Monday Movie Moments: Jaws

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. There are great movies, and then there are great scenes. Ideally, the two come as a package deal, but sometimes there’s just a scene that’s memorable all by itself. Each week, I’ll be taking a look at a formative movie moment that may be notable for its style, content, technique, or something else altogether. Minor spoilers will be alluded to in each edition of the series, so please stop reading if you’ve somehow avoided seeing the movie in question.

This is a scene that everyone knows, even those that haven’t seen the film. Most probably remember it best from the way it’s parodied in a clever commercial for Hostess Cupcakes. Like last week, this is another Steven Spielberg-John Williams collaboration, featuring another classic Williams score, this one the edgier and more frightening beat that precedes the shark’s deadly attack on an unsuspecting woman enjoying the water and resulting in her blood terrifying all of the eager swimmers at the beach. Watching police chief Martin Brody’s face is perhaps the best part, as he anticipates an attack earlier only to have it revealed as a false alarm, and then fails to stop another person from dying before his beach is closed down. The film contains a handful of other memorable moments, like “You’re gonna need a bigger boat,” but this is hands down the most significant and recognizable.