8mm Forum: JAWS

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Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on May 02, 2011, 07:55 PM:

Who else can remember watching this movie at the cinema way way back in 1975?

Last night I watched the 30th Anniversary DVD on the VP with DTS 5:1 sound and the scene where the severed head makes an appearence in the hull of that boat, even after 37 years still makes me jump. I enjoyed it that much I watched again late last night but this time I thought I will not jump at that scene again....well I was wrong I did and cant help it and wonder if my brain has been conditioned that way. [Eek!]

Anyway back to the cinema where I first watched it was called the "Savoy" in town and have enclosed a photo of it in its hey day. I still remember the effect on not just me but the 1200 people that attended. Its pretty scary in the dark when that number of people start screaming etc quiet an experence. Jaws needless to say was a huge hit.

This is the only photo I can find of the "Savoy" it could seat 1287 people opened in 1917 and closed in 1993 the projectors last used were a pair of DP70s

Sadly the cinema has gone but you can still see on the brickwork the outline. Its hard to refect back to "Jaws" and all the people that were there that night as just memories.

Great cast.

Graham.

[ December 07, 2012, 02:11 PM: Message edited by: Graham Ritchie ]

Posted by Larry Arpin (Member # 744) on May 02, 2011, 08:01 PM:

Saw JAWS at a very small theater in Bell, Ca. It was well after it's initial run. Don't know why I waited so long to see it.

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on May 02, 2011, 09:16 PM:

I saw it in the summer of '75. Every person in that theater was totally drained after that film. What an amazing ride. I did not go swimming too often that summer.....

Doug

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on May 03, 2011, 06:51 AM:

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...... [Eek!]

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on May 03, 2011, 06:53 AM:

CAPITOL CINEMA, Cork City - 1975. Admission 50p.
It was the first film I ever had to queue for.
[Smile]

Posted by Colin Robert Hunt (Member # 433) on May 03, 2011, 02:44 PM:

Great film and yes those jumping moments had a great effect in the cinema. I remember going in the late 70's to a lecture at the National Film Theatre in London. It was the composer John Williams. A great insight to the great composer, a major input to Jaw's and Star Wars etc., Steven Spielberg was then a major director of films in the seventies and eighties. Has made some real excellent films in his career. Would like to see him again making more.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on May 06, 2011, 10:31 AM:

The part that always freaks my wife out is that head that comes bobbing up out of the hole broken in the boat, underwater there.

Good scare!

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on May 06, 2011, 11:47 AM:

Osi

It does the same for me. [Eek!]

Really great shot. BTW I sent your bulb out today.
[Roll Eyes]

Pat D

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on May 06, 2011, 12:17 PM:

I was too young to see it but my sister went and was remarkably quiet the entire day afterwards! Then we were watching the 'tube and this guy in a beer commercial pulled a big fish up into his rowboat and she jumped out of her seat!

Family across the street went together to see it and became hysterical from the experience: They laughed through most of the picture! I’ll bet the other people in that audience still remember them.

A few months later my Aunt was swimming in the surf off Jones Beach and something rubbery brushed up against her. She turned around and started beating it unmercifully: that poor scuba diver barely escaped with his life!

As I said: I never saw it big screened, but many, many times on video. To me it’s more of an adventure story than a horror film: goes to show you the impact of seeing something theatrically with an audience.

(I should read the book: it's supposed to be pretty good!)

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on May 06, 2011, 12:52 PM:

Many thanks, Passquale!

Posted by David Michael Leugers (Member # 166) on May 07, 2011, 10:03 AM:

I saw Jaws on the big screen the first weekend it opened with my future wife and another couple. One of my favorite movie going experiences. I never ever wanted to swim in the ocean after that...

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on May 13, 2011, 02:50 PM:

Well we had a "Jaws" evening last night in our home cinema using DVD and the video projector the young ones at work were keen to watch this as they say "old movie" after hearing me go on and on about how good it was at work. [Roll Eyes]

I was also interested to see if the movie had the same effect on todays teenagers, now 37 years on.

Well it did, I am pleased to say, especially the severed head in the fishing boat bit...that made them jump [Big Grin]

well done Steven Spielberg your movie still works. At the end they said they enjoyed it and asked for ET the next time [Roll Eyes]

Graham.

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on May 14, 2011, 04:23 AM:

Well you might find this hard to believe, I did, our young side kick projectionist now the grand old age on 18 came to work tonight. I asked did watching "Jaws" make you jump...yes was the answer...put you of going in the water eh! he just [Smile]

and said he spent the day surfing....what I said after watching that movie...yes he did think about it for a while when he was out there...but not for long by the sound of it. [Roll Eyes]

drat.

Graham. [Smile]

Posted by Ilias Sifakis (Member # 2417) on May 14, 2011, 05:43 AM:

Great film,
I recently found the 2x400'' digest by marketing films and watched it again.
Still gives you the chills....

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on May 14, 2011, 10:22 AM:

That is one of the greatest digests of all. Even the 200ft digest is a winner. Those editors for Universal 8 knew what they were doing (well, at least on this digest).

Something about this film ...

I'm sure that some may disagree with me, but this is one of those 70's films that just seems to have a "dated colour palatte".

