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• The rise and fall of Giga Pets
Tagged years: 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996 -
• The birth of MTV
Tagged years: 1981 -
• A look at the movie Jaws
Tagged years: 1975 -
• Remember Cookies and Cream Twix Bars
Tagged years: 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990 -
• Remembering New Coke...
Tagged years: 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983 -
• Your first car
Tagged years: 1994 -
• I remember the 80s - kinda
Tagged years: 1989, 1988, 1987, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1982, 1981, 1980
Tagged years: 1975
A look at the movie Jaws
Jaws was the 1975 summer movie that not only sparked the career of Steve Speilberg, but also coined the term "blockbuster" as crowds were lined around the block to get into the movie theater. Being the first movie to implement a wide-release pattern, meaning that prints were distibuted nation-wide as opposed to a "slow release" that would start in major cities and trickle to other places, it ended up grossing $470 million worldwide (which equates to $1.9 billion in today's money).
Many people remember being absolutely terrified while watching the movie with the plot being, obviously, a large great white shock terrorizing the people around Amity Island and a police chief, shark hunter and marine bioligist are tasked with killing that shark.
From the opening skinny dipping attack scene, the movie has the audience on a string. Now the most interesting thing about Jaws is how mechinal faliure may have actually helped the film. Three mechanical sharks were made for the film, but they weren't very reliable as sea water corroded their innards. This caused the film to go over budget, but the delays gave filmmakers more time to refine the script and took the emphasis away from actually showing the shark. This mean that Speilberg had to allude to the presence of the shark more often, building up suspense for the audience becuase they couldn't actually see it. Jaws was nominated for Best Picture, and Speilberg was nominated for Best Director. The film was also no. 2 on the American Film Institutes 100 Years ... 100 Thrills list. Roger Ebert called Jaws "a sensationally effective action picture, a scary thriller that works all the better because it's populated with characters that have been developed into human beings."
In other words, if you're going to try a measure the importance of this film, you're going to need a bigger boat.
What was it like watching Jaws for the first time?