In the above five minute-clip from Jaws, the three lead characters Police Chief Martin Brody, played by Roy Scheider; Quint, played by Robert Shaw; and Matt Hooper, played by Richard Dreyfuss, get their first good look at the Great White Shark they are hunting.
Quint reckons the shark is 3 tons and a 25-footer while Brody says the iconic line: “You’re going to need a bigger boat”.
You can watch the video clip above. Just click the play button at the left of the above feature image.
Released in 1975, Jaws is a quintessentially American film that captures the zeitgeist of its era. Directed by a young and ambitious Steven Spielberg, Jaws stands as a masterclass in filmmaking, storytelling, and genre-bending.
Fear Factor
Shot mostly on location in Martha’s Vineyard but set in the fictional coastal town of Amity, the film follows a trio of unlikely heroes as they set out to catch a giant killer shark terrorizing the waters around the island. It’s a high-stakes mission that pits man against nature. At its core, Jaws is a thriller about fear—fear of the unknown, fear of the water, fear of the monstrous, fear of the uncontrollable.
One key element that makes Jaws such a great film is its ability to subvert expectations. Rather than relying on cheap jump scares or gore, Spielberg uses tension and the unseen to create a palpable sense of dread.
The film’s iconic score, composed by John Williams, is a haunting melody that builds and crescendos to heighten the tension, creating a sense of foreboding that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.
3 Cranky Guys on a Boat
Then there are the performances—Scheider shines as Chief Brody, the reluctant hero who is forced to confront his fear of the water to save his community. Shaw’s performance as Quint, the grizzled shark hunter, is one of the most memorable in the film. He’s a complex and tragic character who serves as a foil to Scheider’s Brody. Dreyfuss rounds out the trio as Hooper, the nerdy and eccentric oceanographer who gives the film a welcome dose of humor.
Jaws is also notable for its technical achievements. Spielberg’s use of practical effects, particularly the animatronic shark, was groundbreaking at the time and still holds up today (except for that scene where the shark jumps up on the boat and eats Shaw’s character!).
Spielberg’s First Big Hit
Spielberg was only 27 when he directed Jaws, and the movie had a tremendous impact on his career, launching him to the forefront of Hollywood’s most prominent and successful directors. It was his first major blockbuster and cemented his reputation as a master storyteller, leading to him being offered more significant and ambitious projects, such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Jaws grossed approximately $470.7 million worldwide at the box office, making it one of the highest-grossing films ever.