That is, it seems like many 70's films just look like there wasn't a lot of thought put into the color schemes. Now, there are always expections to the rule, but even in those screenshots from a digital print (on this series of posts) the colour just doesn't jump out at you.

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on May 14, 2011, 02:28 PM:

Good point Osi

A lot of films from the 70s had that muted look and many included Star Wars prints faded. I can only guess it was the film stock they used at the time, although there might be more to it than that.

Ilias

Thats interesting that Marketing films did the "Jaws" digest I never new they released it...it sounds good, Ilias was it masked print?. I always liked the quality of the German lab releases we got out here from Marketing which were printed on Polyester stock they looked good and still do.

I did buy "Jaws" from Universal 8 when it came out new and it was an excellent digest unfortunate I sold it years ago, should have kept it [Smile]

If I remember right it was a masked print but all the same it was very good, has anyone else got it? has the colour held up? just curious.

Graham. [Smile]

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on October 02, 2012, 04:53 AM:

At long last its out on Blu-ray and its brilliant, just watched it tonight on the Panasonic VP and its never looked so good.

Well done "Universal" on its release to Blu-ray, Oh! there is one down side and thats the severed head bit. I knew that was coming up, and thought I have seen this movie enough times it wont make me jump......drat I did [Roll Eyes]

......has my brain been conditioned, or what [Eek!]

since I first watched this movie way back in 1975 at the cinema?

A highly recommended Blu-ray [Smile]

Graham.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on October 02, 2012, 08:59 AM:

Thanks Graham, I shall certainly be getting the Jaws Blu Ray. Shark bites are not uncommon here in Florida, in fact New Smyrna beach near here is the shark bite capital of the USA! [Eek!]

Fortunately, they are usually small bites, we do not have the big maneaters like Graham has in New Zealand and Australia, so it is relatively safe to swim here.
I do have the U8 200ft print of Jaws and it is a brilliant 11 minute edit - possibly the best digest ever released.

Posted by Bryan Chernick (Member # 1998) on October 02, 2012, 10:53 AM:

I first saw it on the big screen at a theater in Seattle when it first came out. Now I think about it every time I swim in the ocean.

Two weeks ago my wife and I hosted a monthly movie club event at our house to watch it from the swimming pool. I set up a screen on one end of the pool and projected the DVD with a digital projector. Everyone had a great time. A few clowns pretended they were being eaten by a shark during the opening scene.

Next month I think we're watching Silence of the Lambs in someones creepy old dirty basement.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on October 02, 2012, 01:23 PM:

Showing Earthquake in California Brian? [Big Grin]

Posted by Jonathan Trevithick (Member # 3066) on October 02, 2012, 05:05 PM:

Plenty of sharks around here, at sea and in the canals. However, there are far more fatalities from drowning. Very few shark attacks relatively.....and the blu-ray is stunning on a large screen....."you're gonna need a bigger" screen!

Posted by Mark L Barton (Member # 1512) on October 03, 2012, 09:37 AM:

Saw Jaws in th efirst run 1975 at the Bristol ABC Cinema in the centre of town by the ice skating rink. The cinema has long gone and is now a nightclub. I have the jaws (2 x400) and jaws 2 (1x400) and they are pretty decent cut downs, especially Jaws, where we get a sense of the 'boredom' as they wait for a bite, etc. And of course lashings of John Williams score remains. I heard that the cinema re-release would have cgi work covering up poor ol'Bruce and his mechanical misgivings?

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on December 06, 2012, 02:46 AM:

I dont believe this [Roll Eyes]

tonight I thought I would watch the blu-ray on the VP Panasonic again.

So here comes the "severed head bit" [Roll Eyes]

thinking I know its coming, but just to be safe I will cover my eyes so I dont jump. However I could not but help to look through my fingers... and guess what "I jumped" [Eek!]

not again I thought...what is wrong with me?

Cant I ever watch this movie without going through this? [Confused]

Graham.

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on December 06, 2012, 06:41 AM:

Graham

I always enjoy reading your postings. fear not, I have the exact same response to that scene. It's amazing how it effects views over and over again. I think had you kept your eyes covered , you still would have jumped from the sound alone. I have been where it was filmed and as I viewed the canal where "Bruce" makes his appearance I expected him to actually show up!

PatD

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on December 07, 2012, 11:48 AM:

Thanks Pat

Here is a really nice photo that you might find of interest from a very interesting article about Verna Fields. It was published in Super8 Moviemaker back in the 70s.

Steven Spielberg and Film Editor Verna Fields.

Verna Fields was to recieve a "Acadeny Award" for Film Editing for her work as Editor on "JAWS"

Graham.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on December 07, 2012, 01:00 PM:

Wow! I must say, those screnshots really show off the restoration on this print. A lot of 70's films suffer from what I call "70's color", which is a basically bland color spectrum. I have the U8 600ft with reasonably good color, but still, it has "70's color syndrome"

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on December 07, 2012, 02:29 PM:

Osi

Those screen shots are the DVD, the later Blu-ray is even better "its stunning" [Cool]

than what is shown in those screen shots.

Its interesting to look back, that with so many people who were involved in that film have now since died, but will be immortalized with one of the greatest films ever made.

I think thats great.

Graham.

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