“Jaws” Bites Back

Steven Spielberg's shark, which started the era of the summer movie blockbuster, returns for a 40th anniversary victory lap.

Much of the credit for the record $511.8 million opening weekend global box office take of "Jurassic World" belongs to Steven Spielberg—and not just for unleashing the dino-dynamo franchise two decades ago.

The filmmaker kicked off the era of the modern, special effects-enhanced summer movie blockbuster 40 years ago this week when "Jaws" swam into theaters, sparking the cinematic equivalent of a Sharknado.

The film that made it safe to make oodles of money in theaters aims to take a modest bite out of the box office Sunday when "Jaws" lands in 500 movie houses for special anniversary showings.

It marks a well-deserved victory lap for "Jaws," which not only carved a fin-led path for everything from "Star Wars" to the current surfeit of superhero movies, but also helped spur, for better or worse, the inevitability of sequels for box office hits (even if the series flagged badly after the solid 1978 follow-up "Jaws 2").

"Jaws"—and Spielberg—too often get an unfair rap for unofficially ending the late 1960s-early 1970s golden age of adult character-driven dramas that produced the likes of "Midnight Cowboy," the first two "Godfather" films and "Serpico."

Spielberg's "Jaws" marked an extension of that genre, with his sleepy beachfront town in crisis and his richly drawn, combustible combination of three men in a tub: the old sea captain (Robert Shaw), the conflicted sheriff (Roy Scheider) and the cocksure marine biologist (Richard Dreyfus).

The suspense-driven thriller also harkened to the approach of one of Spielberg's filmmaking heroes, Alfred Hitchcock, whose "Psycho" marks its 55th anniversary this summer. In both movies, the rarely scene killers appear in sudden explosions of violence that filled theaters with bloodcurdling screams.

By the time he made 1993's "Jurassic Park," Spielberg didn't have to ration takes with a balky mechanical shark. He was playing with an army of dinosaurs summoned by digital wizardry.

Technology changed the game, ushering in a movie-making age heavy on the effects, threatening to leave post-"Jaws" generations jaded. Still, films where depth of the story matches the quality of the CGI images—as with the “Lord of the Ring” series and the two most “Planet of the Apes” installments—can offer a powerful, unforgettable experience.

So does "Jaws," even after all these years. Check out a clip from a master filmmaker at his best as theater owners prepare to revive a movie that, in two hours, 15 minutes, packs more chills and thrills than a million Shark Weeks.

Jere Hester is Director of News Products and Projects at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is also the author of "Raising a Beatle Baby: How John, Paul, George and Ringo Helped us Come Together as a Family." Follow him on Twitter.

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