Jaws
Movie, 1975, The '70s, Set in Amity Island
Jaws is #3 of 35 in release order and #3 of 35 in chronological order in the Steven Spielberg.
The story
When the seaside community of Amity finds itself under attack by a dangerous great white shark, the town's chief of police, a young marine biologist, and a grizzled shark hunter embark on a desperate quest to kill the beast before it strikes again.
Jaws recap
Jaws (1975) sets a great white shark loose off Amity Island, a New England resort town, on the eve of the summer season. Steven Spielberg directs from Peter Benchley's novel. A night swimmer is killed, and police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), a New Yorker afraid of the water, wants the beaches closed. Mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) refuses, fearing for the tourist trade, and a boy named Alex Kintner is killed in front of a packed beach. Marine biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) confirms the culprit is a great white, not the tiger shark local fishermen catch. After the shark strikes again on the Fourth of July, Vaughn hires Quint (Robert Shaw), a hard-bitten shark hunter, and Brody and Hooper go out with him on his boat, the Orca. On board, Quint tells of surviving the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. Jaws follows The Sugarland Express and precedes Close Encounters of the Third Kind in Spielberg's career.
Jaws ending explained
Jaws ends with Brody blowing the shark apart. The shark wrecks the Orca, Hooper's cage dive goes wrong and he hides on the seabed, and Quint slides into the shark's jaws and is eaten. As the boat sinks, Brody jams a scuba tank into the shark's mouth, climbs the mast and shoots it until the tank explodes. Hooper surfaces and the two paddle home. In Benchley's novel, Hooper dies and the shark succumbs to its wounds. Three sequels followed without Spielberg, starting with Jaws 2 in 1978.
Post-credits scenes
No. Jaws has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch Jaws
Jaws is streaming on Netflix, YouTube TV, TNT, TBS, and tru TV in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 8.1/10, Rotten Tomatoes 97%
Where it fits
- Release order: after The Sugarland Express, before Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
- Chronological order: after The Sugarland Express, before Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Cast
- Roy Scheider as Brody
- Robert Shaw as Quint
- Richard Dreyfuss as Hooper
- Lorraine Gary as Ellen Brody
- Murray Hamilton as Vaughn
- Carl Gottlieb as Meadows
- Jeffrey Kramer as Hendricks
- Susan Backlinie as Chrissie
- Jonathan Filley as Cassidy
- Ted Grossman as Estuary Victim
- Chris Rebello as Michael Brody
- Jay Mello as Sean Brody
Directed by Steven Spielberg.