Title: Jaws (1975)

Studio: Universal Home Video

Rating: 'PG'

Running Time: 125 Minutes

Format(s): Anamorphic Widescreen

Extras: Documentary: The Making Of Jaws

Deleted Scenes And Outtakes

Get Out Of The Water! Trivia Game

Shark World

Production Photos And Storyboards

3 Trailers

Directed By: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw

Reviewed by: Joe O'Leary

I can't believe it's been 25 years since "Bruce," the Great White Shark in Jaws, reared its ugly snout to take a bite out of, well, anything it could get its teeth around! Universal has made this a truly memorable occasion by releasing a DVD that does the film justice.

For the 2 of you who haven't seen the film yet, Jaws takes place on and around Amity Island (Martha's Vinyard), where a giant Great White shark has decided to make a meal of the swimmers and boaters in the area. After the first shark attack, Chief Brody (Roy Sheider) wants to close the beaches down, but the mayor and local business owners have no intention of losing their vital summer tourist income. Besides, maybe it was just a freak accident and not a shark at all. Oceanologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) proves "This was no boating accident!", but it takes some more innocents to die before the town relents and hires a professional shark hunter. Brody and Hooper team up with shark hunter Quint (Robert Shaw) and head out to sea to find the beast. They eventually track down the shark, but find that they're "gonna need a bigger boat..." Quint becomes obsessed with the shark, however, and decides to drag Brody and Hooper into his fight to the death with the Great White...

Everyone please throw away your "full screen" VHS copies of Jaws: this is the edition fans deserve. The newly remastered, anamorphic widescreen transfer is absolutely beautiful. I didn't notice any scratches, dust, or grain in the print at all. The night scene at the beginning and the underwater sequences look clearer than ever, and the daytime scences are crisp and vibrant. The picture is so good, you'll never believe the movie was filmed in 1975-it looks brand new.

The remastered 5.1 Dolby Digital sound mix has caused quite a stir among die hard fans around the net. (The film was originally recorded in mono) I feel I'm speaking for the average fan when I say the sound, especially the score, has benefitted by this new mix. Yes, some of the sound effects are different, but for me they were hardly noticeable. I understand the purist's view that this is tampering with the original movie, but John Williams' score just sounds so much better that for me this new mix is fine trade off.

The extras on the disc are great as well. First up is a one hour documentary that was originally shot for the laserdisc of Jaws. I read online that this documentary was two hours on the laserdisc, but that the one hour edited version on the DVD is tighter and still contains all the most valuable information. There are interviews with Spielberg, the actors, stuntmen, the effects crew, and more. Lots of behind the scenes footage and interesting stories make this one documentary that will stand up under repeated viewings.

The deleted scenes and outtakes are cool to have, but don't add much to the movie. There's a funny Quint scene, and a scene deemed too gruesome by Spielberg to keep in the film, but all in all you'll understand why these were cut. The trivia game is goofy fun, and Shark World is a an interesting text section of shark facts. The Production Photos And Storyboards are fantastic, and are worthy of your time. The Photo section has behind the scenes shots of the director, actors, and crew, and lobbycards and movie posters from around the world. The Storyboards are interesting in that they show plenty of scenes that were never filmed because the mechanical sharks never worked right. Trailers, Production Notes, Cast & Crew Biographies and a Jaws screen saver round off this loaded disk.