Review: 'Jaws: Memories from Martha’s Vineyard (Updated and Revised Edition)'

While many have accused Jaws of wrecking the serious "New Cinema" of the seventies, many others have celebrated it as the movie that rescued the decade from relentless downbeat antihero drabness. They're both pretty right, though you can hardly say Jaws made cinema dumber, what with its superb script, directing, and acting. The film was so story, dialog, and character conscious that barely anyone noticed or cared that the shark looked like a giant rubber pool toy.

366 Days at the Drive-In: Day 278

The Date: July 4

The Movie: Jaws (1975)

What Is It?: Steven Spielberg employed special effects to thrill audiences and drew record-breaking revenue, but its thrills do not make Jaws any less thoughtful or its characters any less complex. And after the kills have lost their shock value with repeated viewings and sophisticated contemporary special effects have rendered “Bruce” the Shark somewhat less realistic, Jaws continues to work wonderfully as a character piece. And what characters it has! Roy Scheider as the conflicted police chief; Richard Dreyfuss as the smart but inexperienced rich kid with an arsenal of shark-finding technology; Robert Shaw as the salty, glib sea captain who has seen more than his share of horror. His account of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the feeding frenzy that followed may be cinema’s most spellbinding monologue.

Why Today?: The 4^th of July is when the shark goes on an all-out frenzy.