Jaws (1975) Re-Revisit ft. Klarissa and Ralph Esparza

Original Episode: #39 Jaws (1975) (released October 28, 2020)

New Episode: #76 Jaws (1975) Revisit (released August 4, 2021)

New Episode: #269 Jaws (1975) Re-Revisit ft. Klarissa and Ralph Esparza (released on July 9, 2025)

Guests:

• Klarissa

  • I've Seen That One (IG)

  • Previously on Roman Holiday (1953) Revisit

• Ralph Esparza (Film Producer)

  • Credited on Tollbooth, Mad House, Killer Date, An Occasional Hell, and One Degree Celcius

  • @ralph_esparza on IG

  • Previously on Magnolia (1999)

Cast:

• Steven Spielberg, Director

• Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb, Writers

• Bill Butler, Cinematography

• John Williams, Music

• Roy Scheider as Martin Brody

• Richard Dreyfuss as Matthew Hooper

• Robert Shaw as Captain Quint

• Lorraine Gary as Ellen Brody

• Murray Hamilton as Mayor Larry Vaughn

Background:

• Jaws was released on June 20, 1975.

• Adapted from Peter Benchley's best-selling novel and on a rough budget of $9 million, Jaws would become a worldwide sensation and soar to the top of the box office with a record $123.1 million becoming not only the highest-grossing film of 1975, but of all-time as well. It has since gone on to gross $477 million in gross receipts over its lifetime.

• Jaws is #7 on the inflation-adjusted lifetime grossing films of all-time, and is only one of the eleven films that achieved the status as highest-grossing movie of all-time.

• Jaws received mostly positive reviews at the time, and was nominated for four Oscars including Best Picture, and winning three for Original Score (Williams), Film Editing, and Sound.

• Jaws is also credited as creating the Hollywood "Summer Blockbuster".

• The film had broader cultural repercussions as well. Similar to the way the pivotal scene in 1960's Psycho made showers a new source of anxiety, Jaws led many viewers to fear going into the ocean. Some even questioned whether sharks could be in Lake Michigan. Reduced beach attendance in 1975 was attributed to it, as well as more reported shark sightings. It is still seen as responsible for perpetuating negative stereotypes about sharks and their behavior, and for producing the so-called "Jaws effect", which allegedly inspired "legions of fishermen [who] piled into boats and killed thousands of the ocean predators in shark-fishing tournaments." Benchley would later campaign to stop the depopulation of sharks, saying that "Jaws was entirely a fiction".

• In the years since its release, Jaws has frequently been cited by film critics and industry professionals as one of the greatest movies of all time.

• It was number 48 on American Film Institute's 100 Years ... 100 Movies in 1998; it dropped to number 56 on the 10th Anniversary list.

• AFI also ranked the shark at number 18 on its list of the 50 Best Villains, Roy Scheider's line "You're gonna need a bigger boat" 35th on a list of top 100 movie quotes, Williams's score at sixth on a list of 100 Years of Film Scores, and the film as second on a list of 100 most thrilling films, behind only Psycho.

• In 2003, The New York Times included the film on its list of the best 1,000 movies ever made. The following year, Jaws placed at the top of the Bravo network's five-hour miniseries The 100 Scariest Movie Moments.

• The Chicago Film Critics Association named it the sixth-scariest film ever made in 2006.

• In 2008, Jaws was ranked the fifth-greatest film in history by Empire magazine, which also placed Quint at number 50 on its list of the 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

• The film has been cited in many other lists of 50 and 100 greatest films, including ones compiled by Leonard Maltin, Entertainment Weekly, Film4, Rolling Stone, Total Film, TV Guide, Vanity Fair and Variety.

• In 2006, its screenplay was ranked the 63rd-best of all time by the Writers Guild of America.

• In 2012, the Motion Picture Editors Guild listed the film as the eighth best-edited film of all time based on a survey of its membership.

• In 2001, the United States Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry, recognizing it as a landmark horror film and the first "summer movie".

• Jaws currently holds a 97% among critics on RT, an 87 score on Metacritic, and a 3.9/5 on Letterboxd.

Plot Summary: Jaws is a masterclass in cinematic suspense, a film that grips the audience with primal fear and refuses to let go. Directed with surgical precision by a young Steven Spielberg, it tells the story of a seaside town terrorized by a great white shark—an unseen menace that lurks beneath the surface both literally and metaphorically. Roy Scheider’s Chief Brody, caught between political pressure and his own conscience, anchors the human drama, while Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw provide texture as a scientist and a grizzled fisherman, respectively.

