Jaws
is regarded as a watershed film in motion picture history, the father
of the summer blockbuster movie and one of the first "high concept"
films. Due to the film's success in advance screenings, studio
executives decided to distribute it in a much wider release than ever
before.
Based on Peter Benchley's best-selling novel inspired by the Jersey
Shore shark attacks of 1916. The police chief of Amity Island, a summer
resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a great white shark by
closing the beach, only to be overruled by the town council, which
wants the beach to remain open to draw a profit from tourists. After
several attacks, the police chief enlists the help of a marine
biologist and a professional shark hunter. Roy Scheider stars as police
chief Martin Brody, Richard Dreyfuss as marine biologist Matt Hooper,
Robert Shaw as shark hunter Quint, Lorraine Gary as Brody's wife Ellen
and Murray Hamilton as Mayor Vaughn.
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