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Jaws (30th Anniversary Edition) | 
| Director: Steven Spielberg
Actors: Susan Backlinie, John Bahr, Peter Benchley, Richard Dreyfuss, Lee Fierro
Studio: Universal Studios
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy Used: $5.39
You Save: $9.59 (64%)
New (50) Used (24) from $5.39
Rating:  682 reviews
Sales Rank: 505
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dts Surround Sound, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 2
Running Time: 124 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.7
MPN: D28171D
ISBN: 1417057769
UPC: 025192817120
EAN: 9781417057764
ASIN: B0008KLVG4
Theatrical Release Date: June 20, 1975
Release Date: June 14, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com essential video
In the vastly overrated 1998 book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, author Peter Biskind puts the blame for Hollywood's blockbuster mentality at least partially on Steven Spielberg's box-office success with this adaptation of Peter Benchley's bestselling novel. But you can't blame Spielberg for making a terrific movie, which Jaws definitely is. The story of a Long Island town whose summer tourist business is suddenly threatened by great-white-shark attacks on humans bypasses the potboiler trappings of Benchley's book and goes straight for the jugular with beautifully crafted, crowd-pleasing sequences of action and suspense supported by a trio of terrific performances by Roy Scheider (as the local sheriff), Richard Dreyfuss (as a shark specialist), and particularly Robert Shaw (as the old fisherman who offers to hunt the shark down). The sequences on Shaw's boat--as the three of them realize that in fact the shark is hunting them--are what entertaining moviemaking is all about. --Marshall Fine
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| Customer Reviews: Read 677 more reviews...
 More than a nibble September 27, 2008
Robert Buchanan (Wisconsin)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I don't need to evaluate the merits of the first great summer blockbuster; "Jaws" is a tremendous film, far better than most of the huge, expensive productions that Hollywood studios produce for general audiences these days. I'm happy to see that this edition looks and sounds so good. The print is clean, but not pristine - it looks like film, and not as though it were shot yesterday. It's not too grainy, but the colors are vibrant and the contrast is distinguished by those beautiful, natural hues that only good film stock can reproduce. The soundtrack is good, too; I played this through the little speakers of my TV and then on a friend's absurdly expensive surround sound array, and it sounds great on both.
The ominous expanse of the ocean - and the clanging buoy that marks the location of the story's first feeding - serve as the background of the main menu. The scene selection menu is what you'd expect, nothing more or less. Captions for the hearing impaired are available in English, as are French subtitles. However, no Spanish subtitles are available, which seems a rather severe omission in my opinion.
"Spotlight on Location" featurettes are produced for inclusion on many of Universal's DVDs, but they're rarely as long or detailed as this one. Interviews with the principle cast and crew, exclusive footage of deleted scenes and a wealth of photographs all yield more than a few intriguing stories pertaining to Benchley's book, the trials involved with the film's grueling and technically demanding shoot and its record-breaking reception. One of the most interesting aspects of the screenwriting process involved Quint's unforgettable U.S.S. Indianapolis monologue, which was first scripted by Howard Sackler as a short paragraph, extended by John Milius (who, given his political leanings, surely added that hint of patriotism) and finally revised extensively by Robert Shaw shortly before he performed it. I usually don't care for behind-the-scenes featurettes, but this one is so well-edited and provided so much substantial information that I found myself enjoying it.
Despite a few embarrassing exceptions, most of the deleted and alternate scenes are as ably shot and acted as anything that was retained for the theatrical cut. In a particularly humorous sequence, Robert Shaw harasses a young musician in a music store with the most overbearing variety of encouragement. The best of these provide some new perspective to the story, but they're all ultimately extraneous. As good as many of them are, there's no reason why they should have been retained, especially considering how lean the movie is at just over two hours. A couple of inadvertently amusing outtakes from two crucial scenes are also included.
The production photo gallery is enormous, including literally hundreds of photos of the cast and crew, equipment, settings and boats, as well as film stills, promotional photographs, advertisements, movie posters, lobby cards, book covers, articles concerning the film, and quite a lot more. Most of these pictures are interesting, but the lack of navigation in this feature is a major flaw. It's bad enough that a viewer can't scroll back and forth as they please, but we're also prohibited from fast-forwarding or rewinding through the selections. The gallery moves along at a sluggish pace and will loop infinitely until the 'menu' button on your remote control is pressed. With a flexible interface, this feature could have been so much more enjoyable.
The rest of the disc's features are negligible, but nice enough. A cute trivia game allows the player to view footage from the film to aid them in selecting multiple-choice answers, and "Shark World" serves as a primer for basic information about the species. Oddly enough, the special features listed on the keep case's paper sleeve include theatrical trailers (which are not included) and a screen saver (?).
Overall, this is quite a good DVD. I'd like to think that its few flaws were attended to for the production of the 30th Anniversary disc, but I haven't seen it. If not, maybe they'll get around to that when they release a 35th Anniversary Deluxe Edition. I'm not really joking.
