Bruce turns fifty this year, and to celebrate, we’re getting the Jaws 50th Anniversary 4K! The beginning of my love of the movies and my aspiration for a deeper understanding and respect for the art of cinema can be traced back to two essential films: Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. Both films made it to my ranking of the 100 Greatest Movies of All Time, and both remain pivotal examples of masterful filmmaking all these years later, but Jaws maintains an unrivalled level of re-watchability.

When a great white shark makes the waters surrounding the beaches of a New England tourist town its home, local Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider, Sorcerer) is tasked with making the beaches safe again in time for the Fourth of July. With the help of Quint (Robert Shaw, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three), a hardened fisherman and self-proclaimed shark hunter, and Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss, Close Encounters of the Third Kind), a marine biologist and shark expert, the Chief takes to the water to face off against one of the Earth’s greatest killing machines.

There have been a lot of shark movies since Jaws, including three direct sequels, but none of them come close to matching the perfection of Steven Spielberg’s 1975 masterpiece. A perfect execution of dread and terror, the movie spawned from a troubled production that seemed destined for failure. Its success can be measured by its massive box office or its lasting legacy. But for me, the clearest measure of its success is the fact that to this day, I will not swim in the ocean.

Few movies can manifest such lasting fear as Jaws does with a mechanical shark and John Williams’ simplistic score. The story of man vs. beast has existed for as long as stories have been told, but the magic of Jaws is difficult to pinpoint. Its story can primarily be broken up into two parts: before the Orca and after. The first half is a perfectly paced exploration of greed, power, and a fear of the unknown.

As the Mayor of Amity Island, Murray Hamilton is diabolically dimwitted. His desire to appease the voters, retain his position, and funnel tourism dollars into the town outweighs any safety concerns. Though the shark is directly responsible for the deaths of beachgoers and boaters, Mayor Larry is indirectly responsible and shares the role of the villain.

The second half of the story occurs almost entirely on the Orca, Quint’s boat. In the novel, the trio returns home each night and sets out on their hunt again each morning. For the movie, this is altered. There’s a desperation and an isolation that raises the stakes by keeping our heroes on the water. Even at a young age and early in his career, Spielberg understood how to use the camera. The vastness of the open ocean is equally beautiful in its view, and terrifying for the darkness that lies beneath its surface.

Few movies can be described as perfect, but Jaws is exactly that. It’s perfect. Roy Scheider is flawlessly neurotic, Richard Dreyfuss is superbly academic, and Robert Shaw gives the greatest performance of his career as the grizzled hunter with a vendetta. His monologue about the USS Indianapolis isn’t just the greatest scene in the movie; it’s one of the greatest scenes in the history of cinema.

The strongest reason to purchase this release over earlier 4K editions is the inclusion of the new, comprehensive documentary Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story.

Also included in the new release are Deleted Scenes and Outtakes, JAWS: The Restoration, The Shark is Still Working: The Impact and Legacy of JAWS, archives, the original theatrical trailer, and more.