Jaws: 50th Anniversary Edition arrived on 4K Ultra HD and in a Limited Edition SteelBook as the celebrations kicked off for the 50th anniversary. The film was previously released on 4K UHD ahead of the 45th anniversary of the Steven Spielberg film in 2020.

The home video release includes a new documentary from Laurent Bouzereau, Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story. The film offers a brand-new look at the making and legacy of the film. It comes from National Geographic, in partnership with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Documentaries, Nedland Media, and Wendy Benchley. If you’ve previously redeemed a digital code from a prior edition, the documentary was added to the bonus supplements on MoviesAnywhere as of June 17.

Overall, both the disc and digital editions include over five hours of bonus features with an inside look at the making of the film, deleted scenes, original on-set footage, and much more! JAWS will also be available in an all-new limited edition SteelBook with never-before-seen artwork.

If watching the film on 4K isn’t enough for fans, NBC will have a three-hour airing of the film on June 20, starting at 8 PM ET/PT and featuring an introduction from Steven Spielberg. Additionally, the film–joined by its sequels–began streaming June 15 on Peacock and will be available through July 14.

Additionally, Major League Baseball is also getting in on the action with a series of in-stadium activations in partnership with NBCUniversal. The San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees, and Philadelphia Phillies will host themed home games featuring custom scoreboard content, exclusive fan giveaways, and more.

If all of this isn’t enough, fans can check out a new exhibition at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures when it opens this September.

What follows is my original review of the quintessential American blockbuster:

With one of the most iconic scores in all of cinematic history, an innocent swimmer, Chrissie Watkins (Susan Backlinie), getting attacked by a shark would change the beach forever. Police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) had the right idea to close the beaches following Chrissie’s autopsy. However, Amity mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) re-opens the beach out of fear of losing money.

In one fell swoop the town’s mayor has doomed his entire city. Any one person at any moment could be attacked by a shark and left for dead. All because Vaughn doesn’t want the economy to fail. Sound familiar? It’s not until another shark attack happens that the town is in chaos. With a bounty placed on the shark, Quint (Robert Shaw) offers his services while oceanographer Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) finds himself involved shortly thereafter.

Brody and Hooper work together well but Quint seems to have his own ideas. Quint gets the crazy idea to bash a radio that could very well save their lives. Like, really?!? Why would you do such a thing?!? Everyone has to work together to kill the shark. Brody may be the one that ultimately gets the job done but it was an uphill battle to say the least.

It may be hard to believe that director Steven Spielberg wanted to leave the project before it even started. Who could blame him for not wanting to be typecast at the time? Maybe he foresaw what would eventually happen on set? In any event, Spielberg stuck with it. Despite all the horror that surrounded the making of Jaws, the film would change the game. The horror was so much that the film was known by Flaws on set.  Anything that could go wrong did go wrong.

When it came to how he framed and presented the shark, Spielberg appears to have gone for the Alfred Hitchcock thriller approach. The less we see the better. When we do finally see the shark, it’s clearly an animatronic. If it were a film being made years later, Spielberg would probably opt for CGI and make it a scarier animal. For the technology that was allowed at the time, Spielberg made the best possible film that he could at the time.

Can you imagine a time when blockbuster films were not heavy on special effects? You’ll have to take a time machine back to 1975. I know that it’s crazy but it’s definitely true. Without Jaws, we wouldn’t have a lot of films. Well, we might have them but they would not be marketed the same way. This is because Jaws was a game changer when it comes to American blockbusters. Nobody could have ever thought this to be the case when the film opened in theaters.

The summer blockbuster led to innovations in water photography from cinematographer Bill Butler. Instead of using a camera that ways nearly 500 pounds, it was Butler’s idea to use a handheld camera. Without Butler, the surface and underwater shots would certainly not be the same. John Williams’ iconic score only adds to the suspense in viewing.

BONUS FEATURES ON 4K ULTRA HD, BLU-RAY, AND DIGITAL

• JAWS @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story – Steven Spielberg shares an authorized look inside the story of JAWS in this documentary. From Peter Benchley’s epic novel to Spielberg’s film, JAWS continues to influence pop culture, cinema and shark conservation. With interviews from Hollywood’s most influential directors and shark scientists, the legend of JAWS is endless.
• Deleted Scenes and Outtakes – Over 13 minutes of content
• The Making of JAWS – An insider look into the making of this classic film, this original full-length documentary is filled with exhaustive cast and crew interviews, archival footage, outtakes, and much more!
• JAWS: The Restoration – An in-depth look at the intricate process of restoring the movie.
• The Shark is Still Working: The Impact and Legacy of JAWS – A fan-made documentary that focuses on the many ways JAWS has helped shape elements of pop culture and influence a generation of filmmakers.
• JAWS Archives
  • Storyboards
  • Production Photos
  • Marketing JAWS
  • JAWS Phenomenon
• From the Set – Available on Disc only
• Theatrical Trailer

DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg
SCREENWRITERS: Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb
CAST: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton

Universal Pictures released Jaws in theaters on June 20, 1975.

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