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DVD Review HTF Review: Jaws - 30th Anniversary Edition (2 Viewers)

Jack Johnson

Second Unit
Joined
Jul 18, 2002
Messages
277
I had to give credit to Spielberg for dropping the F Bomb, but I docked him half after I thought about it; he was only quoting someone. Har.


As for nervous laughter, yeah, it can really derail a tense film. Clive Barker's Lord of Illusions really got to me, while it was total guffaw-fest for the gaggle of girls a few rows back. They didn't get it.

The Grudge is also dividing audiences this way. I'd recommend the Director's Cut to Ron. Just when I swore it was impossible for a modern horror film to give me the heebie-jeebies, along comes this crafty-as-hell, moody and atmospheric goose bump maker. Seems to be a "love it or hate it". In truth, most seem to think--or say, at least (I think they're kidding themselves)--it's a bore. But those who know better--IMHO--are giving credit where credit's due. This one's a winner. It totally unnerved me. Watch it alone, after dark, with the sound cranked.


--Jack
 

Kevin M

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2000
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Kevin Ray
I would recommend Ju-On(The Grudge) over the remake personally, the remake was good but I was creeped out more by the original.
 

Elias A.

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jul 1, 2003
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72
Speaking of the supplemental features on the new Jaws disc, I just watched the "On the Set" featurette on disc one. It was far too short (six minutes or so) but extremely interesting to a hardcore Jawsie like me. You get to see some great candid scenes of Spielberg, Carl Gottlieb (the screenwriter), Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfus, etc in the early days of the shoot. They even have some footage of the infamous moment when Carl Gottlieb accidentally fell into the ocean while filming the first version of the scene where they find Ben Gardener's boat. I wish that scene was included in the deleted scenes, by the way.

Anyway, it was amazing to see a 26-year-old Spielberg talking about making the movie. You could really sense his youthful enthusiasm for the project, but you could also see that he was already beginning to wonder what he'd gotten himself into. He says something like "2 days down, 54 days left to go" after the Ben Gardener scene turns out to be much harder to film than he expected. Little did he know then that it would take more than 150 days to shoot the movie, three times longer than the originally expected. I wonder if he knew then how hard it would be to shoot the movie, if he would have even taken the project.
 

Felix Martinez

Screenwriter
Joined
Aug 27, 2001
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1,504
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South Florida
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Felix E. Martinez

I agree, Elias. And I'm always struck by how Spielberg communicates and carries himself as a 26 year-old. He seems to have come out of the womb fully formed as a mature filmmaker. No wonder Zanuck and Brown stuck by him.

Re-watching Jaws yet agin with this new release, I'm just thunderstruck how well the film holds up. The layered, overlapping dialogue scenes still ring true, and the wide framing of lengthy scenes shot in master to make use of the 2.35:1 ratio is amazing. The car ferry ride scene is one example.
 

Chris Farmer

Screenwriter
Joined
Aug 23, 2002
Messages
1,496
Spielberg as filmmaker is pure talent. He's tempered that with experience over the years, but he still does things intuitively. He just knows what it is he wants and he goes after it. That's the kind of things that you can't learn, you're just born with it, it's something that you either have or you don't. Spielberg has it. It creates misfires, but it also allows for scenes of absolute brilliance because they just spring fully formed from his mind. It's a nice contrast with a more cerebral director to have somebody who works by intuition.
 

Jordan_E

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2002
Messages
2,233
For those here in the Seattle area, JAWS is being shown at the end of August (Sat August 27 to be exact) as part of the Fremont Outdoor Movies series. I hope to make that showing.
 

Kevin M

Senior HTF Member
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Feb 23, 2000
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Kevin Ray
I just bought this yesterday and on the whole I am pleased with it....seems skimpy on certain extras (well, the trailers at any rate) but on the whole I am pleased ($15.99 ain't a bad price neither) and I have to admit that now having the original mono to compare the 5.1 remix to directly is interesting, before I wasn't as bothered with it when I rented the first DVD but having a direct comparison (I always thought the fact that my LD box set used PCM would make for an uneven comparison) it is clear how much they screwed up the levels on the music as much as they did, I know some of the replacement sound effects are a thorn in the side to some but they didn't bother me as much as John Williams undercut score that, in the mono track, is so prevalent and lush....what are they paying these sound engineers?

