JAWS (1975)

The Flick Files

HAPPY 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO BRUCE! Let's sink our teethers into this iconic movie that set the bar HIGH for all shark flicks to come. Join us as we discuss "Jaws".

Recorded: 06.18.2025

Movie Details:

Country of Origin: United States

Release date: June 20, 1975 (U.S.)

Run time: 2 Hr 4 Min

Director: Steven Spielberg (E.T., Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan)

Writer(s): Peter Benchley (wrote novel, cameo as new reporter on the beach), Carl Gottlieb

Producer(s): David Brown, Richard Zanuch

Composer: John Williams (THE GOAT)

Cinematographer: Bill Butler (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Grease)

Editing: Verna Fields

Actors: Roy Scheider (Brody), Robert Shaw (Quint), Richard Dreyfuss (Hooper), Lorraine Gary (Ellen)

Genre: Monster horror, sea adventure, survival, thriller

Rating and why: PG (great for kids)

Film location(s): Massachusetts, Australia, LA

Budget: 70M

Box office: 478M worldwide, 7M opening weekend (US & Canada), 267M gross (US & Canada)

Awards: Oscar Winner: Best Sound, Best Film Editing and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score.

Timeframe: Summer of 1975

Setting: Amity Island off coast of New York

Synopsis: Shark eats multiple people before anyone does anything about it.

Tagline: “You’ll never go in the water again”

Watch on: Peacock and Rent on Prime Video

IMDb - 8.1 (698K) #202 in Top 250

Letterboxd - 3.9 (148K)

Rotten Tomatoes - 97% critic (149), 90% audience (250K+)

Metacritic metascore - 87 (21 critics) ”Universal Acclaim, Must-See”, 8.7 (779 users) “Universal Acclaim”

Critic consensus (RT) - “Compelling, well-crafted storytelling and a judicious sense of terror ensure Steven Spielberg’s Jaws has remained a benchmark in the art of delivering modern blockbuster thrills.”

Our Ratings:

Dylan - 4.2

Jesse - 4.7

Dawson - 5.2