The Shark is Still Working Review Score: 10/10 | Date Posted: May 19th 2007 In: DVD Reviews Directed by: Erik Hollander Released by: Not yet released The Shark is Still Working Review by Michael Simpson| HNR Staff Writer Any Jaws fan who has not already done so, should immediately write to the major DVD distributors and urge them to release The Shark is Still Working. This documentary is a wonderful fans'-eye view of the story behind one of the most admired American movies of all time. The Shark is Still Working (a.k.a. TSISW) is a three-hour-plus look at the making of Steven Spielberg's classic 1975 film and at its impact and legacy. It was produced by a group of self-confessed Jaws fanatics that includes Jake Gove, webmaster of JAWSmovie.com, J. Michael Roddy, a producer and the creative director for JAWSFest '05, and Jaws prop collector Erik Hollander. Hollander also directed the TSISW. The dedication of these people to Jaws is evident from the range and depth of material they cover and the professional way this documentary is put together. The preview copy of the film that was sent to HNR came on two discs. Disc One begins with archive scenes from the making of Jaws, accompanied by a recording of someone on a walkie-talkie repeating the words that brought anguish to Spielberg's cast and crew and inspired the title of this documentary,… "The shark is not working." The mechanical shark, Bruce, was infamous for frequently delaying the production of Jaws. It is stories of these hiccups and other aspects of the making of the movie that feature first in TSISW. Much of the material in the early part of TSISW is likely to be familiar to Jaws fans because it echoes the content of previous documentaries. Wisely, the makers of TSISW don't dwell too long on what has been done elsewhere. Instead, they quickly move on to look at other aspects of the production, including the trailer, the music and the creation and exploitation of the iconic movie poster. The Shark is Still Working includes interviews with a host of people involved in Jaws, including Spielberg, Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Scheider (who also narrates the documentary), Lorraine Gary, Carl Gottlieb, Bill Butler, Susan Backlinie, Jeffrey Kramer, Joe Alves, Roy Arbogast, Jay Mello, John Williams, Roger Kastel, Jeffrey Voorhees, Percy Rodrigues, Richard Zanuck and David Brown. There are also comments from other noted filmmakers, such as Greg Nicotero, Tom Savini, Bryan Singer, Robert Rodriguez, Eli Roth, Kevin Smith, Eduardo Sánchez, Chris Kentis and Laurent Bouzereau. The now sadly-deceased writer of Jaws, Peter Benchley, appears, too, discussing the origins of the story and the environmental work he did as a result of it. Two contrasting impacts of Jaws are shown in TSISW. There some people who say that the film made them scared to go in the water and others who were inspired by it to become marine biologists. In one particularly enjoyable anecdote, Spielberg describes an occasion where he was berated by a frustrated mother whose child wouldn't go in the sea after his father had allowed him to watch Jaws. Another sequence relates a case of life imitating art when a real great white shark swam close to Martha's Vineyard, where Jaws was filmed. The first disc of TSISW also notes the movie rip-offs of Jaws and the merchandising and summer blockbuster revolutions that it helped to start. It ends with footage from JAWSFest '05, an event in Martha's Vineyard that gave Jaws fans a chance to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the film. Some critics have said that the JAWSFest scenes are the weak point in TSISW, but I found them to be some of the most enjoyable segments. They show the extent of the affection the public has for Jaws and allow fans to express their love for the film. It is a pleasure to see their enthusiasm. The JAWSFest scenes continue onto Disc Two and neatly segue into an introduction to some of the residents of Martha's Vineyard who were hired for roles in the film. On the second disc the documentary also takes viewers on a tour of locations used in Jaws, visits the Jaws theme park attraction, examines the fate of Bruce, and features avid prop collectors who have scoured the earth looking for Jaws memorabilia. The Shark is Still Working ends with a look at the many parodies of Jaws and final comments from some of the documentary's many contributors. Considering the wealth of material in TSISW, the people who took part and the obvious dedication of its makers, it is hard to believe that this is an independent movie in search of a distributor. The Shark is Still Working should be the model for future documentary celebrations of great movies and deserves to be released for that reason alone. Fans of Jaws and anyone interested in movie making and movie history should need no convincing to buy it if they can. Some people might consider that three hours is a bit much, but this documentary need not be watched in one go. The filmmakers were right to break it across two separately themed discs (The Impact on Disc One and The Legacy on Disc Two) that can be viewed on different occasions. Personally, as a fan of Jaws myself, I could have watched more. There is little in TSISW about the film's sequels, for instance. That is no discredit to the documentary, however, which is every bit as commendable as its subject. More information on The Shark is Still Working can be found on the official website here.

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