Here's To Swimmin' With Bow-Legged Women

Jaws just keeps getting better every time I see it. No wonder it's never been remade as there isn't a director on the planet that could top the thrills and intensity of Steven Spielberg's classic. You all know the tale; Small town Police Chief, Roy Scheider, and his family have recently settled in to residence on seaside resort Amity Island when the town is menaced by a great white shark. Chief Brody enlists the help of shark expert Hopper (Richard Dreyfus) and grizzled fisherman Quint (Robert Shaw) to catch the monster.

Here's a few reasons why it's so good:-
1/ John Williams iconic score.
2/ Chrissie's midnight skinny dipping.
3/ Roy Schieder's everyman. It's basically a coming of age tale as the inexperienced family guy leaves home to confront his fears to wage war against a mythical beast and become a real man.
4/ Chrissie's remains...in a tray.
5/ Fingernails on the blackboard.
6/ Richard Dreyfus's Hopper. Rich, dedicated and sarcastic. He's the white collar brains to Quint's blue collar brawn, with Brodey in the middle.
7/ The dolly zoom effect when the Kitner kid is eaten.
8/ "That's some bad hat Harry". So good that Bryan Singer nicked it for his production company's name.
9/ Robert Shaw's Quint...one of the best characters to grace the silver screen. Period.
10/ "Farewell and adieu to you, fair Spanish ladies..."
11/ Little Michael Brody mimicking his dad at dinner.
12/ "Anti-shark cage. You go inside the cage? Cage goes in the water, you go in the water. Shark's in the water. Our shark"
13/ Comparing scars and "show me the way to go home".
14/ "You're gonna need a bigger boat." Best. Line. Ever. Now used to describe any situation where you're completely out of your depth.
15/ "Come on down here and chum some of this shit!"
16/ The growing tension as Quint's fishing line begins to move.
17/ Ben Gardiner's head popping out of that hole in the boat. Pants. Meet Shit.
18/ "That's a twenty footer". "Twenty-five. Three tons of him." The first shark attack on the Orca is still one of the most exhilarating action sequences commited to celluloid. "Hook up another barrel. I'M COMIN' AROUND AGAIN!"
19/ The USS Indianapolis speech. Chilling.
20/ Cutting open the tiger shark and finding the Louisiana licence plate.
21/ The shark cage.
22/ The vandalised Amity billboard. "Those proportions are correct..."
23/ Quint gets eaten.
24/ "Smile, you son of a bitch!" Kaboom!

It's a movie of two halves. The first reveals the danger within the first few minutes and then proceeds to present a bigger danger; the Amity bureaucracy..as embodied by Major Larry Vaughn. Combined with an audience hoping the shark has gone away combined with Brody's thwarted attempts to close the beaches and catch the fish makes for tense viewing.
When Brody does get authorisation to hunt down the monster it's a flat out roller coaster aboard Quint's vessel, Orca, as the three heroes rally from one crunching encounter to the next.

Spielberg at the very peak of his abilities and a film which is every bit as exciting and involving as it was 35 years ago.