Anyway, great disc with the same good transfer as before and a good bargain for such a low price.
If you don't got it, get it.:emoji_thumbsup:
 
Joined
May 26, 2003
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1,023
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London
Real Name
Anthony
I'd echo the sentiments already stated - it's great to have the full documentary, the mono mix and the new (old) featurette, and I've no regrets about buying this new edition.

HOWEVER . . . I can't help but feel disappointed. It seems bizarre to me that they would put all that effort into a nicely-presented but essentially redundant booklet and yet not remaster the less-than-perfect print, or include the trailers, or design new menus, or give us the original artwork, or seek out more archive footage or redo the poor-quality still galleries.

I know, I know - I'm whining. But there was a chance here to present a definitive edition and they didn't even try. I'm glad to have the doc and the mono, like I said, but let's face it - the first disc should have included them anyway.

I wish Warner Bros owned EVERYTHING.
 

MichaelO

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Mar 29, 2000
Messages
134
Well, I compared the 30th to the 25th on my 92" and I prefer the video on the 25th. While it is true that there is a very subtle improvement in detail on the 30th Anniversary release, there is definitely more ringing (EE) along hard contrasty edges than on the prior 25th Anniversary disc. Compare the scene where the cops are putting up the signs on the beach, right after Quint offers his services in the town hall meeting. You'll see the EE stand out more on the 30th disc as opposed the the 25th. To my eyes, the additional (very subtle) detail that now shows up on the 30th isn't worth the additional EE (at least not on my screen to my eyes). Too bad as I was really excited to think that the video might have been improved upon. I'll keep the 30th for the wonderful documentary, but I'll watch the 25th with dts when I revisit the movie next time.
 

WilliamG

Supporting Actor
Joined
Aug 6, 2001
Messages
513
I got this for Father's Day and was really excited about it, but was a little disappointed in this documentary that everyone is talking about. I like the one on Disc 2 (the two hour 'sit down') so far .. of course, I've only gotten to watch about 30 min. of it.

As an aside, I'm wondering if the 25th Anniversary version is still available at Best Buy stores?
 

MichaelO

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Mar 29, 2000
Messages
134
Well, I fired these two back up tonight just to make sure I wasn't just sleepy eyed the first time I compared. It's actually a quandary. On one hand, you get a slight more detail with the 30th Anniversary edition but at a cost of a light amount more EE. With the 25th Anniversary disc you get a slight amount less detail but there is slightly less EE visable. After going back and looking at them I can't say which I prefer. The first time I viewed I was pretty confidant that I preferred tbe 25th Anniversary disc, now after a second look I'm not so sure. I think I still give a very slight edge to the 25th but that's because I loathe EE. The less the better, especially the larger the screen. Too bad they couldn't have just given us the added detail with less or the same EE. Has anyone else compared the two on a large screen? If so, your thoughts?
 

Jason Perez

Second Unit
Joined
Jul 6, 2003
Messages
310
Hello everyone!

First of all, thanks to everyone for the kind words! Although reviewing discs is fun, it does take a lot of time and effort to write something that I think is worthy of being read by all of you here at HTF...my fellow reviewers sure are a tough act to follow!

From reading this thread, it is obvious that the monaural soundtrack was a hot topic! Due to work on other titles, and a truly hectic schedule, it took a while to get to it, but I have finally updated my review to include a look at Jaws' original monaural audio track! I can't believe I am actually saying this, but...well, you can read it and see for yourself! :D

In closing, I wanted to apologize if it seemed to any of you that I was "glossing over" this aspect of the release. I honestly did not think it would matter so much to so many of you, and thus focused on the 5.1 channel remixes. Personally, I was only really interested in getting to see the complete "making of" documentary!

Just so you know, since it did matter so much to so many of you, I watched the film again twice, to make sure I got a good handle on what I wanted to say! You will see I am glad I did...andany excuse to watch Jaws is a good one! It still has not lost its impact on me!

Best Wishes and Happy Movie Watching!

Jason
 

Vincent_P

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2003
Messages
2,147
I'd like to second that thanks to Jason, since it was my response to his review that started much of this debate :)

It was a very good review to begin with, and is now a GREAT review thanks to his revision.

Vincent
 

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