Jaws

Amity is a serene beach town and the island hasn’t had a murder in 25 years. But then police chief Martin Brody, recently relocated from New York, faces a threat worse than any human perpetrator – a great white shark kills a swimmer and, a little later, a young boy. A bounty is put on the fish’s head, triggering an amateur shark-hunting frenzy. But oceanologist Matt Hooper doesn’t believe the culprit is among the dead sharks proffered up. After the local business community pressures Brody not to close the beaches, another swimmer is killed. The town agrees to pay Sam Quint, ex-military man and professional shark hunter, to kill the beast. Brody and Hooper set out to sea with him … In classic Hitchcockian style, the source of the terror remains invisible below the surface, its mounting menace conjured up solely by composer John Williams’ staccato strings. Jaws thus provided a perfect way for audiences to project the fears that had recently been visited on America. Underlaid with reflections on the environment as well as an anti-commercialisation message, Spielberg’s thriller would become one of the first blockbusters, heralding a passing of the baton to a younger generation of Hollywood hitmakers.