Press Release USHE Press Release: Jaws (1975) 50th Anniversary Edition (4k UHD SteelBook Combo) (4k UHD Combo) (1 Viewer)

[Robert Saccone]

I have to say without hesitation that the movie is much superior to the novel.

Lots of people feel that way. a straight port of the novel to the screen wouldn't have made a lasting treasure that the move has turned out to be.

I tend to keep them in separate mental compartments and appreciate each them for what they are. I love that it is based on Long Island where I've lived since leaving the city at 12. For whatever reason my yearly ritual is to read it on the beach when we take our vacation out on Fire Island.

The novel holds a fond memory for me as it is the first adult novel that I read as a 9 year old. The first copy my mom got me my stepfather decided it wasn't appropriate and he made his own edits by blacking out sections and wrote in his own text to bridge his edits. Needless to say I never looked at that copy again. My mother bought me a new copy and told him not to touch it because she felt it was more important to encourage me to read.

I saw the new documentary tonight. Tino's right, it is terrific. I love that Greg Nicotero saved the last Bruce from the original mold. I can't wait to go see it as the museum this fall.

 

[Bryan^H]

Why?

Bought it just for the steelbook. That is the first, and only time I'm doing that.

 

[Robert Crawford]

By the way, the terrific new documentary Jaws @50 The Definitive Story has been added as an extra to the digital copy.

Thank you for bringing that to our attention. I was contemplating purchasing this new 4K/UHD for the documentary and now I don’t have to do that. My 2020 4K/UHD and digital copy will suffice for now.

I’m watching the documentary right now.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

This turned out rather well for those of us who already owned the prior digital release.

I just checked my copy, and the new documentary is there. Looking forward to watching it later today.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I really enjoyed that documentary. It brought me back to my college days during the 1975 summer when I watched Jaws with my sister and brother-in-law. I think I watched it two more times during that theatrical run.

I pulled out my 4K/UHD and will watch it again in the next 24 hours.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I watched this new 50th-anniversary documentary while on the treadmill this morning.

Outstanding!

This documentary is a comprehensive exploration of the world of filmmaking, featuring a diverse range of content. It includes home movies, interviews with past and present filmmakers and cast members, insights from marine and shark biologists, and interviews with today’s most acclaimed directors, such as Guillermo del Toro, Robert Zemeckis, and J.J. Abrams.

I am still trying to figure out what Emily Blunt has to do with the film. A quick Google search says she was greatly inspired by JAWS and is in Spielberg's newest film.

It was a nice treat to have this documentary automatically ported over for those of us who currently own the older digital copy.

 

[TravisR]

Thank you for bringing that to our attention. I was contemplating purchasing this new 4K/UHD for the documentary and now I don’t have to do that. My 2020 4K/UHD and digital copy will suffice for now.

Yeah, super cool move on Universal's part to make it available for people who bought the previous disc. I already got my physical copy yesterday but I'm a big enough fan of the movie that at $18, I'm not going to complain about having paid to get the documentary on disc.

 

[Robert Saccone]

If you have Peacock you can see Spielberg introduction to Jaws that NBC will be showing on Friday night. Too bad that isn’t on disc.

 

[WillG]

Bought it just for the steelbook. That is the first, and only time I'm doing that.

IMO the premium just for the steelbook is not worth it

 

[Robert Crawford]

My 2020 (45th Anniversary) 4K/UHD is a Steelbook.

 

[WillG]

By the way, the terrific new documentary Jaws @50 The Definitive Story has been added as an extra to the digital copy.

thanks for the heads up, I can return my copy, just to be sure is the doc the only thing that differentiates this release from the last?

 

[Tino]

thanks for the heads up, I can return my copy, just to be sure is the doc the only thing that differentiates this release from the last?

Yes

 

[Traveling Matt]

 

[Allansfirebird]

Giving the new doc a watch now. Nice to see it's another Laurent Bouzereau joint, just like his magnificent 2-hour doc he first made for Universal... my god... THIRTY years ago!

 

[Tino]

Laurent Bouzreau and I at his book signing on Martha’s Vineyard for Jaws 50th anniversary

 

[SD_Brian]

Yeah, super cool move on Universal's part to make [Jaws @50 The Definitive Story] available [with the digital copy] for people who bought the previous disc.

Yes, kudos to whoever was behind that decision (my guess is it was Spielberg himself), which has to be the most customer-friendly move from a major studio in years.

 

[titch]

I was actually rather disappointed with Laurent Bouzreau's latest documentary. My main complaint, is that it - unfortunately - has succumbed to Netflixitis, where documentaries are now edited like Michael Bay movies. I kid you not: I had to freeze frame, or rewind, the disc at least ten times, because the editing was so rapid, it wasn't possible to read text on a shot, before it cut to another shot.

The 1995 documentary Laurent Bouzreau originally made for the 20th Anniversary LaserDisc is superior.

 

[TravisR]

The 1995 documentary Laurent Bouzreau originally made for the 20th Anniversary LaserDisc is superior.

I'd agree with that largely only because the 1995 documentary was about making the movie and had the massive advantage of having many more people alive to talk about the production. The 2025 documentary was more about the movie's legacy because they already had made a documentary about making the movie before and because they really only had a handful of people to talk to for first hand insight (even Dreyfuss and Williams didn't participate).

 

[Tino]

FYI the documentary( which I think is terrific) is in 4K HDR on Hulu. It’s only HD on disc and digital.

 

[titch]

I'd agree with that largely only because the 1995 documentary was about making the movie and had the massive advantage of having many more people alive to talk about the production. The 2025 documentary was more about the movie's legacy because they already had made a documentary about making the movie before and because they really only had a handful of people to talk to for first hand insight (even Dreyfuss and Williams didn't participate).

It's not only the focus of the documentary, but also the way it's catered to a modern audience, who has neither patience nor concentration.

In a 25 year old interview on The Digital Bits, Bouzreau explains why he had to edit down the original LaserDisc documentary for the DVD version:

"I think that, laserdiscs where really for a very small percent of the population. You have to look at the number of people who owned a laserdisc player - it was very small. And I think they were a lot more like film scholars than your average viewer. Now, with DVD, I think it's slowly replacing videocassette. Eventually it will - the second it can record and those recordable players are cheap. So I think you need to cater to your audience to get them in with something that is less dry and with a less scholarly approach. I'm not putting a negative emphasis on this, I just think it's important. Just like a movie needs to be commercial. If you're dealing with something dark and somber, or something political, you'll make it somewhat commercial because you want the audience to marry to the idea. Here I am, in a completely different medium, talking to a much wider audience, a young audience. You're trying to cater to a newer audience, an audience that's used to The Matrix - an audience that's used to quickly paced and quickly cut mediums. You have to adjust to that if you want to transcend the market - if you want to reach a much broader audience. You can't just live in your own little world and do what you think is right. You still have to do what you think is right, but in addition ask yourself, "How do I reach as many people as possible?" I think this is done by reevaluating and re-looking at material and saying, "How can I say the same thing, but in a more exciting way and with more faster pace and less scholarly?"

"Less scholarly". That's one way of putting it.

A Conversation with DVD Producer Laurent Bouzereau