skyjedi2005 said:And while Jaws was a good film it did not stay close to the original novel at all. Spielberg made up the ending as it is not in the book.
for once,
i'm actually going to defend spielberg here.. while peter benchleys novel may be different to
the movie.... in this case i didn't care.. because i never read the book first...
and the movie 'jaws' is one of the reason we actually have summer 'blockbusters', i dont'
know if you were around when it came out, but it singlehandly saved the movie industry
with the idea of putting out a 'popcorn' movie ..
also, the influence of 'jaws' on other films is pretty substantial..
you might be the only critic of the movie i've heard...(and i'm not talking about any
of the crappy sequels for it)..
here's some info on it..
From a personal viewpoint, the film takes you into a world where the book can only dream of going. Benchley’s novel heavily diverts with an affair that does not drive the plot forward. He also ends the drama on a fairly bizarre sentence as if the final pages had been previously ripped out. The main focus of the attacks on the local community is lost until the final stages. Although the way the shark scenes have been written, especially the highly tensed closing stages, are indisputably enthralling, the film takes this, and combined with music, effects and rich storytelling, propels it to a point where Spielberg believes the audience are "screaming and tossing popcorn into the air - some running for the exit."
The only possible reason for Peter Benchley’s on set outburst over the rewritten climax, that led to him being removed from the filming at Martha’s Vineyard, is to hide the fact that he wished he had thought of the idea first. Benchley claims ‘I discovered in the process that books and movies are completely different media… but I liked the book as a book.’ However, nowadays, the book seems very 1970’s and outdated. The novel doesn’t have the lasting effect that will label it ‘timeless’. However, the same cannot be said of the film as you can still stick Jaws into your tape player and feel the same nervous energy intended thirty years ago.
http://www.hackwriters.com/jaws.htm
spielberg did the right thing here..
later
-1