Preemptive Thoughts: I saw this movie long before I was capable of developing preemptive thoughts of my own. It did, however, immediately inflict me with some preemptive thoughts concerning swimming in the ocean and trusting my parents to pick out a movie for several years to follow.

Mike's Two Cents: Amity Island - an idyllic beach community whose very name means "friendship". You'll never be a local unless you're born there, but if you can stomach the handle "Summerdink", you'll find it is a wonderful place to spend the Fourth of July with the kids. At least, it would be if there wasn't an enormous rogue great white shark snacking on the tourists.

When mutilated bodies start washing ashore and tales of boating accidents are no longer enough to quell public concern, Amity's new sheriff Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) calls in national shark expert Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) to investigate the issue. The evidence quickly points to their greatest fear, but efforts to keep the beaches safe draw reckless opposition from the town mayor (Murray Hamilton).

Hooper and Brody are forced to team up with Quint (Robert shaw), a grizzled old salt haunted by his own aquatic demons, and together face the monster on its own ground.

Jaws introduced cinematic audiences to the concept of the unseen terror. A woman goes for a risqué moonlight swim in the ocean when...something...grabs her and begins doing god-only-knows-what to her. She screams, clawing desperately for anything as she is tossed about; her fear is almost tangible. The episode convulses for a breathless moment, and then she's gone. The lady in the theater sitting next to you leans in and whispers in a trembling voice "What just happened?" That's when it dawns on you: "I don't know!" Pretty scary, eh? Jaws employed an ingenious mix of camerawork, music, and basic psychology to craft a beast that terrified audiences by turning their own imagination against them. The result is one of the most successful and influential movies in film history.

Jaws was the second outing (after Sugarland Express) for Hollywood's undefeated tag team - Stephen Spielberg and John Williams - and is almost singly responsible for launching their now-iconic status as fathers of the modern blockbuster. Spielberg took several risks with this film, and most of the directorial trademarks attributed to him were a bit controversial in 1975. In many respects, this movie was a make-or-break vehicle. Imagine, if you can, what Hollywood would look like today if Jaws would have flopped.

Now that's scary! Williams will be discussed in more detail below. Also of note here is the amazing chemistry between Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss, which incidentally resulted in the most acclaimed performances of their careers. And then there is Roy Scheider, who on a completely adlibbed whim coined one of cinema's most popular lines "I think we're gonna need a bigger boat!" Yes, folks: Jaws is pure 6-can goodness.

There are, quite literally, books written about the magic of Jaws, so I won't take up your time regurgitating more trivia and filmcraft here. Suffice it to say that it is a film deserving of every page written in its honor. In a world wherein every frame of the film has been imitated, Jaws can still give audiences a case of the creepy-crawlys over thirty years after it bit into the box office. That pretty much says it all.

Mitch's Rebuttal

How can I rebuke such high praise? All I can really say is that Jaws is one of my all time favorite movies. There are movies that I can watch over and over again like X-Men, Evil Dead and so forth, but there are a very few that I can really sink my teeth into (pun intended) over and over again. In my house it is a rule that if you are flipping through channels and see Jaws, you must watch it. One little lesser known fact. Peter Benchley has a cameo as the TV reporter.

OK, I should probably say something about the movie itself. This is one of the most well made movies ever. If you have the Special Edition there is a documentary that tells of a lot of the trouble they had making this film and the great thing is, you can't tell that this was one of the most difficult shoots ever. This is as close to a perfect movie that I have seen.

Shaw's speech, the scar comparison, the dynamic between Brody and his family are all perfect. I love the scene where Brody's son imitates him at the dinner table. Such a sweet scene.

Mike's Thoughts on the Soundtrack: When faced with the task of putting into words the impact of John William's score for Jaws, my immediate temptation is to stand here and drool on myself. I mean, it may well be the greatest achievement in motion picture music ever. Each queue adds a ton of emotional impact, and it is a course study in the proper use of character themes.

And who could forget the main theme? Two notes to rule them all. The Jaws theme transcends the film to become a genuine piece of American culture. When I was a boy sneaking up on my sister in the spirit of mischief, somewhere in the back of my mind was always a dedicated "Duh-dum.....duh-dum.....duh-dum, duh-dum, duh-dum" and I challenge anyone to not have similar stories of their own.

John Williams would later go on to compose damn near every memorable motion picture theme of a generation, but at the root of his legend are two tense little notes that made millions of people piss themselves in agonizing suspense. This soundtrack is easily responsible for 4/6 cans all by itself.

I can't say anything bad on the score either. Williams is my second favorite composer after Danny Elfman. One thing to note, (Mike – you may consider this a type of spoiler, I'll leave it to you to decide) [Mike says: Good call with the conservatism, but I think it is safe: A) After 31 years, there is no excuse to be spoiler-prone on Jaws; B) It highlights one of my favorite trivia bits about the film; and C) Only a dedicated few pay enough attention for a musical device to spoil something as engaging as Jaws anyway. Game on.] You only hear the two note theme when it is actually the shark. Example, when the two kids are using the fake fin, you never hear duh-dum. I never realized that until after watching the documentary.

email Mike Watne at thegreybetween@hotmail.com and Mitch Emerson at mitchemerson@hotmail.com