US (1975): Adventure/Horror/Thriller

Based on Peter Benchley's best-selling novel, Steven Spielberg's shark saga set the standard for the New Hollywood popcorn blockbuster while frightening millions of moviegoers out of the water. One early summer night on fictional Atlantic resort Amity Island, Chrissie decides to take a moonlight skinny dip while her friends party on the beach. Yanked suddenly below the ocean surface, she never returns. When pieces of her wash ashore, Police Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) suspects the worst, but Mayor Vaughn (Murray Hamilton), mindful of the lucrative tourist trade and the approaching July 4th holiday, refuses to put the island on a business-killing shark alert. After the shark dines on a few more victims, the Mayor orders the local fishermen to catch the culprit. Satisfied with the shark they find, the greedy Mayor reopens the beaches, despite the warning from visiting ichthyologist Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) that the attacks were probably caused by a far more formidable Great White. One more fatality later, Brody and Hooper join forces with flinty old salt Quint (Robert Shaw), the only local fisherman willing to take on a Great White -- especially since the price is right. The three ride off on Quint's boat The Orca, soon coming face-to-teeth with the enemy. (Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide)

Jaws ranked #48 on the AFI list of "100 Years... 100 Movies" (just behind 1976's Taxi Driver and just in front of 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs). As thrillers go, though, it did much better on the next AFI list, "100 Years... 100 Thrills": #2, right behind Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). Spielberg's 1975 classic did spawn some unfortunate sequels: Jaws II (1978), Jaws 3-D (1983) and Jaws 4: The Revenge (1987).

4 nominations, 3 Awards