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Jaws 30th Anniversary Edition in June - Page 4

post #91 of 315
3/28/05 at 2:16pm
Quote:
the gratuitous bone breaking effects that were added when Madeleine falls from the tower.
Uh... I had forgotten about those. Ugh. What were they thinking? The annoying thing is, the Laserdisc apparently had the original, albeit raggedy mono track. I hope that Universal revisit Vertigo (and Psycho - 210 minutes of video on a DVD-9?) with a new anamorphic transfer and the original mono and a more critical commentary.
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post #92 of 315
3/28/05 at 3:14pm
Well, I'm torn about this one. On the one hand, it's exciting to finally get a two-disc version of my favorite move with the mono track included. On the other hand, we don't know yet if the picture is going to be remastered, or if the original two-hour documentary will be included. Also, as RH points out, the HD version is presumably not too far off. We know there's an HD master ready to go, since ABC aired a HD version of Jaws in 2000 just before the DVD was released. So even though I'm excited that Universal is apparently finally correcting their errors and releasing a version that seems to have what the fans really want, it's too early to say whether I'll actually pick it up. Unless the new version has dramatically better picture quality, the original mono track, and perhaps the longer documentary (although I already have that on tape, so that's negotiable), I'll probably hold onto my 25th Anniversary DTS version until the HD release rolls around.
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post #93 of 315
3/28/05 at 3:24pm
In fact, I still have the VHS copy I received for my 4th birthday.

What sadist gave you Jaws for your fourth birthday? Did you also get Halloween and The Exorcist for Christmas that year?
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post #94 of 315
3/28/05 at 5:30pm
Quote:
What sadist gave you Jaws for your fourth birthday? Did you also get Halloween and The Exorcist for Christmas that year?


It was from my aunt, actually. Now that I think about it, I wonder how I ever watched this movie. It never really bothered me that much. In fact, I was fascinated by sharks because of this movie, and I've never been afraid of the water.

For what it's worth, I saw "A Nightmare on Elm Street" when I was about five, and that never bothered me too much, either.
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post #95 of 315
3/28/05 at 11:02pm
eeek......!
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post #96 of 315
3/29/05 at 4:21am
Brett,

That's cool, man... Yeah. That's great...

[King Arthur]Run away![/King Arthur]
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post #97 of 315
3/29/05 at 4:28am
Back on topic, I love this film and the DTS DVD rocks! But I'm going to wait and see what, if any, improvement is made to PQ before I double dip. The Extras on my current DVD are great, but I've only watched them one time. The film, on the other hand, gets played a lot. Make the picture look better and you'be got my sale.
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post #98 of 315
3/29/05 at 8:14am
Damn you, Universal! You're going to cause my wife to roll her eyes again when I announce that I will be picking up yet ANOTHER version of JAWS! I have/had the VHS, WS VHS, LD, Collector's LD box set, DD & DTS DVDs.

My name is Jordan...and I am a JAWS junkie.
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post #99 of 315
3/30/05 at 1:16am
Hello, Jordon.
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post #100 of 315
3/30/05 at 10:06am
I run JAWSmovie.com and we have submitted a petition to Universal many times in the last five years regarding the DVD:

Offer the option for the viewer to watch Jaws with the original 1.0 mono mix in addition to the new Dolby Digital and DTS tracks. Many fans feel that the new remix degrades and tarnishes the Oscar winning sound and it is the original sound, in part, that makes Jaws the classic that it is. Since others prefer the new tracks, both should be included as well.

Show ALL of the deleted scenes and place each scene on the DVD with a separate chapter selection for each one. To do anything less than what was offered on the Signature Collection Laser Disc was unfortunate and should be corrected.

Show us ALL of the available bloopers and outtakes. There were bloopers and outtakes (i.e., Brody pouring wine over Hooper’s head, The original daylight scene of Ben Gardner’s boat being found) that aired on TV's Bloopers, Blunders and Practical Jokes and on the Laser disc that were omitted from the DVD. Offer an individual chapter selection for each of these as well.