But the real triumph of Jaws is its restraint. The mechanical shark’s frequent malfunctions forced Spielberg to show less, and in doing so, he created more: more tension, more imagination, more terror. John Williams' iconic score doesn’t just accompany the action—it is the shark. What emerges is not just a thriller, but a work of art that understands the mechanics of fear and the anatomy of heroism. It’s not about a shark; it’s about the people who must confront it—and, by extension, themselves.

Did You Know?:

• Three mechanical "Bruces" were made, each with specialized functions. One shark was open on the right side, one was open on the left side, and the third was fully skinned. Each shark cost approximately $250,000.

• An accident during filming caused the Orca to begin sinking. Director Steven Spielberg began screaming over a bullhorn for the nearby safety boats to rescue the actors. John R. Carter, already up to his knees in water on the sinking Orca, held his Nagra (tape recorder) up over his head and screamed, "F**k the actors, save the sound department!" During the accident, the film camera was submerged, so its film, still submerged in sea water, was assumed to be ruined. However, once it was realized that developing solution is saline, the film was flown to a New York film lab, and technicians didn't lose any of it. The accident is described starting at 01:30:07 in "The Making of Jaws" on the 30th Anniversary edition DVD.

• Director Steven Spielberg's biggest fear other than the appearance/performance of the mechanical shark was that cameras would catch sight of land. The reason Spielberg did not want land to be seen was because he thought the audience could envision the characters having the option of just running back to shore when in danger. He wanted to isolate the audience as much as the characters.

• Quint's boat is named "Orca." Being a shark hunter by profession, Quint knows that Orcas (traditionally known as "killer whales") are the only known predator of the Great White.

• Director Steven Spielberg observed at the first testing screening that the first surprise appearance of the shark got the biggest scream from the audience. However, after he re-shot the scene at Ben Gardner's boat, the surprise appearance of Ben Gardner's head got the biggest scream, while the appearance of the shark received half the reaction it used to. Spielberg said it taught him a lesson that a movie can have only one major scare moment, because afterward the audience will be on guard against the film.

The Stanley Rubric:

Original Legacy Score: 10

Revisit Legacy Score: 10

New Legacy Score: 10

Original Impact/Significance Score: 9.75

Revisit Impact/Significance Score: 10

New Impact/Significance Score: 10

Original Novelty Score: 9

Revisit Novelty Score: 9.58

New Novelty Score: 9.5

Original Classicness Score: 8.25

Revisit Classicness Score: 9.5

New Classicness Score: 10

Original Rewatchability Score: 6

Revisit Rewatchability Score: 8.17

New Rewatchability Score: 9.75

Original Audience Score: 9 (90% RT)

Revisit Audience Score: 8.9 (88% Google, 90% RT)

New Audience Score: 8.65 (83% Google, 90% RT)

Original Total Score: 52 (would be tied for #30-31)

Revisit Total Score: 56.15 (currently #3)

New Total Score: 57.9

In Memorium:

• Rick Hurst, 79, American actor (known for roles in The Dukes of Hazzard, Steel Magnolias, Earth Girls Are Easy)

• Bill Moyers, 91, American journalist and political commentator (wrote the Bill Moyers Journal), White House press secretary (1965–1967)

• Lalo Schifrin, 93, Argentine-born American film and television composer (wrote scores for Mission: Impossible, Dirty Harry, Rush Hour), five-time Grammy Award winner

• Bobby Sherman, 81, American singer (performed the songs "Little Woman", "Julie, Do Ya Love Me") and actor (known for roles in Here Come the Brides, the FBI)

• Rebekah Del Rio, 57, American singer and actress (performed in Mulholland Drive)

• Joe Marinelli, 68, American actor (known for roles in Santa Barbara, The Morning Show, General Hospital, Sideways)

• Jack Betts, 96, American character actor (known for roles in Spider-Man, One Life to Live, Gods and Monsters)

• Lynn Hamilton, 95, American actress (known for roles in Sanford and Son, Roots: The Next Generations, The Waltons)

• Gailard Sartain, 78, American actor (known for roles in The Buddy Holly Story, Mississippi Burning, Hee Haw)