Behind the "Jaws"

There is only one thing more terrifying than the dark nights, the hideous beasts, and the wicked demons: reality. Slipeberg manipulated this fact to the greatest effect, constructing a movie that remains in the back of peoples' minds as they wade into the deep, daunting ocean waters. In the makings of his film Jaws, Spileberg  takes fears that are real, no ridiculous wickedness, but the unfathomable power of an animal that lurks just beneath the surface. The mechanical shark, known as Bruce, had none of the special effects that make modern movies so realistic. He was raw machinery, a shark in its natural habitat: the wide open ocean. It was a challenge filming with a massive mechanical shark out at sea. The result was an unforgettable motion picture. As fans of this movie claim, there should never be a remake of Jaws, for it was apparent that Jaws 2, though more modern, had nothing on the real factor presented in the original. The perfectness of the animated, edited, and mutated waters are an attempt to be realistic, but in being so "realistic" these films lose the "real" factor that can only be captured in a real location, in the real moment, as Jaws was filmed out at sea. Also,  modern movies tend to have a fierce protagonist that "over stay their welcome." Slideberg used the ingenious idea of eluding to the terrifying, unstoppable power of the star of this film. He knew just the right moments, when the audience had "let their guard down", to release the beast. The creator of Jaws knew what it took to strike fear into his audience, producing that addicting thrill factor. Spileberg had the audience believing that nothing could beat Bruce. He was unbeatable, yet what stopped him was a freak accidental explosion. The fear of Jaws goes beyond the screen, staying with the viewers for years and they are reminded of it every time they swim among the waves... and whatever might be swimming just beneath them.    

"The only thing we have to fear is fear it'self -nameless, unreasoning, unjustified, terror..." -FDR (1933)