| Adapted from the popular Peter Benchley novel published in 1974, director Steven Spielberg's horror classic is one big, olympic-sized swim of terror.
A great white shark prowls the bay waters of Long Island's sleepy community of Amity.
Out to eliminate the threat, town sheriff Martin Brody (Scheider) enlists the aid of marine expert Matt Hooper (Dreyfuss), and crusty sea veteran and professional shark hunter Quint (Shaw, who delivers a stunning performance here).
But can the three survive their battle with nature's rawest - not to mention, hungriest - fury?
Memorable from start to finish, with carefully-crafted nailbiting suspense and several moments of sheer horror delivered like a clean left hook to the jaw.
In many ways, it was JAWS more than George Lucas' original Star Wars (1977) that created the "summer blockbuster," and revolutionized (for better or worse) the way we viewed moviemaking in the last quarter of the 20th century.
Buoyed by that iconic John Williams score and perfect performances from all.
It was also vastly influential, with 3 sequels and countless direct - or indirect - imitations, including Jaws of Death (1976) as well as the Italian answer The Last Shark (1980).
Followed by JAWS 2 in 1978.
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