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It’s Bruce’s birthday (the name the crew gave to
the plastic shark) and you’re all invited. “Jaws:
The 30th Anniversary Edition” has put on quite a spread.
A super-duper edition of the landmark blockbuster, an all-new
two-hour documentary on the film’s making, a slew of
vintage material and a fed edifice full of archives. Nice.
First to the movie. Heard of it? Jaws. Released about
the same time I was entering the world, this reasonably costly,
highly technical, meticulously written film based on Peter
Benchley’s best-selling novel was as big as it was brilliant.
The first film to ever make a $100 million at the box office,
and for a while there the biggest film of all time, it was
an epic watery thriller that pitted three men (Richard Dreyfuss,
Robert Shaw and Roy Scheider), a beach of numbskulls, an egotistical
Mayor and a wonky wharf against a monstrous shark. Those same
three men sail their boat, the Orca, out to sea where they
plan on grilling the Flake.
There’s nothing one can say about “Jaws” that
hasn’t already been said. It’s fantastic. Nail biting,
brilliantly performed, wonderfully invented, and splendidly
helmed by Sir Steven Spielberg (his second feature at the
time) – it’s as much a delight now as it was in
the flare-trendy 1970s.
DTS and 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen equals the most pristine
print of the shark saga to date. Pump up those speakers, grab
a pillow for the scary bits, and see if you can spot the rails
the Shark’s riding on.
DVD Extras (Region 1 only)
Extras-wise, there’s the aforesaid doco. Running almost
as long as the movie itself, it’s a treat and a half.
Spielberg, Benchley, Scheider, Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, co-writer/actor
Carl Gottlieb… They’re all here reminiscing about
the film that Captain beard said was quite a challenge to
make, but a great film as a result. Plenty of trivia, plenty
of insight, and some intriguing old-age liver spots on Dreyfuss’s
head.
In addition there’s a vintage gallery of posters and
piccies displaying the Jaws phenomenon, a bunch of deleted
scenes, production notes, storyboards and a 60-page commemorative
booklet.
Not an amazing lot of extras, but the one good documentary
and the excellent audio and video transfer of the film more
than makes up for the lack of supplements. It is, after all,
about quality not quantity, right?
Conclusion: Movie 95% Extras: 70%
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