I was sad today to hear of the passing of Roy Scheider. He was certainly an iconic actor of the 70’s generation. I mean, for people who loved Jaws, Sheriff Brody was up there with Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Dr. Zaius. Hell, Jaws was our generation’s Moby Dick. So, despite the fact that Mr. Scheider made several good films and earned himself a couple of nominations—we at Mystery Island are going to revisit our favorite Scheider film, the one that really did make us afraid to go in the water …
I imagine it’s hard for people who never saw Jaws in the movie theatre during its original run to fully understand its impact and importance. With today’s special effects is it really so special to see a big shark take a bite out of a fishing boat (and a few people)?
Maybe not.
But in 1975, no matter how rubbery the shark looked—it looked damn cool—and it was scary. Jaws actually fits into a nice genre blend. It’s a suspense film, a family drama, action/adventure at times, and truly—a full on monster movie. Jaws was actually one of the scariest monsters of all time, because we all knew that big f---ing fish actually lived in the ocean (albeit size debatable) and, theoretically, could in fact kill you.
However, there are many other factors other than a cool monster that make Jaws a really good film. For one, Spielberg worked with the actual writer of the book Jaws, Peter Benchley and Benchley and company turned in a damn fine script. When you add a great cast of actors to that script with dynamite direction from Hollywood’s up and coming “A” list director, then throw in the monster—it’s all good.
I still think Jaws is by far the best film Steven Spielberg has ever made and seriously doubt he will ever best this early movie in his career. Sometimes the magic just rolls together, despite however difficult it may have been to make the movie work.
Jaws rates in our top six-pack of films of the 70s, which include:
American Graffiti (1973)
Jaws (1974)
Rocky (1976)
Star Wars (1977)
Big Wednesday (1978)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Not a bad decade for films we will remember, and Roy Scheider was the central protagonist and hero we will remember from Jaws. Therefore, he will be remembered forever, maybe for many reasons, but certainly for his fine performance in Jaws.
Bradley Mason Hamlin: 02.11.08
Mystery Island Publications
