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Wide Releases
Now In Theaters
76
(500) Days of Summer
49
2012
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
70
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
52
Blind Side
47
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
23
Couples Retreat
39
Fame
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
41
G-Force
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
28
Pandorum
58
Pirate Radio
39
Planet 51
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
46
Twilight Saga: New Moon, The
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum![]()
56
Adam
39
Adventures of Power
66
Afterschool
73
Amreeka
49
Antichrist
76
Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86
Beaches of Agnes, The![]()
71
Big Fan
65
Black Dynamite
76
Bliss
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
44
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star![]()
76
Broken Embraces
70
Bronson
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
60
Collapse
82
Cove, The![]()
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The![]()
53
Dare
50
Defamation
67
Departures
70
Earth Days
85
Education, An![]()
55
Endgame
88
Fantastic Mr. Fox![]()
31
Fix
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
xx
From Mexico with Love
28
Gentlemen Broncos
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
63
Horse Boy, The
74
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
26
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
43
Little Traitor, The
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
46
Love Hurts
84
Maid, The![]()
45
Mammoth
75
Messenger, The
55
Missing Person, The
59
More Than a Game
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
48
New York, I Love You
66
No Impact Man
26
Oh My God
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
79
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
73
Red Cliff
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
65
Skin
41
Splinterheads
42
Staten Island
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
58
Storm
82
Sun, The![]()
49
Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon
73
That Evening Sun
61
Trucker
49
Turning Green
83
U2 3D![]()
45
Uncertainty
67
Visual Acoustics
32
War on Kids
67
Way We Get By, The
65
Wedding Song, The
xx
White on Rice
59
William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
74
Woman in Berlin, A
43
Women in Trouble
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Jaws

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 9 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 37 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Adventure | Horror | Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Peter Benchley (also novel)
Carl Gottlieb
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Release Date:
Theatrical: June 20, 1975
DVD: November 21, 2000
Running Time: 124 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG
Starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Carl Gottlieb, Jeffrey Kramer, and Susan Backlinie
In 1975, director Steven Spielberg brought Peter Benchley's best-selling novel to the screen with stunning power and unbearable suspense. Jaws left an indelible mark upon the movie-going (and beach-going!) public, distilling a sea of fear from these five words: "Don't go in the water." Once the terror begins, Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw must join forces on a desperate quest to destroy a killer embodying nearly three tons of white death. (Universal Pictures)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: A.I. Artificial Intelligence Amistad Catch Me If You Can E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Empire of the Sun Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Jurassic Park Minority Report Munich Raiders of the Lost Ark Saving Private Ryan Schindler's List The Color Purple The Lost World: Jurassic Park The Terminal War of the Worlds
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Empire Ian Nathan
It was the complete nightmare that invented the "summer blockbuster", launched the genius on a global scale and delivered an astonishingly effective thriller built on a very primal level: fear.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Ty Burr
Steven Spielberg overcame the lumpy plotting of Peter Benchley's novel to create an efficient, graceful fright machine in Jaws.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
The first is the best. When it comes to this kind of thriller, no movie has been able to top Jaws, although many have tried. And, as the years go by, it seems increasingly unlikely that anything will come close.
Read Full Review >Variety Staff (Not Credited)
Robert Shaw [is] absolutely magnificent as a coarse fisherman finally hired to locate the Great White Shark; and Richard Dreyfuss, in another excellent characterization as a likeable young scientist.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)
From the outrageously frightening opening--in which a beautiful young woman skinny-dipping in the moonlight is devoured by the unseen shark--to the claustrophobic climax aboard Quint's fishing boat, Spielberg has us in his grip and rarely lets go.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Vincent Canby
If you think about Jaws for more than 45 seconds you will recognize it as nonsense, but it's the sort of nonsense that can be a good deal of fun, if you like to have the wits scared out of you at irregular intervals.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Gene Siskel
What this movie is about, and where it succeeds best, is the primordial level of fear. The characters, for the most part, and the non-fish elements in the story, are comparatively weak and not believable. [20 June 1975]
Chicago Reader Dave Kehr
Steven Spielberg's mechanical thriller is guaranteed to make you scream on schedule (John Williams's score even has the audience reactions programmed into the melodies), particularly if your tolerance for weak motivation and other minor inconsistencies is high.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 37 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Gavin C gave it a9:
Loads of scares, blood, and the use of not showing the shark for most of the movie make this film the best shark-horror films.
Aditya M. gave it a10:
This definitely a very good movie. Steven Spielberg has delivered a great Educational masterpiece about how to begin the Story and move it to the Climax.
Chris K. gave it an8:
Prolly really awesome 30 years ago.
Lauren S gave it a10:
Spielberg has made the first summer block buster, and Jaws is one of my all time favorite movies, as next to it, a dream works SKG developed, and Richard D. Zanuck (producer of jaws) my other favorite movie next to "Bruce" is Sweeney Todd. Love it! Superb!
Alex gave it an8:
What some of the other reviewers don't understand is that this movie was made in the 1970's and that the sfx was state of the art! Still a classic and anyone who says otherwise obviously doesn't know a good movie when they see it.
Sunshine fan Andrew gave it a0:
Overrated and sucky, one crappy film, rather watch the grudge.
Joyce C. gave it a0:
Disturbing and stupid, it is one of those terrible horror films that just don't make the cut, and have a certain cliche and flaw along the way.
