A Few Words About A few words about...™ Jaws -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[RobHam]

I saw this movie on its original release summer 1975 - it has a special place in my heart as it was the last movie I ever saw with my dad (who physically left his chair when the head popped out the boat)
Since the disappointing 30th anniversary dvd release, this is something I've been waiting 5 yrs to see.
Burned into my brain is the moment at the autopsy when Hooper holds up Chrissie;s remains and says:
"This is what happens......"
My teenage memory remembers Hooper then continuing that speech with a comment of when humans go swimming in a sharks domain. There is also additional footage of Chrissie's remains.
Hooper's speech has been cut short in every version of Jaws I've seen since 1975 leaving a really bad edit.
I've had arguments in various web-boards over the years as people in the US say the bad edit has been there since 1975, whereas people in the UK also remember that Hooper's autopsy speech continued beyond what has been released ever since.
Not sure if it relates to the certificate that Jaws got in the US and UK - I know it was considered groundbreaking at the time.
Questions for RAH:
Has the original autopsy content been restored or is the atrocious edit still there?
Has Spielberg taken out the awful "show me the tank" comment from Brody towards the end of the 30th anniversary edition?
Has there been any attempt to fix Quint's appearing/disappearing chair from the Orca?

 

[Kurosawa]

My late wife and I went to see Jaws in August 1975 when she was eight-and-a-half months pregnant with our daughter. We thought she would deliver right in the theater, thanks to Bruce. Three weeks ago, my daughter, soon to be 37, gave birth to her second son (and my second grandchild). I will be relishing Jaws the evening it arrives by mail--in remembrance and in celebration. Thank you, Universal!

 

[FoxyMulder]

Originally Posted by haineshisway /t/322696/a-few-words-about-jaws-in-blu-ray#post_3956395
Don't you fear, dear boy, they will find haloes (or what they "think" are haloes) everywhere. They will see DNR and EE and AA and GG and RR. And I'm sure many of us will enjoy what sounds like a superb Blu-ray of Jaws. Cannot wait. I saw the film opening day - I'm trying to remember where it opened in Hollywood and for some reason my brain is remembering the Pix. But I'm not sure Universal would have used the Pix, although many Universal films did play there. Anyone know for sure?

It always has to be asked where Universal are concerned, some people will miss halo's, edge enhancement, DNR etc and proclaim how "beautiful" a Blu ray is, ring any bells. ?

 

[FoxyMulder]

Originally Posted by RobHam /t/322696/a-few-words-about-jaws-in-blu-ray#post_3956409
I saw this movie on its original release summer 1975 - it has a special place in my heart as it was the last movie I ever saw with my dad (who physically left his chair when the head popped out the boat)
Since the disappointing 30th anniversary dvd release, this is something I've been waiting 5 yrs to see.
Burned into my brain is the moment at the autopsy when Hooper holds up Chrissie;s remains and says:
"This is what happens......"
My teenage memory remembers Hooper then continuing that speech with a comment of when humans go swimming in a sharks domain. There is also additional footage of Chrissie's remains.
Hooper's speech has been cut short in every version of Jaws I've seen since 1975 leaving a really bad edit.
I've had arguments in various web-boards over the years as people in the US say the bad edit has been there since 1975, whereas people in the UK also remember that Hooper's autopsy speech continued beyond what has been released ever since.
Not sure if it relates to the certificate that Jaws got in the US and UK - I know it was considered groundbreaking at the time.
Questions for RAH:
Has the original autopsy content been restored or is the atrocious edit still there?
Has Spielberg taken out the awful "show me the tank" comment from Brody towards the end of the 30th anniversary edition?
Has there been any attempt to fix Quint's appearing/disappearing chair from the Orca?

From IMDB.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073195/alternateversions

[COLOR= rgb(51, 51, 51)]Further cut scenes available on the DVD releases include an alternate discovery of Chrissie's remains, with Brody forcing a reluctant Cassidy to identify her; Mayor Vaughn trying to get Brody to do something about the kids karate-ing fences while on the car ferry; Mrs. Kintner coming out of the town hall with her father after posting the reward notice and passing Quint who is getting out of his truck; Ellen talking to Hooper over dinner about a documentary she saw on sea lions; and the cut scene of the shark hitting Mike Brody with the estuary victim in its mouth.[/COLOR]

[COLOR= rgb(51, 51, 51)]I have the 30th anniversary edition but didn't recall the scene at the end being censored, was it. ? Info below. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= rgb(51, 51, 51)]In the 30th anniversary DVD edition of the film, all the movie remains the same except for Brody's final encounter with the shark. His famous line is cut, thus, only letting him says, "Smile, you son of a..." before he fires the gun. The original quote, ['Smile, you son of a bitch'] has inexplicable been censored while the gore and blood in the rest of the film is left untouched.[/COLOR]

