I know that the movie Jaws is a classic, but!!!

Jaws is timeless both in it's film making and it's story. Look at the blockbusters of today and what they'll look like in 35 years. Jaws will look just as good whereas Avengers, or Hobbit, etc. will be very dated with their CG.

:-/

Jaws is well plotted and paces, but whenever Bruce is onscreen now it's a bit hokey, especially when he's sticking his head up and chewing through the cables w/ that mechanical mouth motion.
 
:-/

Jaws is well plotted and paces, but whenever Bruce is onscreen now it's a bit hokey, especially when he's sticking his head up and chewing through the cables w/ that mechanical mouth motion.

I don't completely agree but I won't argue that. The point though is that the storytelling is strong enough to overcome some technical shortcomings in part because of how well it's crafted but also because there is very little of that to point out.

I recently showed Jaws to a 22 year old who had never seen it before and he thought it was as realistic as anything and almost crapped his pants. If Spielberg had gotten his original wish and had Bruce on screen the whole film it would be a very different story but because it's used so sparingly it still works.

Contrast to the films of today where every shot is a special effect and think of how they'll suffer with age.
 
Less is so much more in the case of Jaws, and it works so well. As stated its pacing, direction, casting, is all impeccable. Its funny, i recently re read Benchley's novel, and its cold compared to the movie.
I can't stomach the glut of fast paced shocks they wan to throw at you in todays cinema, its all fast food movie making, with no real heart, i leave the cinema, and I've forgotten half of what went on.......that, doesn't happen with movies like Jaws.......or say....Poltergeist, they stay with you.

lee
 
i recently watched it again on blu-ray,still a cracking film with great acting,and after seeing shark night 3d i thought the shark looked quite good !!
 
Really, so you're saying an iris fade to black is not an "outdated standard"? still in use in 2013...?
silent films are not an "outdated standard"? still in use in 2013...?
no such thing....stupid.

These aren't standards. They're artistic and stylistic choices and they ARE still in use. To your point, "The Artist" (A silent film) was nominated for and won how many awards last year? The film was very well-received and recognized across the board. And what about black and white? Is that an outdated standard? Some of the greatest films of the last 30 + years were black and white...Raging Bull, The Elephant Man, Schindler's List, etc. The point being that a well told story is a well told story regardless of its artistic or technical characteristics. The standard is good storytelling. That has never changed. Storycraft is what allows a film to endure, not technical standards. Without a story to make it compelling, a film that meets some subjective technical standard of its day looks pretty outdated and is rendered unwatchable and forgotten in pretty short order without great characters and an engaging story to hold it together.
 
These aren't standards. They're artistic and stylistic choices and they ARE still in use. To your point, "The Artist" (A silent film) was nominated for and won how many awards last year? The film was very well-received and recognized across the board. And what about black and white? Is that an outdated standard? Some of the greatest films of the last 30 + years were black and white...Raging Bull, The Elephant Man, Schindler's List, etc. The point being that a well told story is a well told story regardless of its artistic or technical characteristics. The standard is good storytelling. That has never changed. Storycraft is what allows a film to endure, not technical standards. Without a story to make it compelling, a film that meets some subjective technical standard of its day looks pretty outdated and is rendered unwatchable and forgotten in pretty short order without great characters and an engaging story to hold it together.

Well said indeed!

Lee
 
Jaws was a great film back in the day. Scarred the crap out of me so bad I couldn't swim in my grandparents pool for months. Haven't watched it in years but remember just about every scene from beginning to end. I can't remember a damn thing about Transformers....
 
Jaws was a great film back in the day. Scarred the crap out of me so bad I couldn't swim in my grandparents pool for months. Haven't watched it in years but remember just about every scene from beginning to end. I can't remember a damn thing about Transformers....

Its rare modern movies stick in my mind bud, i think the last time i saw a movie that had charm, and replay value was Super8......yeah i know, some may scoff, but it just seemed the movie had feeling.

lee
 
Its rare modern movies stick in my mind bud, i think the last time i saw a movie that had charm, and replay value was Super8......yeah i know, some may scoff, but it just seemed the movie had feeling.

lee

Perhaps largely due to the fact that it had the charming qualities of an older movie.
Aside from the end being all very suddenly over with, I really enjoyed it. It's rare to find movies now that have that *something* quality that so many movies of years ago possessed. I don't think I've necessarily worked out what that quality is yet, but I still know when it is or isn't there.
 
Jaws is quite simply a fantastically told tale, full of suspense and great characters. Of course it has dated, but that is simply because the technology around them has moved on.

As far as the story and acting are concerned they are timeless. Which is why the film still stands up today.

One of Spielberg's finest films, and he was only like 23-24 when it was made?
 
These aren't standards. They're artistic and stylistic choices and they ARE still in use. To your point, "The Artist" (A silent film) was nominated for and won how many awards last year? The film was very well-received and recognized across the board. And what about black and white? Is that an outdated standard? Some of the greatest films of the last 30 + years were black and white...Raging Bull, The Elephant Man, Schindler's List, etc. The point being that a well told story is a well told story regardless of its artistic or technical characteristics. The standard is good storytelling. That has never changed. Storycraft is what allows a film to endure, not technical standards. Without a story to make it compelling, a film that meets some subjective technical standard of its day looks pretty outdated and is rendered unwatchable and forgotten in pretty short order without great characters and an engaging story to hold it together.

Preach it brother!
 
i'm not totally a Transformers fn, but i think the comparison of that to Jaws is unjust, or maybe people doing it maliciously for cheap pops?
Transformers is, unashamedly, a popcorn, brain-in-neutral, smack-your-eyes-out summer blockbuster. it's not supposed to be anything but 120mins of adrenaline entertainment. Jaws is an entirely different animal. it's a tension movie. Deep Blue Sea would perhaps be more of a shark/robot comparison, if you wanted to throw Transformers into the mix.

if you wanted a good horror film w/ a good build and some jolts, you'd go for Jaws. if you were back from the pub w/ some mates and wanted kick-ar$e daftness, your go to Transformers. each is equally valid in its genre and trying to compare them is unfiar, i'd say.
 
doing it maliciously for cheap pops?

Yep. Just a bit 'O fun there.

Mainly going by "popularity" at the time each came out. Jaws was a blockbuster for it's time and so was Transformers. The main point I was making is that so many movies today, even with multi billion dollar budgets, are sooo easily forgettable 6 months later, where a 30 year old movie still scares the crap out of us.
 
Jaws was the FIRST summer blockbuster!! I remember the summer of '76, it was nothing but Jaws. The furor lasted right up until the next year when that lil' ol' space movie came out and shot it out of the water--so to speak...
 
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