Give us the complete 2-hour documentary. With 2-discs, there will be enough room for it. This documentary was fabulous and needs to be shown in its entirety.

We, the fans, ask for more than simply a foreshortened version of the laser disc. In doing a commemorative DVD, there is so much more that is readily available with only a minimal amount of research and effort, such as:

Include the 1 Hour travel film on Martha's Vineyard that was shot while Jaws was being made. Over half of this is devoted to Jaws, including RARE interviews of Robert Shaw as Quint in his wardrobe as well as some professionally shot behind the scenes footage. This, above most anything new that you could offer, would be the best due to the fact that Shaw's death makes it impossible to do any present day interviews. What an incredible treat this would be to see.

Offer the television news stories that were taped and broadcast in 1974 by CBS and the BBC.

Offer the behind the scenes coverage by The Mike Douglas Show in 1974 and the subsequent actor interviews done in 1975.

Add Audio commentary by key members of the crew and/or cast. Though Spielberg may not prefer doing commentary tracks, perhaps people like Carl Gottlieb, Joe Alves, Mike Chapman, Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Lorraine Gary could be involved.

Add an isolated music track for John Williams' Oscar-winning score. Preferably with optional commentary by Williams.


Universal has not responded at all, any of the times the petition was submitted.

We have over 6000 signatures. Universal does not care what the fans want, they just want to cash in on the 30th Anniversary.

It's good that the new DVD set will have the mono track, but I'm not too optimistic for anything else beyond what the 25th Anniversary DVD had.

FYI - There is a 30th Anniversary celebration on Martha's Vineyard June 3-5, with lots of cool events and guests. Here is some info: http://www.mvy.com/jaws/

Finally, there is a documentary in progress about JAWS, JAWS fans, the 30th Anniversary, the impact of JAWS, etc. I am just about to join the effort as a producer.
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post #101 of 315
3/30/05 at 12:37pm
Has it ever ocurred to anyone else that the reason the full documentary is not included on the $19 DVD is because *maybe* Universal doesn't wan't to piss people off who paid the $100 price tag for the Jaws box set? Same thing with the E.T. DVD versus the incredible feature-packed Universal box set, same thing with the Amadeus DVD versus the Amadeus LD box set, and the list goes on and on.
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post #102 of 315
3/30/05 at 1:19pm
I've never read one complaint from anyone who bought 1941 on LD for $125 only to have the DVD come out with everything on it for just $35 (in 1999). The is true for the $100 Goldfinger box set that MGM issued only to put the same thing on DVD a few years later, again, much cheaper than the LD. I know I've never complained and I have both of those box sets and more.
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post #103 of 315
3/30/05 at 1:49pm
Quote:
Has it ever ocurred to anyone else that the reason the full documentary is not included on the $19 DVD is because *maybe* Universal doesn't wan't to piss people off who paid the $100 price tag for the Jaws box set?

I certainly hope that's not their reasoning as it's quite silly. Laserdisc was always a niche format and many people, myself included, never had a player.
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post #104 of 315
3/30/05 at 2:12pm
I've got the Jaws laserdisc boxset, and I won't think twice about getting the new DVD even if it has the complete documentary. I don't say "Dammit! I've been screwed again!" when I pick up a DVD clone of an extant LD set, simply because of the convenience, cheap price point and largely superior A/V quality of a DVD version. I'm still waiting for the right DVD edition of this particular film though, as I've already bought and sold the dolby digital DVD of Jaws, with the dts disc now sitting on ebay in anticipation of the new release.

As for the content of the new DVD, I expect it to have a mix of the older material and brand-new retrospectives from cast & crew, kinda like what Universal did with the ET DVD. And just like ET, I doubt the original LD documentary for Jaws will be reproduced in it's entirity for a DVD edition. Actually, the ET DVD didn't even get the existing LD documentary in any form, did it? I seem to remember that we got new interviews cut around Laurent Bouzereau's original on-set footage instead. Maybe Jaws is in for the same treatment this time around?

