Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story

For my money, still Spielberg's best film and the one that changed cinema in terms of thrillers and blockbuster screen entertainment. There have over the years been a number of documentaries, mostly pretty good, charting how this came into being, the difficulties in making it and of course it's phenomenal success. I think there are a number of new things not said before here:

1. It shines much more of a light on Benchley and his family and how the book happened.

2. It is clearer the role shark whizzes Ron and Valerie Taylor played and their value to Spielberg.

3. The role played by, and the impact its creation had on, the Martha's Vineyard community - I had no idea how many locals took part including starring in the film.

4. A more detailed and thoughtful look at its legacy, including Robert Shaw's son's play.

The only elements I wasn't sure of were the John Williams section - fine, but nothing new and what Emily Blunt, bless her, was doing there - assume this was done in between filming Spielberg's new film in which she stars. Crucially though, the main interest is Spielberg's candour. Obviously he's a great director etc etc, but he rarely really opens up - he tends to make a lot of considered observations about all the great guys in Hollywood. Here he does and indeed from watching him talk and the mental anguish it gave him, it was a miracle the thing got made, particularly given the grief he was given by Universal executives and THAT one actor, whoever they are - you need to watch the film!

Overall then I can't say it's a ground breaking documentary, but it is interesting and has some good new stuff in it and after all it is one of the greatest films ever made and therefore richly deserving of the accolade.

I saw the recent documentary on Jaws, which was good and fairly informative, then watched the movie, probably the second or third time in my life. It was fun to see the documentary and know a little bit about the movie, then see the film.

The Definitive Inside Story gives great detail on the behind the scenes events. I grew up in Florida and was a surfer at the time Jaws came out. Up to that point when we were out surfing sharks never really came to mind but after Jaws they certainly did. One day while out surfing, 3 or 4 sharks were spotted between us and the beach, they were about 80-100 feet away and just kept on swimming.

Anyway, I digress. See this doc for a lot of good info on the film.

Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story has a title that's half-right. It was released to celebrate 50 years of Jaws, but I wouldn't call this much of a definitive/inside story. There aren't too many bits of info shared here that haven't already been repeated time and again, even if you've not sought out hours of Jaws documentaries. I've read and watched a few things, not exhaustively, and this still gave me a bit of deja vu throughout.

I also appreciate that Emily Blunt likes Jaws, but I have no idea why she was such a prominent interviewee here. Everyone else is someone who was involved with the movie, related to someone (usually deceased) who was involved with the movie, some kind of shark expert, or a filmmaker who (usually) talks about being inspired by Jaws directly. And they're generally genre filmmakers, even if including them feels like a bit of a stretch. But what Emily Blunt can bring to this, not even serving as someone who can remember the film coming out, since she was born eight years after 1975... I don't know. Insane.

That's the thing most worth harping on about. Everything else here is serviceable. It packages behind-the-scenes info (a lot of it well-known) into an easy-to-watch documentary. They could've spent a bit more time on the film's second half, though. And maybe a lot less time with EMILY BLUNT WHY ARE YOU HERE EMILY AAAAGGGHHHHH.

As "Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story" (2025 release; 88 min.) opens, the movie is opening in US theaters and immediately the lines to get in are never-ending. Spielberg comments: "I thought it would be the end of my career!". It's not long before other talking heads are gushing about Jaws, including James Cameron, Quinten Tarantino, Jordan Peele, Cameron Crowe, J. J. Abrams, and others. At this point we are 10 minutes into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this is directed by Lauren Bouzereau ("Faye"). He gets the full cooperation of Spielberg and others involved in the making of Jaws. Most notably, a number of the Martha's Vineyard locals that were in the movie reflect on it (including several of the then-kid actors). Most insightful for me is the part that deal with the building of the 3 sharks used in the film, and how all of that operated (or better: "didn't operate 80% of the time", per Spielberg). All of it is super enjoyable and the documentary flies by in no time. As an aide, I grew up in Belgium and I had just turned 15 when I saw Jaws with my parents at a (sold out) movie theater in Brussels. I still remember it like it was yesterday. A collective movie viewing experience unlike any other in my entire life. Unforgettable.

"Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story" started streaming a few days ago. I caught it on Hulu just last night. This documentary is currently rated 100% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Whether you lived through the summer of 1975 and saw it then, or you saw it at some point later, I'd readily suggest you check out this documentary, and draw your own conclusion.

Saw Jaws when I was very young, and it scared the crap out of me and everyone else in the theatre. For people who know the port hole scene, this made everyone jump in the theatre. The summer of '75 was the Summer of the Shark. This was a great doc with interviews of Spielberg and a lot of cast and crew (archival footage for those who have passed). It was an epically long and tough shoot for the cast and crew. It was also interesting to see the effect on the town of Martha's Vineyard, where Jaws is still celebrated today. At the end of August 2025, they are re-releasing Jaws at IMAX, and I will be there.