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Film · Spielberg vs. Spielberg · Take No. 023

Jaws or Jurassic Park?

The shark that invented the summer blockbuster against the dinosaurs that invented the modern one. Same director, eighteen years apart, both about something big with teeth.

The case for each side, then the verdict. Then the floor is yours.
The case for

Jaws (1975)

Spielberg · Amity Island · one broken shark

  • 1stFilm to pass $100 million at the US box office. The summer blockbuster starts on this release date.
  • 3Oscars, including the score: two notes that everyone on earth can hum.
  • 1Mechanical shark that kept breaking, forcing Spielberg to hide it. The best filmmaking accident ever.
vs
The case for

Jurassic Park (1993)

Spielberg · Isla Nublar · the T. rex

  • No. 1Highest-grossing film of all time on release, with over $900 million worldwide.
  • 6 minOf computer-generated dinosaur footage in the whole film. It changed effects forever with six minutes.
  • 3Oscars, all for the technical craft, and the T. rex still looks better than most things made last year.

Cast your take

——
The verdict

It's Jaws. Jurassic Park changed how films look; Jaws changed what films are.

Jurassic Park is a miracle of craft, and the trick of blending animatronics with early CGI is why its effects have aged better than anything from the decade after. The kitchen scene alone is a masterclass.

But Jaws is the better film: tighter, funnier, scarier, with three of the best-drawn characters in American cinema on one boat. It also works with the monster hidden, which is the whole lesson of suspense. Jaws.

Disagree? That's what the buttons are for.

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