But it'd be nice if Universal could be bothered to rescan any potential stills from original materials, instead of taking them straight off of the damn laserdisc!
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post #105 of 315
3/30/05 at 3:50pm
Quote:
Has it ever ocurred to anyone else that the reason the full documentary is not included on the $19 DVD is because *maybe* Universal doesn't wan't to piss people off who paid the $100 price tag for the Jaws box set? Same thing with the E.T. DVD versus the incredible feature-packed Universal box set, same thing with the Amadeus DVD versus the Amadeus LD box set, and the list goes on and on.


Has this ever occurred to me? No, and I'd bet it never occurred to anyone at Universal either. (Or Warner, the folks who own Amadeus.) As noted by Tom, plenty of full ports of expensive LDs have come out over the years - Apollo 13, 1941, etc. - and I seriously doubt any studios worry about offending fans. They don't care who they piss off via double-dipping - do you really think they'll worry about the relatively few purchasers of the old LDs?
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post #106 of 315
3/30/05 at 5:33pm
[/i]As noted by Tom, plenty of full ports of expensive LDs have come out over the years...[/i]

Yeah, but I know for a fact from personal correspondence how certain filmmakers are queasy about listing a title as a "special edition" and charging through the nose for it, only to turn around a few years later and re-release the same material at diminished cost. True, it is a fact of life these days, but don't think for a second that people don't exist out there who actually mean it when they authorize a "limited collector's edition".

As for Spielberg, you guys are probably right, however Spielberg and Lucas and Disney are very shrewd when it comes to their home video re-releases, they make sure every release gives their fanbase a new reason to buy. Conversely, not unlike Anchor Bay, they also make sure each release is unique enough to warrant special purchasing status among their rabid fan base.

Just like the recent 2-disc re-release of Saving Private Ryan, I won't be surprised at all if the new Jaws DVD features an abundance of completely *new* material and *new* interviews, with mere excerpts from the old doc.

Meanwhile, the old LD doc will escalate in value, and that's the way it goes.
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post #107 of 315
3/30/05 at 7:18pm
Just to clarify a few things, my parents weren't completely crazy in letting me view Jaws at such a young age. If anything, they instilled in me a very clear understanding between reality and fiction, so nothing ever truly scared me.

So, anyway, back on topic (sort of). I actually lament the fact that I missed out on the whole LD phase of home video, even though it seemed like an expensive hobby. Some of these limited edition sets sound awesome just for their sheer collectibility alone. I seriously contemplated getting an LD player just to get the original Star Wars Trilogy in the best format possible, but I'm hoping they get released as an extra feature in some mega collection on DVD or HD-DVD/Blue-Ray some day.
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post #108 of 315
3/31/05 at 11:22am
Quote:
Jaws, taken as a yarn, is not a great film, I feel, although it is the best 'trash movie' ever made.


I'd like to see what you consider being a "great" movie that isn't "trash." I'm with Ernest all the way.
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post #109 of 315
3/31/05 at 11:40am
Ernest,

I think most of us understand that LD was a niche market and the simple fact that the number of units produced meant that there was going to be a higher price point per unit.

As technology in general gets better, the technology gets cheaper. It is cheaper to make a DVD than it is to make an LD, and a three disk DVD set can contain all of the data stored on a 6 disc LD set and still have improved picture and sound.

Cheaper to make, and more units produced because of DVD market = lower price for product.

People understand this when they buy a computer. They know that in a few months, and better, faster, more momory unit is going to come out that costs the same or less than the one they are walking out of the store with.

How many people will be upset when all the stuff on a multi-disc DVD set is available in HD-DVD, on fewer discs, and cost the same?

Very few, I would imagine.
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post #110 of 315
3/31/05 at 12:16pm
And yet I know of at least one film director who is very conscious of not "taking fans for a ride" with collector sets, stretching back to the LD era. I'm not saying who. She feels that a collector's set should be exactly that. Maybe because she isn't a "major" player, she is more conscious of and accessible to her fan base.

