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Once upon a Summer, the only enticement offered up by the local movie theater was the chance to beat the heat and relax with a cool drink in the comfort of air conditioned darkness, regardless of what happened to be showing.
A series of horrifying shark attacks along the shores of a panicked New England tourist resort changed all that. Jaws, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year with a special edition DVD release that includes a trove of added features, set the stage for such summer event movies as Jurassic Park, Independence Day, Lethal Weapon and Men In Black. Primed by the popularity of Peter Benchley's best-selling novel which sold over 5 million copies, producers Richard Zanuck and David Brown paid $175,000 for the film rights, money well spent considering the status would make the film a household name. A film pitting man against nature and a film that, at least over the course of production, nature won every day. Zanuck and Brown secured the directorial services of a talented though unproven 26 year-old named Steven Spielberg to bring the book to life. Universal Studios had hired the young wonder on the merits of a student film that foreshadowed the young man's potential. Taking a crack at the screenplay that Benchley adapted from his book, Spielberg distilled the plot down to its purest form by omitting many of the social and personal background that Benchley's novel seemed to linger on to focus on the aspect of sheer terror. You're gonna need a bigger boat - Brody The production team decided to bypass the use of miniatures or the constraints of filming in a tank on a studio backlot - a full-size mechanical shark in the open ocean would be needed for a realistic setting. Special effects wiz Bob Mattey was brought on board to construct three, 1 1/2 ton robotic versions of the shark, nicknamed "Bruce" after Spielberg's attorney. Made mostly out of plastic and operated by hydraulic pistons and compressed air, the true star of the movie soon proved to be the productions biggest headache. On its maiden launch, the shark's tail jammed in position, causing it to sink and requiring a team of frogmen to salvage it from ocean bottom. On other days when Bruce seemed to move along perfectly on his sea-sled platform then other problems would arise - hoses burst, cables snared, and on occasion even the shark's gaping mouth developed lockjaw. Go To Page: 1 2 |
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