Jaws

This first major success for Spielberg contains elements he would repeat many times in his later films. He continued to focus heavily on his characters, never letting special effects take center stage, unlike many directors of the 1990s. He always prioritized atmosphere over emotion. And then there’s the music, composed by John Williams, which remains legendary to this day. The film’s main theme is still used today whenever a monster’s arrival is parodied. That simple two-note alternation still manages to evoke fear. Jaws became the biggest hit of the summer of 1975. Before its release, Hollywood studios generally avoided the summer months, releasing almost no films between June and September. It was only after the enormous success of Jaws that this changed, and studios began competing to have their own summer blockbusters. Spielberg didn’t just create a legendary film—he also inadvertently helped establish the summer release window for the biggest movies.

The plot is drawn out, but the movie's still enjoyable. It's very impressive that they made something as plain as a great white shark the star of a 2-hour horror movie. Definitely not as interesting as most horror movies nowadays, but still worth a watch.

Jaws works, in the sense, that it's able to generate fear and constantly keep the audience at the edge of their seats. But once its done and you can relax, you realise there wasn't too much substance to it.

Truly one of the most overrated movies of all time. No real suspense, not scary, but a ton of blood. I have no idea why this film gets such high marks. It is truly Spielberg's worst film ever. 3/10

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]