As I said previously, Lucas and Spielberg are very shrewd with their re-issues, they always create new reasons to get fans to buy the same product. You guys are probably right in regards to JAWS and other titles, but I'm just saying -- there are people out there who mean it when they make a "collector's set", and when new media is made available, they stick to their guns, and make NEW sets, not ports of their old material.
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post #111 of 315
3/31/05 at 12:30pm
Quote:
I'd like to see what you consider being a "great" movie that isn't "trash."


The Passion of Joan of Arc
Wild Strawberries
L'Avventura
Ballad of a Soldier
Vertigo
Paths of Glory
Make Way for Tomorrow
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Andrei Rublev
Spirit of the Beehive
The Magnificent Ambersons
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
The Godfather, Part II
Ikiru
Picnic at Hanging Rock

You can agree with Ernest all you like, Mike, I couldn't care less. The fact is that the story in Jaws doesn't penetrate the Mysteries of Life - it is just a comic book yarn. What makes Jaws a special piece of filmmaking is its technical bravura: the rarely bettered editing by the Mothercutter; the fluid camera movement, etc. It also helps that actors like Scheider, Dreyfuss and Shaw were cast in those roles of course, but each of them has done better work - as has Spielberg. It was a bold gamble letting such an upstart film such a crazy film as this. The middle section of the film is a little flabby (just like Close Encounters) and the score is really what drives the film, but, as I say, I love the film, but I do scratch my head when people proclaim that it is their favourite film. It is a magical film in its own way, but there were better films released in 1975 and there are better films in general. Leaving Star Wars aside, Jaws is the ultimate 'Popular' American film of all time. But American Cinema holds brighter diamonds.
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post #112 of 315
3/31/05 at 12:39pm
me like Jaws. It exciting. (Also, it not need new bass-heavy splash noises).
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post #113 of 315
3/31/05 at 1:36pm
I still tink they should haf CGI'd the shark und addid more dinosor sounds.
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post #114 of 315
3/31/05 at 2:00pm
Andrei Rublev
The fact is that the story in Jaws doesn't penetrate the Mysteries of Life - it is just a comic book yarn.
Well if your definition of a 'trash' movie is any film that doesn't "penetrate the Mysteries of Life", then I think every film ever made is a trash film, cause I've never seen a film that did that. And that waste of celluloid Andrei Rublev certainly does the opposite, it just tries to confound the viewer with meaningless imagery, though not as badly as he does with the Mirror. Yech.

If Jaws is trash compared to Andrei Rublev, then give me an entire city dump of films anyday.
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post #115 of 315
3/31/05 at 2:35pm
Personally I feel Jaws is that rare breed of popcorn film that really transcends the normal limitations of its genre (in this case, the monster movie) and becomes legitimately great art. Spielberg draws upon the cinematic realism of early 70s American filmmaking (including such Altmanian elements as unpretty non-actors, simultaneous cross-conversations on the soundtrack, etc.) and fuses it with his innate visual mastery and crowd-pleasing instincts. The result is a one-of-a-kind film. And that amazing score helps too.

Spielberg's best film? No, I reserve that for Close Encounters. But if one can free one's self of critical prejudice against certain kinds of genre stories, Jaws emerges as an eminently worthy work of art that can stand proudly alongside 70s masterpieces from Coppola, Altman, Bogdanovich, Scorsese, et al. At least that's what I think.

--Jefferson Morris
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post #116 of 315
3/31/05 at 2:57pm
George, what's your problem? I have stated, time and again, that I love Jaws. I just see the film in a different light from you. I love it for different reasons. You seem really touchy about me criticizing Jaws. Why? What's the big deal? Jaws is a very simple, pretty illogical, monster movie that happened to be made by consumate professionals and was released at just the right time (summer) for it to be successul. But God knows that Spielberg has done better (Empire of the Sun) and unless you are six-years-old, it doesn't do what it should anymore: ie, scare the shit out of you. I appreciate Jaws for its editing, scoring and Quint's Indianapolis soliloquy. But as a piece of storytelling, it is easily defeated.
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Well if your definition of a 'trash' movie is any film that doesn't "penetrate the Mysteries of Life", then I think every film ever made is a trash film, cause I've never seen a film that did that.
Ah, now, you're misconstruing my definitions, George. Just because I call Jaws "the best trash movie ever made", and suggest that it doesn't have any social or psychological depth to it, it doesn't mean that most films are 'trash movies'. Casablanca isn't, for one. But it also couldn't be called 'overty profound' like The Passion of Joan of Arc or Kaspar Hauser, could it?

