Jaws 30th Anniversary Edition in June (1 Viewer)

[Steve Christou]

Same here. Back in the day this was once my favorite film. When I do eventually get into HD, Jaws will certainly be in the first bunch purchased.

 

[EnricoE]

seams that my dts dvd and the 3 disc laserdisc box will still be around in my collection well, unless universal will surprise us all with the original mono track and the full documentary + a remastered video that'll fit todays standards then they have me on the hook for a new purchase

 

[Bob clamer]

Cannot wait for this one. Hope it is worth it!

 

[Reagan]

Anyone want to add up all of the bitspace taken up by all of the audio tracks? That doesn't leave much room for video bitrate peaks... Not looking good for PQ.

-Reagan

 

[WillG]

I wouldn't call it spontaneous, this re-issue has been on the radar for a while now and there are other threads about it.

I would like to be positive and give Universal the benefit of the doubt. They certainly know that to convince people like us and others to upgrade, they better be upping the ante on this one. They seem to plan to include the Mono track which is one Holy Grail. The other being the full length documentary. In another thread, I asked if there was any way to contact Spielberg's offices and try to get a message to make sure this release was done right. It may seem like a long shot, but apparently he did intervene and make the original cut of E.T. available on the standard 2-Disc set so maybe the same could happen here if Universal is planning on screwing us over.

 

[Patrick McCart]

I thought the current DVD looks great, even if it's soft (which seems to be intentional).

I'd imagine noise wouldn't be a big problem for an SE, though. Compression could be a lot better this time around.... sort of like the remastered (but not retransfered) versions of Lawrence of Arabia and My Fair Lady.

 

[CraigL]

Original Mono track is included.

From the digital bits:

Universal has officially announced the DVD release of a Jaws: 30th Anniversary Edition for 6/14 (SRP $22.98). This will be a 2-disc set containing the film in anamorphic widescreen video, with both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 audio. The second disc will be all extras (no word yet on what they are). Word is you'll also get something called Jaws: The Commemorative Photo Journal - probably a commemorative book. This 2-disc set will also be available in a full frame version, and it looks as though a single-disc Jaws: Anniversary Collector's Edition version will also be available in full frame and anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 and anamorphic widescreen with DTS 5.1 (SRP $14.98). So let's get this straight... there are 5 DVD versions in all. 2-disc Wide (DD/DTS), 2-disc Full (DD/DTS), 1-disc Full (DD), 1-disc Wide (DD) and 1-disc Wide (DTS). Whew.

 

[MattHR]

How about the original mono mix offered in PCM, with no Dolby or DTS? You know we're only going to get a Dolby 2.0 mono at 192/kbs.

I wish PCM was utilized more often, especially for mono mixes. Dolby is just too thin sounding to handle the subtleties of a mono mix, especially at 192/kbs.

 

[Ernest Rister]

Jaws, taken as a yarn, is not a great film, I feel, although it is the best 'trash movie' ever made.

I think Jaws is one of the best American motion pictures ever made. In fact, when I rank the films of Steven Spielberg, Jaws and Schindler's List tie for #1.

Sure, sitting back and studying it from a subjective scientific standpoint, it is absurb on its face. A giant fish attacking a boat, possessing almost supernatural qualities, and when the brains and brawn have been defeated, the only thing left to destroy the killer fish is sheer will. The climax is absurd.

And yet the whole thing works as a work of raw primal cinema. The whole movie is so brilliantly realized through the filter of Spielberg's imagination (aided tremendously by Carl Gottlieb's character improvs and character studies) that complaints about the film's technical realism seem churlish. How else can a film end that begins with a naked girl swimming in the ocean, but with an explosion? Anything less is an anti-climax. You want realism - go watch The Bicycle Thief. You want cinema? Come watch Jaws.

Trash movie? Not a great film?

Try one of the greatest works of cinema of the vaunted 1970's.

 

[Dan Hitchman]

Jaws is great and I've seen it multiple times. It is basically a retelling of Moby Dick, especially in the last half of the film when it's just Shaw, Scheider, and Dreyfuss alone on the boat.

Again, it is gritty like many films from the 70's and unflinching (like having a child pulled under the water and eaten or when the girl is mauled at the beginning and her death thrashings are viscious), and a feet of inspired guerilla and improvisational filmmaking (like when the characters are tipsey on the boat and comparing "battle scars" and telling fish stories, so are the actors... much like Apocalypse Now: the actors really are hopped up on dope or drunk when the scene calls for it and it lends a heady sense of realism that otherwise would not have happened by pure acting). For the most part it lets the atmosphere and music (and your imagination of what's beneath the surface) build the suspense rather than relying souly on a rubber shark.

A true Hollywood classic that deserves far better than what Universal usually dishes out for it.

 

[Steve Christou]

And for a couple of years back in the 70's Jaws was the most successful film ever made. I still remember the long queues stretching right round the theatre. I must have seen it at least a dozen times between 75 and 78, great film.

 

[Scott Temple]

Here's what I would like to see added (in addition to what's already on the 25th Anniversary DVD)

• Original mono track
• Full 2 hour+ documentary from the LaserDisc
• Jaws: The E! True Hollywood Story (2 hours, less without commercials)
• Commentary track with Roy Scheider (I know Spielberg refuses to record commentaries for his films, but does he not want anyone else recording them as well?)

A new transfer would be great, but I wouldn't mind them using the same one over again.

 

[george kaplan]

I'm just the opposite. A new and improved transfer is the only thing that could get me to buy this, which I would do even if it had no extras whatsover.

 

[Tom Brennan]

I'm sorry, but where in that announcement does it say the mono track will be included?

 

[Kevin M]

CraigL, I have read and re-read the info over at The Digital Bits and I see nothing confirming that the mono track will be included, what are you seeing that I am not?

Oops, damn, Tom beat me to it.....well at least I know I am not blind.

 

[John Hodson]

Mono confirmed on the Universal site here

 

[Paul Strilka]

I love this film and will buy it again, but how many times must we re-purchase our favorite films?
I hear that a new Ghostbuster set is in the works as well.

seems a bit suspect that we get these now just before HD-DVD is about to hit. In fact, I'm sure that's why we saw a Star Wars release last year.
Lucas needed to cash in on SD-DVD before the tide turns.
He did the same thing with laser releasing the original cuts remastered.
I remember a bunch of high demand films were released on laser right before the introduction of DVD.

And why do they do this?
Because I love this film and will buy it again.

 

[Kevin M]

John, that's great & thanks for the confirmation....but strictly speaking my question/observation to Craig still stands.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I understand griping about double-dipping when a new version comes out right on the heels of the originals - ala the new two-disc sets like Day After Tomorrow due in May - but it's been five years since the original Jaws DVD and SIX since Ghostbusters, so what's the big deal? And Jaws has a list price of $23, so it'll actually cost you about $17. Try as I might, I can't understand all the teeth-gnashing that accompanies reissues of this sort...

 

[WillG]

I agree. I can't believe how, after years of practically begging Universal to re-issue Jaws with the mono track and (hopefully) the full 2-hour making of doc. that people are actually complaining about a double dip FIVE YEARS later. I saw someone in the Casino re-issue thread with the exact same complaint. I will gladly buy this again for the original mono track and, I hope, the full documentary and whatever new features are added, especially since it should go for pretty cheap as well.