if you watch
the theatrical trailers on this film you can tell the difference
in quality. The trailers look just the way they do in the theater.
There is a bit of grain and flickering images on the screen.
The sound is tinny. Getting a chance to see something that was
not completely remastered truly makes you appreciate the high
quality of DVD. |
| The
Extras |
This is
where the review will get lengthy. For the 25th anniversary
Universal has packed this DVD with all the extras one can stand.
This is what Jaws fans have been waiting for. To begin with
there is the "Spotlight on Location Making of Jaws." This documentary
runs about an hour and takes us through the entire process.
Steven Spielberg starts off the story by telling how he got
involved and his take on the film. You have interviews with
both Scheider and Dreyfuss. Sadly Robert Shaw passed away in
1978. You also get to hear from the producers, the writer, and
some of the technical men responsible for the shark. They go
over the casting of the film, how they created the giant shark.
The difficulties of shooting this film are also included. John
Williams is also interviewed about how he created the theme
music for Jaws. There are also a lot of funny stories that have
never been told to general audiences. This is one of the best,
most complete documentaries I have seen on a DVD. It covers
everything with out ever getting dull or weighted down. There
are 10 deleted scenes that run a total time of 10min and 15sec.
For the most part you can see why they were cut. The just added
length without adding too much to the story. The out-takes were
disappointing. There are only 2 scenes; one with a gun continuing
to jam and the other one was Quint's death scene. They run for
a total of 1min and 6sec. There is a trivia game called Get
out of the Water! It consists of 12 multiple-choice questions.
If you need a clue you can select the give me a clue button
and it will take you to the exact point in the DVD which provides
the answers. It is a neat addition, and when you get all the
answer's right you get to see the shark blow up. My only suggestion
is to watch all of the bonus material first because about half
the questions come from it. There is Shark World, which consists
of six pages of information about sharks. This is quite informative
and well written. The Production Photographs and the Storyboards
are choked full of information. The only difficulty is that
they are both a bit unwieldy. The photograph section consists
of a couple hundred photographs. They are broken down into categories
such as: the director, cast and crew, behind the scenes, books
and magazines, marketing tools and toys and such. However there
is no menu. You cannot get to a specific section of photographs.
Also when a photo appears it will stay on the picture for 14sec
before moving on. You can click to the next one, but you can't
fast forward. The Storyboard section is set up the same way.
You get to see the concept drawings of the opening credits and
most of the death scenes in the film, but it too has no menu.
There are three trailers. The first one is a full-length trailer
running at 3min and 20sec and gives away the entire movie. The
second one is a short teaser trailer. The last one is a trailer
for the re-release of the film. The production notes consist
of 6 pages of information. Most of the info is also contained
in other sections of the film. It is nice to have the pertinent
information all together in a brief synopsis. The cast and crew
filmography and biography are all standard with a short bio
and a list of the biggest movies for Scheider, Shaw, Dreyfuss
and Spielberg. The last three items are the recommendations,
which just shows a picture of 4 other Universal DVD releases.
It doesn't give any information about them. They are 1941, Always,
Amistad, and Saving Private Ryan. There is also a screen-saver
you can load onto your computer through DVD-ROM. Finally there
is the address where you can sign up for the Universal E-Newsletter
about upcoming DVD releases. |
| Commentary |
None |
| Final
Words: |
This is
what DVD's were meant to be. It contains a wonderful movie,
and is full of extras that add to the enjoyment of the film.
The only thing missing is a commentary by Spielberg, but hey
I am not holding my breath. Even if you were only a slight fan
of this movie I highly recommend this DVD. With all the extras
it comes with, especially the documentary, it would be a crime
to pass it up. |
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