Jaws

Last night, I didn't take time off to just see Rocket Science. That would have been silly of me. My real reason for heading up to Salt Lake was the Tower theatre's midnight screening of Jaws.

This was a religious experience.

I love the film Jaws, I've listed as one of my top 10 favorite films for a very long time now. The film-making is top notch, the acting is amazing and there really just isn't a bad moment in the film. It's arguably Spielberg's best and it is truly a perfect 10.

It's equally funny and scary, equally warm but tense.

It's everything a thrilling film like that should be.

And to see it on a 35mm print at a classic old movie palace is a treat that I'll treasure for a long time.

The thing that blew me away the most was the sound. This was an original print with stereo sound. I can see where all of the fancy-schmancy 5.1 surround ex sound might help a movie, but a movie as solid as Jaws just didn't need the extra help. It stood on its own and the sound design was still a homerun. Even in "just" stereo, you felt like the shark was constantly right behind you. Granted, the John Williams music had a lot to do with it, but even when there was no music the sound was still designed so well that it was literally breathtaking.

There need to be more retrospective film events like this with original prints. Replicating the original experience is a fascinating thing to do.

So, I guess the lesson learned with this film is that it doesn't matter what kind of technology you're working with to make your film as long as you have a great film, it will shine through.