 Are You Ready to Go Back Into the Water? September 22, 2008
Count Orlok '22 (Maine)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
In 1975, a young up and coming director named Steven Spielberg (Duel and The Sugarland Express) became America's premier filmmaker with his motion picture adaptation of Peter Benchley's novel, Jaws. Upon its theatrical release Jaws quickly became a cultural phenomenon, embraced by critics and audiences alike. It's hard to believe, but it's been over thirty years since the film debuted and Jaws still keeps people away from the water. The film's brilliant exploitation (or exploration, depending on how you look at it) of our primal fears of drowning and of being eaten alive by a natural predator is still stunningly effective. And though the mechanical shark in the film may look artificial or quaint when compared to today's advanced CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery), the film remains a chilling and exhilarating adventure/thriller.
When a Great White shark begins stalking the waters of Amity, a New England coastal town, and kills a teenage girl, Police Chief Martin Brody (who suffers from a fear of the water) wants to close down the beaches, but he is overruled by Mayor Vaughn. After two more fatal shark attacks Brody hires Matt Hooper, a wealthy ichthyologist from the Oceanographic Institute and an eccentric local fisherman named Quint, to hunt down and exterminate the shark. Brody says good-bye to his wife, Ellen and their two children, and he joins Hooper and Quint on a small, dilapidated fishing vessel called the Orca. It doesn't take this mismatched trio long before they encounter the deadly 26-foot shark, which repeatedly attacks their boat. Soon it becomes apparent that the hunters are the hunted and that this predator can, not only outsmart them, but outrun them as well. Even after numerous attempts to stop the shark, their efforts are thwarted time and time again. When the shark strikes their boat, creating a large leak, Brody, Hooper, and Quint realize that they are ill equipped to face this natural wonder of evolution, this perfect killing machine.
The film features a superb cast including Roy Scheider as the neurotic Police Chief, Brody, Richard Dreyfuss as the charmingly sarcastic Hooper, Robert Shaw as the stubborn Quint, Lorraine Gary as Brody's wife, Ellen, and Murray Hamilton as the persistently unwise Mayor Vaughn. The entire cast gives multi-faceted performances and Robert Shaw, in particular, is wonderful as the salty, cynical, and fiercely competitive Quint.
Without minimalizing the talents of the fantastic cast, the film's greatest stars are those behind the camera. Steven Spielberg was aided by special effects expert Robert A. Mattey, experienced shark photographers Ron and Valerie Taylor, production designer Joe Alves, and director of photography Bill Butler. The film's screenplay was written by Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb and benefited from unaccredited contributions by Howard Sackler, Steven Spielberg, and John Milius. As far as adaptations go, it's unusual for a film's screenplay to live up to the expectations of the fans of the source material. Often an adaptation of a book is disappointing, to put it mildly, but Jaws proved to be an exception. The film, in many ways, is superior to the novel, which at times drifts into the realm of pretentious melodrama.
Jaws was also given a tremendous boost by renowned film composer, John William's brilliant score, which has become instantly recognizable.
The original Jaws film was so successful that it spawned three sequels: the adequate Jaws 2, the regrettable Jaws 3, and the abysmal Jaws: The Revenge. Apparently you can't keep a good shark down. With all of these indestructible sharks out there, it's no wonder that people are still afraid of going into the water.
The 30th Anniversary Edition DVD includes the following bonus materials: the excellent two-hour documentary The Making of Jaws, deleted scenes and outtakes, From the Set vintage featurette, storyboards, production photos, Marketing Jaws, and Jaws Phenomenon image galleries.
Now the film itself is worth the price and with the addition of the bonus material, having this DVD in your collection is a no-brainer.
Also recommended:
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Jurassic Park: The Collection
Jaws September 15, 2008
Steven Fincher
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
How 32 people can give this just one star is beyond me.
This is a classic film, the music, the actors and directors have done a great job. It has a nice family theme as well as tense drama. One of the greatest films made.
"Some bad hat Harry" August 11, 2008
Louis Morano (New York, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I love this movie! Jaws has it all, sure it's scary, but it is very funny, sympathetic, exciting too.
It also takes place on and in real water in a real ocean.
Something sorely missing in todays aquatic films.
The charecters are memorable, and developed and perfectly cast.
If Jaws were made today,Denise Richards would be Hooper, George Clooney would be Brody, and Bruce Willis would be Quint!
The shark would be CGI and all of its magic would be lost.
Jaws is the real deal.
stay out of the water July 25, 2008
Steven Miyamoto (Torrance, CA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was one of the first ocean thrillers, and maybe the best. When I saw this in the theaters, I thought some of the characters were stupid movie stereotypes. Thirty years later, I realize these people really do exist out there in our world and it makes the movie even scarier.
The DVD transfer is great, the sound even better. The extras add to your enjoyment of the movie the next time; since you're buying this, I'm sure you plan to see the movie more than once.
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