Jaws The Sharksploitation Edit

July 22, 2009

Eric Clapton tells this story about the first time he saw a young American guitarist at a club one night by the name of Jimi Hendrix. The next day, he phones up Pete Townshend and asks him if he’d like to get a bite to eat. They meet and sit down at a table. Eric looks at Pete and says “I just saw a kid who’s going to put the rest of us out of business”.

Now I know how Clapton felt. This is nothing short of genius. 10/10, easily. And the only other perfect score I’ve given is for Star Wars: Revisited, so you’re in some pretty decent company. I can’t say much without repeating what everyone else has said, but I absolutely howled when Warriors of the World kicked in. Manowar is one of my guilty pleasures and I loved that scene. The ending was just brilliant.

This really is what fan editing is all about and shows you just what’s possible when high levels of creativity and technical skill meet. For me at least, this is the early front runner for Fanedit of the Year.

Can’t wait for your next edit.

July 26, 2009

No technical review is warranted (although it is very professionally authored) as this is edit is just simply a ton of fun.

It’s kind of like…you know how on the internet, everywhere you turn is some little parody edit of a film?
They tend to have a twist on the material with usually just the one joke at the end? This edit is like that, writ large. That sensibility, splashed across the canvas of Spielberg’s Jaws.
A great idea coupled with a wicked sense of humor makes this a must see.

Is everything perfect? Nope. Do I care? Hell no. It’s just too much fun.

Hat’s off to you, TMBTM. An excellent release.

July 26, 2009

This was an incredible edit! You really show how creativity can go a long, long way.
I love the music you added lol; the funky Jaws theme was used very well throughout.

Also, I don’t think ANYONE saw that ending coming.

You, sir, TMBTM, are an incredible faneditor, and I’m really looking forward to your next release.

10/10
:)

August 6, 2009

I watched this last night with my wife and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. The ending was absolutely perfect and 12 hours later, it’s all I can think about. The whole movie is alot of fun and I just can’t find fault with it. Though I haven’t really tried to be honest. After watching this movie, you wont be trying to find fault with it, you’ll just be happy and satisfied. HOW LONG has it been since you finished a movie and felt happy and satisfied? Thanks TMBTM sir. Excellent. 10/10.

October 15, 2009

Wow. This is a first for me. Normally I go after Fanedits of films I thought came close to greatness (or sometimes goodness) that could benefit from a little extra work. This morning I watched Terminator 3 The Coming Storm and gave my first 10/10 for the vast improvements it made over the original. But even that left a film that wasn’t great, just much better than the original.

Jaws was never a film that needed reworking. It is not a film that needs any sort of recommendation. Despite those two very important factors this is the only Fanedit I would actually give to somebody and say “Watch this. You have to watch this”! A radically different film despite the fact that on the whole it consists of the same footage and plot and doesn’t drastically alter the story.

Spielberg makes great films because he understands the language of cinema. He is a master of the B-movie and gets to make them with ridiculous budgets (so it’s a shame he hasn’t made one in a while).

The Man Behind The Mask also understands the language of cinema and has taken Spielberg’s highly polished B-movie and made it look like it probably would have without the studio budget, cobbling together material from other sources to bolster the film in a way that is totally consistent with the feel of the film (the list of sources boggles my mind). The lame shark effects actually work better in this version because of what TMBTM was aiming for. Sod showing a copy of this to Spielberg because he’s already made a masterful shark movie. Someone should show it to Quentin Tarantino so that he’ll know what Grindhouse should have been and why Death Proof was such a lame turd (loved Planet Terror though, which shares many similarities with this cut).

Two minor gripes – first, the scratching effect is overused IMHO. I loved the graininess of the footage and the blur that crept in from time to time, but the artificial artefacts and scratches were so crisp that they just looked false and forced. Kinda brought me out of the film a little. The other gripe is the use of the “missing reel” gimmick. The flow of the film suggests there’s only one scene missing, which isn’t much for a single reel (not too big a problem though).

Without wanting to give anything away I feel that the alternative “surfer girl” scene on the bonus material is the better of the two and will hopefully be included in a future release.

As it stands, I will be wasting no time in burning this to disk and handing it about to all my mates (who already own a copy of the original, of course) so that they can experience the sheer delight of this new cut of the film. I honestly can’t wait for the next Fanedit (or Faneditor) to try something so bold.