The Making of 'Jaws' (1995)

The Making of Jaws (1995) **** (out of 4)This mammoth documentary on the making of JAWS features interviews with many of the main people behind the film including Steven Spielberg, producers David Brown and Richard Zanuck, stars Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Lorraine Gary, composer John Williams, stunt woman Susan Backlinie, co-writer Carl Gottlieb, writer Peter Benchley and several others. With a running time just north of two hours, this documentary really gives you a terrific idea of how one of the greatest movies ever made almost fell apart countless times throughout the troubled production. I really think the greatest stuff here deals with Spielberg who wonderfully details the chaos that was constantly happening as they tried to deal with various troubles from the shark not working properly to the ocean just not helping the situation.We learn about the original screenplay, the various changes made to it and then we get into the hiring of the cast as well as a few actors who turned down various roles. From here we get to the actual shooting of the movie and everything that went wrong including fears that Spielberg would walk, the studio would just cancel the picture or the entire thing could have been taken away. The cast and crew really do a marvelous job at explaining everything that went wrong but, in the end, we also get to hear what a pleasure the end result turned out to be.If you're a fan of JAWS then obviously this here is going to be a must see. Not only do we get the terrific stories but we also get several outtakes including a more graphic death scene that was cut by Spielberg because he felt it was just too much.

Ever watch Jaws and think 'man, I can't believe how they build suspense with showing so little of the shark in the first third of the movie', or 'I wonder how John Williams got the theme that's so bad-ass', or 'was Robert Shaw really drunk as he looked?' These and more are answered in the most in-depth documentary done yet on the making of the seminal Spielberg blockbuster, the one that "changed movies" just by the sheer amount of money it made, but also how it was marketed, and what it intended for a mass audience (what isn't discussed so much is how it was basically an 'A' 'B' movie, that is with a lot of the hallmarks of what one might find in a Roger Corman movie, but with, you know, better actors, a better director and sharper writing, but I digress).Everything from Peter Benchley's origins with the book, to how quickly the rights were picked up, and then on to the physical production (Spielberg's script changes, the casting, the shark - oh, that darn Bruce - and filming on Martha's Vinyard), and of course through the production problems incurred not just due to the shark (that is, it didn't work like 75% of the time) but that shooting out at sea means a lot of waiting and natural problems. It's all covered; I would think this would be the next best thing if one decided to fore-go the also seminal 'Jaws Log' by writer Carl Gottlieb, which also chronicles the making of the film but from a more insider perspective.The plus side to this doc from what I imagine is covered in the Gottleib book is that it gives so many voices to what went on, from little things like how the sign they had on the island (the one that says 'Welcome to Amity' and is then defaced as a sharp joke) was not originally there and had to be taken down after one day, to big things like the origin of the greatest scene in the picture, the Indianapolis monologue. It's more like an oral history which, at two hours (that I only finally got to really sink my teeth into, no pun intended, with the Jaws blu-ray recently released), gives enough voice to what was difficult about making the film, but also the happy surprises, such as the camaraderie that happened on set, and the improvisation that came from so much down time as to focus more on the characters and relationships.So if you want to know it all, from Spielberg's panic attacks to a funny-horrifying tale of the 'little' stunt double in the cage in the water, this is the one to check out. For a film freak like me it's like a bag of chips I don't want to stop eating. For the casual movie-watcher, it's full of facts that will either keep you enthralled, or, if not, the movie's still on the disc!

A documentary chronicling the making of the film Jaws from the scripting stage through to problems on shooting. With interviews from the majority of the cast, producers and the director himself.I watched this as a DVD extra and was easily interested. Taking the viewer from the conception stage of the book right through to the final film this is a very interesting subject. The director and the majority of the cast make for interesting tales, however much of it is known due to the legend over the few years. As a result there's not a whole lot more to say and it fails to have more than one or two bits where I went `ohh' because I didn't know that.However this is still of interest even if you know the story behind the film already. It's good to see Speilberg and several of the main cast brought in to make comments. Even where you know the story it's still nice to hear it from them themselves.Overall this is of interest to anyone interesting in Jaws as a creation – however from many it'll be old news told in a different way.

I am a huge Jaws fan and this is the best documentary. The only thing that is wrong with this is that there is no Robert Shaw interview, there also isn't a Murray Hamilton interview either. But in all this is a great documentary. If you are a Jaws fan at all then you must check this out.