Jaws on Home Video

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by svoegtlin, Apr 4, 2017.

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  1. svoegtlin

    svoegtlin Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Milton, NH, USA
    Jaws.. Perhaps the greatest of all summer blockbusters.. A film that I've personally watched and re-watched a million times. I noticed recently that I did not have it in my home video library.. In any format.

    My question to you Hoffman-ites, which iteration of Jaws do you own? What's your favorite go-to home video version of Jaws (notice I didn't say best looking or sounding)?
     
  2. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
  3. Thievius

    Thievius Blue Oyster Cult-ist

    Location:
    Syracuse, NY
    If you have blu-ray, go blu. Its not bad on Dvd, but the blu's are cheap anyway. I don't believe any of the blu-ray iterations have different masterings iirc.
     
  4. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    The blu-ray is perfect. Ironically I just watched it again for the first time in a couple years last night.

    Previous to that I had the DTS-DVD version, the one that didn't have the mono soundtrack as an option. It was good at the time but the blu-ray is a great improvement.
     
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  5. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man


    I probably had it on VHS tape, though taped off the TV. Then I had the DVD for years. I sold my DVD when the new blu-ray came out. It looks absolutely fantastic now. I also have it on the VUDU so I can stream it whenever I get the urge, which is like once a week. I never tire of it.

    I finally got the "Tales From Martha's Vineyard" book for Christmas. What an amazing document. A must own for any fan.

    I also have the Funko Jaws action figures. And both versions of the shark (with and without bloody Quint).

    It's no wonder Cape Cod is my vacation spot of choice. "Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies....."
     
  6. Quadboy

    Quadboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Leeds,England
    I see from your review the extras are included.......plus a few more.
    They are quite good.
    Is it a 1 disc version as opposed to the 2 DVD's?
     
  7. The Hud

    The Hud Breath of the Kingdom, Tears of the Wild

    Blu-ray--hands down the winner.
     
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  8. driverdrummer

    driverdrummer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Irmo, SC
    Blu-ray looks wonderful.
     
  9. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Yup! The reviewed copy included a DVD as well, but the current one-disc version replicates the Blu-ray from that set.

    AFAIK, there's only one BD release of the film...
     
  10. amonjamesduul

    amonjamesduul Forum Resident

    Location:
    florida
    My favorite movie of all time,can't it looking any better than the Blu ray.I also got the Tales from Martha's vineyard book when it came out but I splurged for the edition that has a chunk of the Orca in it.
     
  11. budwhite

    budwhite Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.

    Location:
    Götaland, Sverige
    Jaws got a big restoration before the blu-ray release. It looks and sounds wonderful.

    I'm sure that @Vidiot can fill in with some details but I think Jaws was shot on a less than stellar film stock, making it a bit soft and lacking some detail/sharpness?
     
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  12. mBen989

    mBen989 Senior Member

    Location:
    Scranton, PA
    Eastman 5254 stock; I found that on IMDb. ("IMDb: what you do instead of things!")
     
  13. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    No, just the normal Kodak 5254 negative I believe from that era, like hundreds and hundreds of other 1970s films. The style of that decade was to use a lot of diffusion -- Superman and the first Star Wars film have a ton of that -- but it was a deliberate choice by the filmmakers. The most-recent Blu-ray remaster did use 4K scans of the original camera negative, and they did a ton of restoration work on it. I don't agree with all the decisions made: I think some of the night shots are too bright. But Spielberg very definitely supervised and approved the look, and it was all done on the Universal lot by Universal Digital Video Services (about 4 blocks down the road from Spielberg's HQ).
     
  14. svoegtlin

    svoegtlin Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Milton, NH, USA
    Is there any reason to get a legacy format like LD or Betamax? Regardless of format, it seems pretty cheap to purchase multiple editions.. I would consider a double dip if there was a decent reason to.
     
  15. captainsolo

    captainsolo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Murfreesboro, TN
    My favorite is the big CAV Laserdisc set for the pcm mono, the origin of the wonderful long making of doc, and the bundled CD and novel.

    I agree that there are a few shots on the BD I don't quite agree with but the new scan is leaps and bounds ahead of what was previously available.
     
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  16. peopleareleaving

    peopleareleaving Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
  17. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man

    JeffreyB, D-rock and peopleareleaving like this.
  18. peopleareleaving

    peopleareleaving Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    It does look incredible ! Thanks
     
  19. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    The new 5.1 mix has some revisions compared to the original mono. I can't remember if they provide the original 1975 theatrical mono mix or not.
     
  20. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    The Blu-ray includes a mono mix, but I can't say definitively if it's exactly the same mono audio that accompanied the film in 1975...
     
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  21. budwhite

    budwhite Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.

    Location:
    Götaland, Sverige
    It is and it's pretty damn good, same with Star Wars and The Terminator mono mixes
     
  22. Johnny66

    Johnny66 Laird of Boleskine

    Location:
    Australia.
    Dare I say it, but Jaws 2 also looks terrific on BD. Yes, yes - I know it absolutely pales in comparison to the original, but at its best it's campy fun with a few genuine jump scares along the way. And, unlike some other catalogue titles, the highly entertaining extras (ported over from previous home video releases) happily never pretend the film is anything more than a largely routine, albeit serviceable, sequel.

    I haven't picked up Jaws 3D or Jaws: The Revenge on BD, but that's more due to laziness than actively disliking those films (and we all know there's certainly a lot to dislike about them). Instead, I've been on the lookout for any period Jaws rip-off titles that have made it to BD - such as Tintorera, Devouring Waves , Tentacles, Grizzly, Orca, etc. Anyone know if they have?
     
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  23. Jason Pumphrey

    Jason Pumphrey Forum Resident

    I got the Blu-ray digibook, class A package all the way!
     
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  24. captainsolo

    captainsolo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Murfreesboro, TN
    The BD has the mono mix but it may have been EQd or overscrubbed as the laserdisc sounds better to my ears.
    A great mix of a great film and I absolutely despise the 5.1 remix. The 7.1 is at least more tastefully done but completely unnecessary.
     
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  25. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I was disappointed by the "Jaws 2" transfer - it didn't get much clean-up work, so it comes with too many print flaws:

    Jaws 2 [Blu-Ray] (1978)

    Still a "B-" considering its age, but not a great transfer.

    The movie itself remains a nostalgic favorite. I saw it before I saw the original, all due to age: I was 8 in 1975 and just a little too young for it.

    I LOVED "J2" in 1978 and still thought it was the best of the bunch even when I saw "Jaws" in 1979. "J2" had more action, and that appealed to me as a kid.

    Of course, I eventually realized how much better the story, characters and general filmmaking of "Jaws" were. I can still enjoy "J2" as a reminder of my yoot, but it's not really much of a movie...
     
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