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Ba-dum ba-dumbadumbadumbadum...
Like most people I know, I was familiar with the Jaws music before I ever saw the film. I attribute it to the genious that is John Williams.
I had seen Jaws once before on TV, and I wasn't really paying too much attention, so when I watched it last night, it was kinda like seeing it for the first time. It's the classic story of the giant shark terrorizing the beach, killing innocent people. I'm sure we've all seen a movie like that (e.g. Lake Placid, Anaconda, Pirranha, Deep Blue Sea, etc.) but this one's a classic. In fact, there's very little in the movie that really dates it. I think it was really the direction and the acting that made this film so good. Unfortunately for me, it's hard to make fun of decent films, so I'll just skip that. I'll be seeing Battlefield Earth in the near future, though, so don't fret.
Here's the story. The killer shark is terrorizing Amity, a small summer town, and the police chief, Brody (noochie noochies) wants to close the beach. I tend to agree with him, since it's generally a bad idea to go swimming in man-eating-shark-infested waters, especially when the movie is in the horror section of the video store. Nevertheless, the mayor, who's a world-class jerk, won't let that happen. They need the money. The mayor's not all that bright. Along comes Quint, the sea captain, and Hooper, the oceanographer (and yes, you may recognize these names from Kevin Smith movies), and they go out to catch the big fish. They're not really aware of how big and mean this fish is, though, until it decides to try to ride on the boat. It doesn't succeed, of course, and it's a real pain in the, er, neck to kill it. It eats Quint, and Hooper disappears for a while, so Brody has to deal with the shark alone, and the boat's sinking. Luckily, there's an oxygen tank floating around, so he shoves it into the shark's mouth and shoots it, blowing up the shark, the end.
Body Count: 6 (including the dog)
This really wasn't a bad movie, but, like I said, I attribute it to the acting and directing. I recommend it. Anyway, since this review is so short, I'll just throw in a few Jaws references you may have seen in Kevin Smith movies:
Clerks:
When Dante and Randall are sitting on the freezer, talking, Randall is playin with a tortilla chip and a jar of salsa. He hums the Jaws theme and says, "Salsa shark. We're gonna need a bigger boat. Man goes into cage. Cage goes into salsa. Shark's in the salsa. Our shark."
Mallrats:
Two characters, named Brodie Bruce (Bruce was actually Spielberg's nickname for the shark) and T. S. Quint.
T. S. Quint plans to propose to Brandi Svenning at Universal Studios when Jaws pops out of the water.
Chasing Amy:
A character named Hooper X.
The scene in the bar where Banky and Alyssa are showing their sex-related scars, almost identical to the scene in Jaws.
Ok, so this was all a big waste of your time.