“I had heard that the special effects weren’t that great.”
They weren’t. That is what makes the movie so great. The mechanical shark was supposed to be in the movie from the very beginning and have lots of scenes. Except the thing kept breaking. So, they had to improvise, and just give the illusion of a shark.
Turns out, what you DON’T see makes the movie so great. The fear of the unknown and all that. Seeing some girl getting yanked around by something unknown is a lot scarier than watching one get ripped apart by a shark. (Not as gory - but scarier).
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The opening scene is without a doubt the scariest I’ve ever seen- and without any blood, gore or monsters.
A lovely girl is treading water on a still moonlit night, calling for her young lover on the beach to join her.
He doesn’t hear. He has fallen into a drunken sleep.
Suddenly she is yanked under the dark water and is released.
She has a look of shock and wonderment on her face.
Again and again she is yanked under and released.
Then she is pulled across the water by something underneath.
The still air is penetrated by her water logged screams.
Then she is gone.
The moonlight reflects across the water and all is silent except for a distant bouy bell- as if nothing had ever happened.
Jaws is a masterful, visceral and realistic science-fiction suspense/horror-disaster film that taps into the most primal of human fears - what unseen creature lurks below the dark surface of the water beyond the beach?
John Williams masterful musical score is one of the best ever.
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Exactly! That's what made the first Alien movie so much better than the following ones.