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Jaws Movie Review

Now available on Blu-ray and DVD (Buy on Amazon)

"Jaws." Do I need to sell you on this movie? It is only one of the greatest films ever made, a film that transcended from its B-grade status to an infamous level few movies ever attain. To this date people are still afraid to go in the water thanks to this movie.

Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss all turn in terrific performances as the unfortunate souls forced to face the deadly, hardly-functional robotic shark. Thanks to the poor design of the shark, director Steven Spielberg was forced to put the camera into the shark's perspective, which is the quintessential look of the film that made it what it is today. But I don't need to tell you that - you already know it.

This review comes today thanks to the 30th Anniversary Edition DVD of "Jaws," a release offering new, never-before-seen features. Now, when I bought "Jaws: 25th Anniversary Edition" five years ago I thought I was buying the ultimate edition. It had some awesome features including a two-hour "Making of Jaws" documentary, deleted scenes and more. The DVD designers dug through twenty years of material to find this footage - I didn't think there was any more to find. So what's new in this 30th Anniversary Edition?

An interview.

Yes, an interview. Someone managed to find a couple-minute interview with Spielberg from the year the film was made. Interesting, yes. Worth me spending another twenty bucks to buy the same movie I already own? Hell no!

Universal should be ashamed of themselves for manipulating its customers like this - of course, they can hardly be blamed on them alone. The movie industry in general is using this practice to suck a few extra dollars out of unsuspecting customers. Every single movie seems to have several versions, all of which are hardly different from one another but each give the studios an extra couple of twenties.

That being said, "Jaws" is an excellent movie. If you don't own it, you should. And if you're going to buy it, you might as well buy the "30th Anniversary Edition" as it has the most special features (including a neat 60-page booklet which lets the studios put the DVD in a larger box). If you already own it, don't even consider buying this new version. It isn't worth it, and it will only mean we'll see more of these DVD special editions in the future.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.

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