100 Greatest Movies of All Time...That I Own. # 1 ~ Jaws

Welcome to the Greatest Movie Ever Made.

Period.

Jaws.

As I mentioned yesterday, this and Raiders have long battled in my heart and head for the title of the Greatest Movie Ever Made.

I ultimately decided to give the title to Jaws.

Why?

I would have to say that seeing this movie for the first time as a young 6-7 year old on ABC where it was edited for television probably had the most profound effect on me than any other movie I've ever seen.  That single movie did two things for me:

1) It made me fascinated and terrified of Great White Sharks that has lasted my entire life.

2) It made me fascinated and in love with watching movies. 

Which is why I spend 100 consecutive days babbling briefly about my favorites.

And I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who has spent a moment reading along.  I hope it was as fun for you as it was for me.

So, back to Jaws...

The Story...seemingly ripped from the headlines today...

A killer shark is terrorizing the beaches of Amity.  Since it refuses to go away and eat somewhere else, the sheriff, a marine biologist, and a crusty old fisherman head out to sea to kill the fish themselves.

Before there was a Spielberg and John Williams team...there was Jaws.  The theme for Jaws is so universally revered, generations of composers have attempted to use a similar theme to portray an unseen terror.

The performances by the the leads is nothing short of amazing.  Filming the majority of the ocean scenes on the actual ocean was a first for Jaws.  The conditions breaking the shark made for a better movie as the suspense builds for nearly half the movie before you even see the shark.

It spawned 3 sequels, the 2nd being the best (or most watchable) of that franchise.  Each one gets progressively worse.

Naturally, it also spawned generations of movies that ramp up sharks killing people using CGI or animatronics to varying degrees of success.

And yes, I tend to find those in my "Q" and watch them, knowing full well they will never live up to their inspiration, but sometimes a good B-movie can revel in its inferiority and actually make a pretty passable movie.  More on that idea will be coming to the review pile very soon!

Thanks for reading!!