Post by baumer on Nov 5, 2011 15:56:14 GMT -6
In My Opinion:
Why Jaws is the Best Film of All Time:
Jaws. Say it out loud and it still sends chills down your spine. This is a film that has no equal. History teaches us that at some time or another, something bigger, something better or something more grandiose will come along and replace everything. The best love story may have yet to be told. The best fantasy film may have yet to come along and the best the best comedy may be just a glimpse in someone’s subconscious. But when it comes to the best film, in any genre, that film has been seen almost 30 years ago in the summer of 1975. Jaws is the paradigm to which all films should be compared. It has everything that any film could hope to emulate and does it so much better than any has to this point in our palette of synthetic cinematic regurgitation.
Spielberg created this iconoclastic film in a way that Hitchcock would be proud. Spielberg knew that by keeping the villain off screen for much of the first hour that the suspense would build to a point where the audience was about to burst. In keeping the Great White off screen, this in essence was Hitchcockian. As he once said, “A bomb is under the table, and it explodes: That is a surprise. The bomb is under the table but it does not explode, that is suspense.” Spielberg leaves the shark a mystery for the better part of the movie and what we are left with is the carnage from the beast. We see the blood, we hear the screams, we dig out giant shot glass like teeth, but we do not see the predator, until Spielberg wants us to and gives us one of the best payoffs in cinematic history. “You’re going to need a bigger boat.”
What makes Jaws better than any of the modern classics is what separates Spielberg from the rest of talent in Hollywood. This is a director and a film that knows exactly what it wants to do to its audience and takes its time doing it. There is no rush and no panic. Too many times in today’s cinema, we are hurried into a story instead of spending time with out characters to get to know them. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a classic example of what works well when you take your time and don’t insult your audience in today’s movie landscape. And it is no wonder that the films have gone on to earn comparable dollars to what Jaws did in 1975.
Beyond the characters and the directing and beautiful script, what sets Jaws apart from any film of this day or days gone by is an intangible that may never be duplicated. This is a film that makes you feel something. For many people, that is fear. For others it is exhilaration and for others it is sheer terror, a horror that goes beyond fear and into that realm of utter and undeniable panic. There is something primal about going out into the ocean and hearing that ominous cello in the back of your mind as you think back to some of the indelible images of Jaws. The Kinter boy, Chrissie Watkins meeting her gruesome death, Quint and his useless battle with Bruce and every other slideshow that whisks through your panicked mind as the water begins to rise above your waste. That is the kind of film we are talking about here. This is a film that is not just seen, it is an experience unlike any other that has ever graced our screens. The American Film Institute got it wrong when they named Jaws number 48 on their list of all time greatest films. It is clearly a film that deserves much better and this is a fact that is almost irrefutable.
In my opinion….
Why Jaws is the Best Film of All Time:
Jaws. Say it out loud and it still sends chills down your spine. This is a film that has no equal. History teaches us that at some time or another, something bigger, something better or something more grandiose will come along and replace everything. The best love story may have yet to be told. The best fantasy film may have yet to come along and the best the best comedy may be just a glimpse in someone’s subconscious. But when it comes to the best film, in any genre, that film has been seen almost 30 years ago in the summer of 1975. Jaws is the paradigm to which all films should be compared. It has everything that any film could hope to emulate and does it so much better than any has to this point in our palette of synthetic cinematic regurgitation.
Spielberg created this iconoclastic film in a way that Hitchcock would be proud. Spielberg knew that by keeping the villain off screen for much of the first hour that the suspense would build to a point where the audience was about to burst. In keeping the Great White off screen, this in essence was Hitchcockian. As he once said, “A bomb is under the table, and it explodes: That is a surprise. The bomb is under the table but it does not explode, that is suspense.” Spielberg leaves the shark a mystery for the better part of the movie and what we are left with is the carnage from the beast. We see the blood, we hear the screams, we dig out giant shot glass like teeth, but we do not see the predator, until Spielberg wants us to and gives us one of the best payoffs in cinematic history. “You’re going to need a bigger boat.”
What makes Jaws better than any of the modern classics is what separates Spielberg from the rest of talent in Hollywood. This is a director and a film that knows exactly what it wants to do to its audience and takes its time doing it. There is no rush and no panic. Too many times in today’s cinema, we are hurried into a story instead of spending time with out characters to get to know them. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a classic example of what works well when you take your time and don’t insult your audience in today’s movie landscape. And it is no wonder that the films have gone on to earn comparable dollars to what Jaws did in 1975.
Beyond the characters and the directing and beautiful script, what sets Jaws apart from any film of this day or days gone by is an intangible that may never be duplicated. This is a film that makes you feel something. For many people, that is fear. For others it is exhilaration and for others it is sheer terror, a horror that goes beyond fear and into that realm of utter and undeniable panic. There is something primal about going out into the ocean and hearing that ominous cello in the back of your mind as you think back to some of the indelible images of Jaws. The Kinter boy, Chrissie Watkins meeting her gruesome death, Quint and his useless battle with Bruce and every other slideshow that whisks through your panicked mind as the water begins to rise above your waste. That is the kind of film we are talking about here. This is a film that is not just seen, it is an experience unlike any other that has ever graced our screens. The American Film Institute got it wrong when they named Jaws number 48 on their list of all time greatest films. It is clearly a film that deserves much better and this is a fact that is almost irrefutable.
In my opinion….
I'm kidding, it is a pretty good movie on it's own right though.
