What Do You Remember From "Jaws"?
by Jodi C.
Think you know all there is to know about the 1975 movie "Jaws?" Take this quiz to find out just how much you remember.
If you read the book "Jaws" by Peter Benchley, you would probably have agreed that it would make a great movie. But, no one could have anticipated that a mechanical shark could have inspired so much fear in beachgoers that they avoided the nation's beaches for months.
Who knew that a movie with a budget of a mere $9 million would end up grossing over $470 million (the highest ever until the release of "Star Wars" in 1977)? In fact, the movie almost made back its production costs in the first weekend.
"Jaws" pushed movie boundaries in several ways, mainly in its use of suspense. However, the technique Spielberg used in the movie wasn't intentional, but rather the result of those crazy mechanical sharks. Unfortunately for Spielberg, the sharks did not always cooperate, often refusing to work at all, so he was forced to use sound, specifically music, to let viewers know that the shark was near. This type of suspenseful play was a technique used heavily by Alfred Hitchcock, and it certainly worked for Spielberg... and millions of viewers.