Jaws (film)

Jaws (1975) is an American film, based upon a bestselling novel by Peter Benchley, which itself was based loosely on the terrifying true story of the Jersey Shore Shark Attacks of 1916. In the story, a resort town's sheriff tries to protect beachgoers from the predations of a huge great white shark by closing the beach, only to be overruled by the town council. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg and stars Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss and Lorraine Gary.

Synopsis

The film opens with a young girl swimming a little far from Amity Island, a New England island that is a summer resort. (The town itself may be loosely based in name on the Long Island town of Amityville, but most likely it is based on Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket Island in Massachusetts). Suddenly, she begins to get jerked around and is pulled under. The next morning, Martin Brody (Scheider), the sheriff of Amity Island, finds some of her remains and concludes that she was killed in a shark attack.

Related Topics:
Amity Island - New England - Long Island - Amityville - Martha's Vineyard - Nantucket Island - Massachusetts - Shark attack

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He then orders the beaches to be closed. However, the town mayor ignores the protests about the danger of more shark attacks and orders the beaches kept opened, as Amity is dependent on the money it makes from its summertime and, especially, Fourth of July business, and tells Brody to say the girl was killed by a boat propeller. A few days later, a boy is killed by the shark while swimming on a crowded beach and his mother places a substantial bounty on the animal. When marine biologist Matt Hooper examines the remains of the first victim, he becomes convinced that a very large and dangerous shark was responsible, more specifically, a Great White Shark which is an extremely voracious predator, known to be dangerous to humans.

Related Topics:
Fourth of July - Marine biologist - Great White Shark

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A large tiger shark is caught, but upon examining it, Hooper declares that the attacks were the work of a much larger fish. Brody wants the beaches closed, but Mayor Vaughn, again refusing to accept the possibility of danger, refuses. After another victim is devoured and Brody's son is nearly killed on the Fourth of July, Brody, Hooper, and shark hunter Quint (Shaw) set out in Quint's boat, the Orca, to face and destroy the man-eater.

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