Video Essay Explains Why JAWS Was Lightning in a Bottle and Why It Can’t Happen Again
In his latest video essay, Matt Draper dives deep into the turbulent waters behind Jaws, Steven Spielberg’s 1975 classic that changed movies, how movies are made, and how they are marketed.
The video explores everything from the troubled production (including the now-legendary malfunctioning mechanical shark, Bruce) to the massive cultural ripple effect the film created.
He lays out how Jaws became the first modern blockbuster, not by design but by accident, shaped by limitations that forced Spielberg to innovate turning suspense into art.
The video came with the followin note: “A look back at 50 years of Jaws, revealing the history behind Peter Benchley’s Novel, Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster film, the many bad sequels, and the stories behind some of the most influential movies ever and their impact on both film and the world.”
Draper also argues that the success of Jaws is impossible to replicate. The industry today is too controlled, too polished, too risk-averse to allow the kind of chaos that forged this movie’s legacy.