But you have to admit that most of the films ever made, are crap, yes? Especially American film. Made to make money - fast. We remember about 5,000 films that are good or great, but what of the rest? Fodder. Jaws could have been one of those films, but it wasn't. People with great imagination worked magic into what is a pretty dumb story. But there was a reason that One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest won the 1976 Oscar for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay. And how does Jaws compare to the other films I listed? Those films are in a different class.
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And that waste of celluloid Andrei Rublev certainly does the opposite, it just tries to confound the viewer with meaningless imagery
That is the most crass and ignorant statement I have ever read at HTF. You obviously understand nothing about Tarkovsky's philosophy of filmmaking and the depth that his films contain. Andrei Rublev is easily one of the most profoundly beautiful and engaging films I have ever seen. No American filmmaker of the sound-era can hold a candle to his genius and compassion.
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post #117 of 315
3/31/05 at 3:04pm
Jefferson, I wish that I had the brevity and erudition that you posess! Very well put. Jaws is Art, in its own special way. Like all of Spielberg's best films, there is a very down-home poetry lurking in the beautiful, familiar images. Spielberg's films are America herself.
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post #118 of 315
4/1/05 at 12:40pm
Quote:
Like all of Spielberg's best films, there is a very down-home poetry lurking in the beautiful, familiar images.
Very true. No director, ever, has had a better grasp of how to tell stories visually, IMO. One image leads effortlessly to the next, rarely drawing attention to itself but leaving you unable to look away from the screen. I particularly love the widescreen compositions in Jaws, particularly when the three principals - Scheider, Shaw, and Dreyfus - are framed together (which they often are).

--Jefferson Morris
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post #119 of 315
4/1/05 at 1:49pm
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unless you are six-years-old, it doesn't do what it should anymore: ie, scare the shit out of you.

That's interesting, because during the time of its release, everyone was "scared" to go into the water. It wasn't just a kiddie thing, like being afraid of Margaret Hamilton's witch in THE WIZARD OF OZ or something. The reason it might not scare me as much anymore is because I've seen it a couple dozen times by now. But the sense of fear and dread Spielberg put into it is still there.

Quote:
But there was a reason that One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest won the 1976 Oscar for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay.

Don't get me wrong; I love CUCKOO'S NEST too -- but generally speaking -- you don't really think there's any merit or credibility to which film wins Best Picture/Actor/Actress, etc., every year at the Oscars do you?
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post #120 of 315
4/1/05 at 3:07pm
The main drive of Jaws was to shock and scare audiences - just like Psycho fifteen years previously. It doesn't do that to me anymore. Which begs the interesting question: why do I watch it at least once a year and always watch at least ten minutes when it pops up on TV in pan and scan? This is what proves that Spielberg and all the other geniuses who worked on the film were investing more in the film than perhaps it deserved (maybe that's the wrong word). I still watch it because, as I said, it is a "lesson in filmmaking" and few 'monster movies' are.

But Jaws is up there with, among others, Gance's Napoléon, Welles' Citizen Kane, Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, Ophuls' Lola Montès, Melville's, Le Samouraï and the first two parts of The Godfather. Although those films have a psychological depth to their narratives that is missing in the potboiler that is Jaws.
Quote:
Don't get me wrong; I love CUCKOO'S NEST too -- but generally speaking -- you don't really think there's any merit or credibility to which film wins Best Picture/Actor/Actress, etc., every year at the Oscars do you?
No, none at all: I was trying to illustrate that there were, and are, films that are stronger overall than Jaws. Also, I feel that the boat-trip in Cuckoo's Nest tells you more about how it feel to be at sea than Jaws does! It's a wonderful scene. But in Cuckoo's Nest, you couldn't get a more different film.
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