Jaws

Why it matters

• Jaws helped invent the modern summer blockbuster, transforming how Hollywood released, marketed, and monetized major studio films.
• Spielberg’s command of suspense showed how less could be more, using absence, timing, and audience anticipation to create one of cinema’s most influential thrill rides.
• Its blend of horror, adventure, and character-driven storytelling gave the blockbuster a level of craft and emotional engagement that countless later hits tried to emulate.

Watch for

• How Spielberg delays full views of the shark, using water-level camera placement, reaction shots, and editing to make unseen danger feel overwhelming.
• John Williams’s two-note theme, which turns a simple musical idea into one of the most effective suspense devices in film history.
• The contrast among Brody, Hooper, and Quint, whose clashing temperaments give the film its human drama once the story moves offshore.
• The Indianapolis monologue and the final boat sequences, where the film shifts from beach-town panic to a stripped-down battle of endurance, obsession, and fear.

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