Could Jaws 50th Anniversary make a shark the saviour of cinema?

They say life begins at 50, although for a film giant like Jaws, this special screening to mark a half-century since its release was more for people to see what they’d missed, rather than some kind of revival. But if any movie can demonstrate to today’s studio bosses why it’s cool to take risks, it’s surely Steven Spielberg‘s masterpiece.

I’ve chalked up a few of these retro-screenings, and while it’s a little sad in a way that they’re saving the cinematic bacon right now, they’re always a blast. This one, however, promised to be an explosion: more chilling than The Wicker Man; more thrills than The Terminator. Little wonder then, that tonight Jaws was a sell-out.

According to the Savoy Cinemas website, this was easily more than a week in advance. Proof they don’t make ’em like they used to, and enough for the run to be extended from one to three nights; unprecedented in retro terms.

Earlier in the day on the Legend channel, the Burt Reynolds shark flick… erm… Shark!, had been on. Whether this was an omen or coincidence, who knows, but if I’d needed a hand at being put in the mood, then job done. Released six years earlier than Jaws, it’s a solid three stars and worth watching if you get the chance.

On to tonight’s main event, and from one fishy flick to another I can honestly say I’ve never seen a cinema audience laugh so hard during one scene only to jump in their seats during the next. Subtlety is the real magic of Jaws, with so much suspense that the scares can’t help but catch you off guard. Three infamous scenes stir you in completely different ways: the scraping of fingernails down a chalkboard is even more unsettling; the emergence of the shark for the very first time leading to that infamous quote just grabs you; the still of the night providing the backdrop to the story of the doomed Indianapolis and its crews’ tale of woe, is spectacularly eerie.

Yet as fun it was to experience the big-screen treatment, it couldn’t hide that solemn and inescapable fact that we’ve touched upon already: some folks in the movie scene aren’t having all that much fun these days. If Jaws taught the world a lesson in filmmaking, this night showed cinema-goers that the industry is in a sad state of affairs in many ways (if that needed to be demonstrated). Covid, the Hollywood strike and then the California earthquakes have all contributed, but obviously that’s not the whole picture.

What percentage of Friday’s sell-out crowd have access to at least one streaming service, if not more? Eighty five? Ninety? More to the point, which studio would take a chance on a project as fraught with uncertainty, like Universal did all those years ago? A movie inspired by a then unpublished novel, directed by a relative rookie, to be shot at sea (uncharted waters in those days, pun intended). It’s the one downside to the wonderful party that’s the Jaws 50th Anniversary, yet it’s as repeatable as it is lamentable.

But let’s get back to the happier aspects, the best bit being the eclectic mix of age groups in attendance. There were those who’d seen it in the cinema back in the day, those who’ve been fans for years but never had the chance to do so, plus those of an even younger vintage who were simply curious, or had been persuaded by their parents to come and give it a go.

Which is the real joy about Jaws and other classics that can have this affect on people. If studios stood up and took notice, then imagine what new gems we’d enjoy and how the health of cinemas would be restored – that really would be something to celebrate.