Based on Peter Benchley's best-selling novel, Steven
Spielberg's 1975 shark saga set the standard for the New Hollywood popcorn
blockbuster while frightening millions of moviegoers out of the water. One
early summer night on fictional Atlantic resort Amity Island, Chrissie decides
to take a moonlight skinny dip while her friends party on the beach. Yanked
suddenly below the ocean surface, she never returns. When pieces of her wash
ashore, Police Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) suspects the worst, but Mayor Vaughn
(Murray Hamilton), mindful of the lucrative tourist trade and the approaching
July 4th holiday, refuses to put the island on a business-killing shark alert.
After the shark dines on a few more victims, the Mayor orders the local
fishermen to catch the culprit. Satisfied with the shark they find, the greedy
Mayor reopens the beaches, despite the warning from visiting ichthyologist
Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) that the attacks were probably caused by a far more
formidable Great White. One more fatality later, Brody and Hooper join forces
with flinty old salt Quint (Robert Shaw), the only local fisherman willing to
take on a Great White--especially since the price is right. The three ride off
on Quint's boat "The Orca," soon coming face to teeth with the enemy.