Film Synopsis | The film for which the term ‘blockbuster’ was invented, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws receives a welcome rerelease for its fiftieth anniversary. Based on Peter Benchley’s bestselling novel, it sees the small community of Amity Island, which relies on tourism, come under threat when a great white shark makes its home offshore, causing a number of fatalities. Ocean-fearing but determined Police Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) teams up with oceanographer Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and shark hunter Quint (Robert Shaw) to find and kill the deadly predator. The film is filled with classic dialogue (“You’re gonna need a bigger boat”, Quint’s USS Indianapolis speech) and terrifying moments, accompanied by John Williams’s superlative score, for which he won the second of his five Oscars. Fifty years on, Jaws is still a masterclass in suspense and horror, no less gripping today than on its first release. Notes by Kevin Coyne.