JAWS 50th Anniversary Edition 4K
review by Bobby Blakey
There is no denying that Steven Spielberg is one of the most iconic directors of all time with massive franchises and successful films throughout his long career. In 1975 he made the world afraid to go in the water with his classic JAWS starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, and Murray Hamilton. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the man-eating shark classic Universal is bringing the film home in an all-new anniversary 4K edition.
​
JAWS follows the seaside community of Amity who finds itself under attack by a dangerous great white shark, the town’s chief of police, a young marine biologist and a grizzled shark hunter embark on a desperate quest to destroy the beast before it strikes again.
​
In its 50 years this film has been reviewed more times than can be counted. It not only cemented itself as a classic piece of cinema but changed the face of horror in its own new way. The film has not only spawned its own sequels, but made the shark attach genre its own part of horror cultural to this day. There is no doubt
about this film’s iconic nature, but does it still hold up on its own accords and does this new edition do it justice?
​
Revisiting this film for the first time in years and still love it as much as ever. I have always found it more annoying than scary through much of its run time just due to the wide number of idiots in the movie, but that is just part of it and the necessity to getting them killed. The humans are so unlikable you can’t wait for them to die and in turn make the film all the more satisfying. It almost plays like two films with the first half all the city in fighting with a random shark attack here and there then shifting to full on survival hunt once they hit the water to take out JAWS.
​
Everything about this film is perfection, building great tensions leading to the attacks and not trying to spend a lot of time giving it an explanation. I love this film and the simplicity of the story that still packs emotional depth on all the characters right up until their last moments when it matters. The real-life tensions and legendary behind the scenes issues shine through on screen to really bring it all together making these characters on the Orca so much more fun and engaging to watch.
Despite very little screen time the shark itself known as Bruce on set is fantastic. Even by today’s standards in effects it is a piece of cinematic brilliance and the real reason this film not only works but stands the test of time to this day. The 4K transfer looks fantastic and takes the already perfect film to look better. I was worried it might make elements of the effects look more fake, but it looks better than ever.
​
This release features the never-before-seen documentary, JAWS @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story, a brand-new look at the making and legacy of the film directed by Laurent Bouzereau and from National Geographic, in partnership with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Documentaries, Nedland Media, and Wendy Benchley. The disc and digital include over five hours of bonus features with an inside look at the making of the film, deleted scenes, original on-set footage, and much more!
​
Head back to the water and grab your copy of JAWS: 50th Anniversary Edition available now on digital, 4K, Blu-ray and DVD from Universal Home Entertainment.
