I find it odd that one of the best and most important movies of all time never seems to get the respect it deserves. It spawned sequels and knock-offs, launched the careers of not just Steven Spielberg but John Williams, invented the “summer blockbuster”, and even gave rise to “Shark Week”. Get people talking about it, and they’ll soon agree it’s one of the greatest movies ever – or should at least be in the discussion. But come back to them the next day, and ask them to make a list of the Greatest Movies Ever…….

I think there are a couple of reasons for this neglect.

1. No major stars. Sure, the main cast are all fine and talented actors. But has anyone ever said “Hey, let’s go check out that new Roy Scheider movie!”? There’s no one on the order of a Cary Grant or Meryl Streep that will get people to watch it no matter how mediocre the actual movie.

2. The knock-offs. There were so many, many crappy movies that stole the central concept (creature attacking small town, local person in charge ignores the danger for “reasons”, small group of heroes has to go and kill it) that I’m going to say that people lost sight of just how good the source is. Are there “knock-offs” of Citizen Kane? The Godfather? Vertigo? Nope. So they stand alone in the popular imagination. Jaws gets lumped in with – and dragged down by – all the drek that came after it.

3. Hollywood (i.e. the entire “critical” and scholarly establishment) hates horror. Go check out some lists of great movies. I guarantee that you won’t find anything that could be called a “horror movie” in there. Dramas, epics, thrillers, a comedy or two – but a scary movie? No way. It doesn’t help that Jaws isn’t as “scary” as your typical horror flick. It’s got enough of the elements for a horror movie, but blood and gore are minimal. And it doesn’t even fit into any of the basic categories of “horror”. Is it a monster movie? A slasher flick? Gothic or psychological horror? Heck you can even make a (small) case that it’s a “buddy cop” pic!

So this summer (or any time, actually), give it another look.

And maybe move it up a couple of spots on your list of Great Movies.