Jaws 50th Anniversary Edition - Review of the 4K Ultra HD Version

      Jaws, 1975.

      Directed by Steven Spielberg.

      Featuring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfus, Lorraine Gary, and Murray Hamilton.

      SYNOPSIS:

      This week, Jaws receives its eighty billionth home video release, and I’m thrilled because I have always cherished that film, regardless of my family's indifference towards it. To celebrate the film’s 50th anniversary, Universal has included a new 90-minute documentary titled Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story, which is on its own Blu-ray disc, making this release a three-disc set instead of two. Is it worth upgrading? Read on to find out.

      Do we really need another home video release of Jaws? If you’re like me, the answer is “Yes!,” especially since this 50th Anniversary Edition comes with a new retrospective documentary, Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story. (I’m surprised they didn’t title it #Jaws @ 50.)

      I won’t repeat my previous thoughts on this classic, which I addressed in my review of the 45th Anniversary Limited Edition. I was just five when I first saw it at a drive-in, and it sparked my love for many films from the Spielberg/Lucas era of the 70s and 80s.

      Certainly, you can also mention works by Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, John Carpenter, and others, but if nostalgia is your aim, the Spielberg/Lucas films always hit home for me. Those movies truly captured the excitement of sitting in a dark theater with hundreds of strangers, embarking on fantastic adventures together.

      Moreover, Jaws @ 50 features insights from numerous individuals who were roughly the same age in 1975, including J.J. Abrams, Greg Nicotero, Robert Zemeckis, and other notable Hollywood figures. We also hear from Wendy and Tracy Benchley, the wife and daughter of author Peter Benchley, several locals from Martha’s Vineyard who played various roles (an excellent casting choice, by the way), and several shark scientists discussing the film’s influence on their work studying sharks and promoting their role in ocean ecosystems.

      Consequently, this isn’t merely a typical making-of feature. While Jaws @ 50 does cover the key moments of the film’s development, production, and post-production, it also includes archival interview clips with Richard Dreyfus, Universal CEO Sid Sheinberg, and others, along with contemporary footage of Spielberg and Lucas. Laurent Bouzereau, who created the classic two-hour documentary The Making of Jaws, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, directed this new documentary, ensuring that both documentaries complement one another.

      The new documentary is on a separate Blu-ray disc, while the other Blu-ray is the same one that has been released multiple times in the past. This is where you’ll find all the treasured legacy extras that have been available for a while, including the mentioned The Making of Jaws documentary, a featurette on the film’s restoration, deleted scenes and outtakes, vintage behind-the-scenes footage, and the original theatrical trailer.

      Additionally, you'll receive The Shark is Still Working: The Impact and Legacy of Jaws, a 100-minute retrospective documentary that first appeared on the 2012 Blu-ray. Although it covers some of the same ground as Jaws @ 50, it features a different set of interviewees and focuses primarily on the years following the film’s release. It’s particularly notable for including the last interview with Peter Benchley.

      The 4K Ultra HD disc included is the same one that came out five years ago, which is acceptable since this film has reached the peak of home theater presentation, at least in my opinion. Some online might dispute this and wish for an 8K version for their high-end systems, but for most of us, 4K is perfectly adequate. Plus, it represents a significant improvement over the way we had to experience Jaws on home video for many years.

      Finally, you receive a code for a digital copy. If you've previously redeemed a digital copy code from a prior release, Jaws @ 50 should be among the extras. (At least, it was included in my copy of the film in Movies Anywhere). So keep this in mind if you already own the 4K version and are considering repurchasing it solely for the new documentary.

      Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

      Brad Cook