Kayaking: Great White Shark
THE WHITE SHARK
KAYAK STORY -Read the story
Jaws is a 1975
American horror/thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter
Benchley's novel of the same name. The prototypical summer blockbuster, its
release is regarded as a watershed moment in motion picture history. In the
story, a giant man-eating great white shark attacks beachgoers on Amity Island,
a fictional summer resort town, prompting the local police chief to hunt it
with the help of a marine biologist and a professional shark hunter. The film
stars Roy Scheider as police chief Martin Brody, Richard Dreyfuss as
oceanographer Matt Hooper, Robert Shaw as shark hunter Quint, Murray Hamilton
as the mayor of Amity Island, and Lorraine Gary as Brody's wife, Ellen. The
screenplay is credited to both Benchley, who wrote the first drafts, and
actor-writer Carl Gottlieb, who rewrote the script during principal
photography.
Shot mostly on
location on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, the film had a troubled
production, going over budget and past schedule. As the art department's
mechanical sharks suffered many malfunctions, Spielberg decided to mostly
suggest the animal's presence, employing an ominous, minimalistic theme created
by composer John Williams to indicate the shark's impending appearances.
Spielberg and others have compared this suggestive approach to that of classic
thriller director Alfred Hitchcock. Universal Pictures gave the film what was
then an exceptionally wide release for a major studio picture, over 450
screens, accompanied by an extensive marketing campaign with a heavy emphasis
on television spots and tie-in merchandise.
Generally well
received by critics, Jaws became the highest-grossing film in history at the
time. It won several awards for its soundtrack and editing, and it is often
cited as one of the greatest films of all time. Along with 1977's Star Wars,
Jaws was pivotal in establishing the modern Hollywood business model, which
revolves around blockbuster action and adventure pictures with simple
"high-concept" premises that are released during the summer in
thousands of theaters and supported by heavy advertising. It was followed by
three sequels, none with the participation of Spielberg or Benchley, and many
imitative thrillers. In 2001, Jaws was selected by the Library of Congress for
preservation in the United States National Film Registry, being deemed
"culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". -Wikipedia