 

[John Hodson]

I saw this movie on its original release summer 1975 - it has a special place in my heart as it was the last movie I ever saw with my dad (who physically left his chair when the head popped out the boat)
Since the disappointing 30th anniversary dvd release, this is something I've been waiting 5 yrs to see.
Burned into my brain is the moment at the autopsy when Hooper holds up Chrissie;s remains and says:
"This is what happens......"
My teenage memory remembers Hooper then continuing that speech with a comment of when humans go swimming in a sharks domain. There is also additional footage of Chrissie's remains.
Hooper's speech has been cut short in every version of Jaws I've seen since 1975 leaving a really bad edit.
I've had arguments in various web-boards over the years as people in the US say the bad edit has been there since 1975, whereas people in the UK also remember that Hooper's autopsy speech continued beyond what has been released ever since.
Not sure if it relates to the certificate that Jaws got in the US and UK - I know it was considered groundbreaking at the time.
Questions for RAH:
Has the original autopsy content been restored or is the atrocious edit still there?

It's a line cut during editing, apparently (and I'm another who saw it several times theatrically and for whom it's jarred for years on TV and home video) -
Finally! Spielberg on “This is what happens:
“I remember this very well. I had cut out a line of dialogue and inside the line of dialogue I manufactured artificially a new line: ‘This is what happens.’ Originally, he said more than that. I can’t remember what he said exactly. (Editor) Verna Fields and I pieced together, ‘This is what happens,’ from other words he was saying because the scene was too long. I was able to cut a huge — maybe 30-second — part of the scene out, simply by cutting to the insert of the arm coming up and putting the words, ‘This is what happens,’ over it. I give Bryan Singer tremendous credit for catching it. That’s amazing anybody caught that. This is the first time anybody’s ever talked about it!..."
And that's how it still plays on the BD; because it's an original edit...

 

[AlexCosmo]

I'm trying to remember where it opened in Hollywood and for some reason my brain is remembering the Pix. But I'm not sure Universal would have used the Pix, although many Universal films did play there. Anyone know for sure?

Looks like you are correct sir.
http://cinematreasures.org/blog/2010/6/18/jaws-happy-35th

 

[haineshisway]

Looks like you are correct sir.
http://cinematreasures.org/blog/2010/6/18/jaws-happy-35th

Wow - I have a really incredible memory for movies and where I saw them dating all the way back to the early 1950s - glad to see it's still intact

 

[haineshisway]

It always has to be asked where Universal are concerned, some people will miss halo's, edge enhancement, DNR etc and proclaim how "beautiful" a Blu ray is, ring any bells. ?

You do seem to be an expert in these matters - HOW you are an expert hasn't been sufficiently explained, however. Please feel free Many bells ring and they always ring the same old song.

 

[haineshisway]

My late wife and I went to see Jaws in August 1975 when she was eight-and-a-half months pregnant with our daughter. We thought she would deliver right in the theater, thanks to Bruce. Three weeks ago, my daughter, soon to be 37, gave birth to her second son (and my second grandchild). I will be relishing Jaws the evening it arrives by mail--in remembrance and in celebration. Thank you, Universal!

What did I have to do with it? Oh, THAT Bruce

 

[FoxyMulder]

Originally Posted by haineshisway /t/322696/a-few-words-about-jaws-in-blu-ray#post_3956461
You do seem to be an expert in these matters - HOW you are an expert hasn't been sufficiently explained, however. Please feel free Many bells ring and they always ring the same old song.

I certainly can spot these things better than some, doesn't make me an expert though. As for bells, well, go ask Quasimodo, i know for a fact he is an expert on them.

 

[Trentrunner]

That’s amazing anybody caught that. This is the first time anybody’s ever talked about it!...

Spielberg is kidding, right? I remember--as a 13-year-old in 1975--thinking that was a crappy edit (in what is otherwise, in my opinion, the most effectively edited movie in film history). And it's been discussed on forums (and probably elsewhere before) for ages. Bryan Singer is dreamy, but it doesn't take a genius to feel something is wrong with the editing/voiceover in that moment.

 

[Dr Griffin]

Love that pic.

 

[Osato]

Wonderful news Robert! Thanks for the review!

 

[Kevin Sharp]

Wow, I am really torn on this. I teach Jaws in my film class & have probably seen it 6-8 times in the past year, so I have ZERO desire to put it on at home. I want to watch this blu-ray without watching the movie!

 

[Charles Smith]

Getting here late to the Pix Reunion Party, but I believe I was there on the same Friday night as Mr. haineshisway. Front row balcony near the right-hand wall. As many times as I've seen it, the look of Jaws on the screen from that seat is forever burned into my memory.

