I first saw ‘Jaws’ when I was either 5 or 6 years old. My Dad, who considered this one of the top 3 greatest movies ever made outside of maybe ‘The Exorcist’; decided in his wisdom, in what I later found out was a ‘right of passage’ for many children of a certain age, to just…show me the film totally blind, other than to say it was a movie with a shark in it.
Dear reader…when I tell you that the ‘Ben Gardners boat’ scene saw 5 year old me change state into a pure liquid, that was projected 3 feet into the air and firmly behind the family sofa…and that I remember very little else about my first time watching this film, outside of blurs of screams of terror and the final 20 minutes (once they’d eventually calmed me down) I hope that puts across just how much of an impact this film had on me.
Over the years, Jaws became an irregularly regular watch. I lose track of how many times I watched and rewatched the VHS copy, but when the advent of DVD hit, and Jaws was one of the earlier titles to get a release. Both my dad and me upgraded to digital, and with it, my appreciation grew. years of gunk had been digitally scrubbed from the picture, and with it finally being presented in something approaching a more original aspect ratio, it felt like I’d seen the film for the first time.
As I got older, me and my dad bonded over ‘Jaws’ quoted it regularly, talked about the other (not quite as good) sequels. My Dad wasnt really much of a big talker, but with films? it was another world for him. and it helped to blossom a parental relationship into a genuine friendship.
DVD turned to Bluray, the quality got another massive bump and eventually; I met my partner, and it turns out? Shes Autistic, her specialist interest is Sharks, and ‘Jaws’ is ALSO one of her ‘top 3 greatest movies ever made’ which instantly made her a firm part of the family, and our mutual love for the film has led to some of the finest ‘movie nights’ ive ever had the privalidge to attend.
5 years ago to this day; I got the incredibly lucky chance to see the 4k remaster of this film, with the 7.1 surround mix played to a PACKED cinema where it seems that half the audience were hardcore ‘Jaws’ fans, and the other half had NO idea what to expect. When I tell you, that attending that screening is the closest I’ve personally ever come to a religious experience, and that it reinvigorated and reignighted everything I love about film as a medium, an art, and a lifelong endeavour. I do not say that lightly.
And so, tonight, in its 50th anniversairy year, for what has got to be creeping into the mid double digits. I sat down once again, with a freshly cracked 4k copy of Jaws, with my partner, and an array of Jaws based snacks. and we spent 2 hours in the company of a film that I can best describe as the same sensation of meeting an old and much loved friend after a long absence.
As a rule, I dont give out 5 out of 5’s on the films I review, because I always believe that a film COULD be better, and that; I sincerely dont believe i’ve lived long enough to be able to say with ANY authority what films i’d consider to be ‘faultless’. But goddamnit ‘Jaws’ is as close to a 5 out of 5 as I can give it.
Masterful in all regards is all I can honestly say. Im bias, this films been woven into my life so firmly that I dont feel I can objectively scrutinize it in a way that would feel sincere to me. Everything works perfectly like a well oiled machine, every check and balance is in line. before the Bluray release in 2012(ish) I could have (maybe) been picky on a couple of continuity issues. But even they’ve been corrected now.
Im honestly at a loss. Everythings as close to EXACTLY what I want out of a movie as its physically possible to be. With the only limitation it currently has being that I dont physically often have the time to watch 2+ hour long movies…Which is really more a ‘Me’ problem than anything else, and in some ways, even THAT works in the films favour because it makes it all the more special when I get to clear the diary, get some snacks and reconnect with these characters I quite literally have known for most of my life, in a film that helped me be a better person in the real world…And I honestly cant say theres much of ANYTHING out there thats been as impactful to me as that.
If you havent seen ‘Jaws’ do yourself a favour and go catch it. Even if you couldnt care less about technical ability, scoring, pacing, or any of that stuff. the story and characters alone are beyond anything i’ve personally ever seen on screen…Seriously; go watch ‘Jaws’. Masterpiece is too small a word.
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