Steven Spielberg didn’t just launch his own career with the monumental success of changed the face of Hollywood filmmaking forever. Ever since Spielberg brought the story of a 25-foot shark terrorizing a seaside town to life with Hitchcockian suspense, Hollywood’s favorite type of currency has been high-concept tentpole movies released during the summer window.
Everything about Spielberg’s 1975 masterpiece is perfect, from the shark’s limited screen time to the well-drawn main characters. This includes the perfect opening scene to establish the deadly stakes of the story and the perfect ending to wrap it up in a neat bow.
Opening: It Establishes The Shark Without Showing It
One of Jaws’ greatest assets is its restrained depiction of the shark. All in all, the shark only has about four minutes of screen time. This was mainly due to technical problems behind the scenes, but Spielberg used this limitation to turn the movie into a Hitchcockian masterpiece of cinematic tension.
In the opening scene, the threat of the shark is established without actually showing it. Chrissie’s desperate cries for help establish its ruthlessness and the fact that she’s dragged all over the place shows how big and powerful this particular shark is.
Opening: John Williams’ Iconic Theme Sets The Stage For On-Screen Terror
John Williams’ Jaws theme is one of the most memorable movie themes ever composed. When he first played its unmistakable two-tone rhythm for Spielberg, the director thought he was joking.
However, the simplicity of the tune is what made it so effective. Those two tones getting faster and faster have become synonymous with the feeling of being relentlessly pursued.
Opening: It Introduces A Character, Then Kills Her Off Instantly
In the opening of Jaws, a bunch of youths are sitting around a fire on the beach, ing around ts and knocking back booze. Chrissie invites one of the guys to go skinny-dipping and runs into the ocean. As the guy drunkenly scrambles to undress, Chrissie is eaten alive by a creature lurking beneath the surface of the water.
Since the opening scene doesn’t introduce Chief Brody, the audience is led to believe that Chrissie is the movie’s main character — and then she’s killed off within minutes.
Opening: It Kicks Off The Movie With A Big Scare
Despite its PG rating, Jaws is one of the most effective horror movies ever made. While slower pacing works in some movies, like Rosemary’s Baby and Alien, most horror greats kick things off with a big scare in the opening scene, like young Michael Myers murdering his sister in Halloween or Casey receiving a fatal phone call in Scream.
By opening Jaws with a shark attack, Spielberg kicks off the movie with a big scare that introduces the threat of the monster. This opening scene gets the audience on the edge of their seats right away.
Opening: The Silence Following Chrissie’s Death Is Eerie
There’s a lot of noise during the shark attack in Jaws’ opening sequence, as Chrissie screams for dear life and thrashes around in the water. But as soon as the shark has killed her and she goes under, the scene falls completely silent.
The water is calm and the shark is nowhere to be seen. The juxtaposition of panicked commotion and dead silence is truly unnerving.
Ending: The Indianapolis Speech Is A Haunting “Calm Before The Storm” Moment
Right before the climactic sequence in which the shark attacks the boat, Hooper and Quint compare scars while Brody keeps his relatively minor injuries hidden out of embarrassment. This leads to the iconic scene in which Quint recounts his survival of the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis.
By detailing exactly what hungry great whites are capable of, this “calm before the storm” scene beautifully sets up the terror of the frenzied finale.
Ending: Quint’s Death Is As Shocking As It Is Heartbreaking
When the shark manages to make it aboard the sinking Orca, Quint helplessly falls into its titular jaws. He desperately tries to grab onto something but falls right into the shark’s mouth. He frantically stabs at the shark’s eyes and head as it chews him up and drags him under the surface.
Thanks to sharp direction by Spielberg and impeccable acting by Robert Shaw, Quint’s climactic death scene is both shocking and heartbreaking.
Ending: It Reinforces That The Story Isn’t About The Shark
Ultimately, Jaws isn’t really a story about a shark. The shark is just the conflict that gets three very different characters out on a boat together in the middle of the ocean. Throughout the movie, Brody, Hooper, and Quint constantly clash with one another and eventually learn to work as a team.
Brody and Hooper swimming back to shore, mourning the loss of Quint but celebrating the success of their mission, reinforces that the story isn’t really about the shark.
Ending: Brody Blowing Up The Shark Is A Spectacular Finale
With Hooper stuck in a cage underwater, Quint being digested in the shark’s stomach, and the Orca sinking rapidly, Brody takes it upon himself to take care of the shark.
He jams a scuba tank in its mouth, climbs up on top of the boat, and takes aim at the tank. He signs off with a snappy one-liner — “Smile, you son of a b*tch!” — before blowing the shark to kingdom come in the movie’s spectacular, explosive finale.
Ending: Chief Brody’s Arc Comes Full Circle
A big part of Chief Brody’s characterization is his fear of water. He doesn’t even want his kids paddling in the water by the pier. The arrival of a giant great white that targets humans is the perfect conflict to force Brody to tackle this fear.
After blowing up the shark, Brody and Hooper start swimming back to shore holding onto a piece of floating debris from the Orca. Brody says, “I used to hate the water. I can’t imagine why.”