For me, perhaps the most exciting movie event since The Exorcist at the National and the Fine Arts.

It was a special thrill, btw, to find the Pix -- of that very season -- immortalized in a movie about some nudes.

But I digress.

 

[Dave Vaughn]

Totally agree with Mr. Harris...this is the best I've ever seen this film look.

 

[RobHam]

It's a line cut during editing, apparently (and I'm another who saw it several times theatrically and for whom it's jarred for years on TV and home video) -
Finally! Spielberg on “This is what happens:
“I remember this very well. I had cut out a line of dialogue and inside the line of dialogue I manufactured artificially a new line: ‘This is what happens.’ Originally, he said more than that. I can’t remember what he said exactly. (Editor) Verna Fields and I pieced together, ‘This is what happens,’ from other words he was saying because the scene was too long. I was able to cut a huge — maybe 30-second — part of the scene out, simply by cutting to the insert of the arm coming up and putting the words, ‘This is what happens,’ over it. I give Bryan Singer tremendous credit for catching it. That’s amazing anybody caught that. This is the first time anybody’s ever talked about it!..."
And that's how it still plays on the BD; because it's an original edit...

Thanks John - my memory from seeing it on its first run must be wrong
And yet there's more than just me in the UK that remembers additional dialogue in the autopsy sequence. Maybe its from Benchley's book which I had read just before seeing the movie.
As for Bryan Singer being the only person to spot the bad edit - I had been all over web-boards for 10 years trying to find an answer (gave up after the 30th anniversary dvd). That and the fact I'm sure I saw a print of Harvey on tv where the rabbit was visible at the end for a few frames.
Mr. Mulder, - I''ll dig the 30th anniversary edition out later and confirm,, but I'm pretty sure he word "bitch" was edited out. What annoyed me even more was the unnecessary addition of the "show me the tank" comment that immediately precedes it

 

[Kevin EK]

I'll be reviewing this as soon as I get it. I believe they may even have tried to deliver today, but alas I was actually at work for a change...

I'm looking forward to it.

I first saw the movie in theaters several years after it came out. My recollection is that I saw it in 1982 - because I was too scared to see it for years. My cousin David did not swim in the local pond for some time after he initially saw it. After that, I only saw it in pan&scan for over 10 years. Around 1994, I rented the widescreen laserdisc and was once again stunned by the movie - the widescreen compositions really matter in this film - many times Spielberg simultaneously stages two actions at right and left. In 1998, I picked up the signature laser, and in 2005, I picked up the 30th Anniversary DVD just to get a widescreen copy with the full laser documentary.

Looking at it today, it still has a pretty good wallop to it - much of which comes directly from the editing and the scoring. But the really good choices by Spielberg throughout are the glue to the whole thing. He cast the movie quite well, and maximized the best stuff they got from the locals. (Ben Kingsbury was the most interesting guy in the movie, and the source of most of the good Quint lines) There are some just brilliant moments of direction - probably my favorite being the agonizing moment with Quint's fishing pole. He came up with ten different ways to tell you the shark was around without actually showing the shark. And of course, there's the subliminal choice to keep the water's eye view, which is likely a big part of why people were really scared of going in the water for a while.

The making-of documentary from the laserdisc is a hoot, and I'm glad to see it's being carried over. There's a raft of great material in there - a mile of great interviews about both how to make a great movie and how not to make a movie at the same time. Between that documentary and Carl Gottlieb's book The Jaws Log, you can get a pretty thorough picture of what was going on. And since last year we have the locals' account - Memories From Martha's Vineyard.

I'll look at the examples given for potential differences in the edits, but I believe that since this was taken from the OCN, we should be seeing the movie I saw in a theater in Massachusetts in 1982 and the braver among you saw in theaters in 1975.

I've never seen The Shark is Still Working, but I did see a second Jaws documentary on E! about 10 years ago, which covered some rawer territory than the laserdisc documentary.

 

[Doug Wallen]

Thanks for the stamp of approval. This was one of the first movies I saw on opening day. I hadn't had my license long and my parents had no desire to watch this. I had read the novel and two "making of" paperbacks and was so excited to finally see this story. I had to wait in a line for nearly an hour. The manager was counting customers and the line was cut off about 20-25 people behind me. This caused the available seats to be near the screen. I was on the second row. I will never forget the "bigger boat" scene as the shark caused me to jump out of my seat and I am not sure when my heart resumed pumping normally. Great memories. This is the release I have been anticipating most this year, and that is saying a lot. The 14th cannot get here fast enough.
Doug

 

[Brianruns10]

RAH, that's fascinating that they made a dye transfer print of that film, since 1974 is traditionally claimed to be when American films ceased to be released in dye transfer. What were the circumstances that prompted Technicolor London to make such a print?