--- description: The movie was released on June 20, 1975 title: Read TIME's Original Review of 'Jaws' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03cb39fa44c59cf7/69885175e20a877c7aa8b7f5/1101750623_400.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Read What TIME Thought of _Jaws_ in 1975 ## Video: 100 Years of Blockbusters in 5 Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): 100 Years of Blockbusters in 5 Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tfrXo5zL.m3u8) (5:21)  _Published 2014-02-12. Time has taken the highest grossing film each year for the past century and crammed them into 5 and a half minutes. No Intermission._  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jun 19, 2015 1:30 PM CUT  The June 23, 1975, cover of TIME The June 23, 1975, cover of TIMETIME  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jun 19, 2015 1:30 PM CUT Shortly after the movie _Jaws_ was released 40 years ago this weekend, TIME declared in a cover story that it was “a case study in the recklessness, stubbornness, blindness and bravado that go into a Hollywood superproduction.” The making of the Steven Spielberg classic involved five separate scripts, the final one of which continued to be written even as filming got underway, skeptical residents of Martha’s Vineyard wary of the film crew shooting there, and the stink of rotting shark carcasses permeating the set. And yet, as the story made clear, the whole thing worked: --- > “” --- **_Read the full story here in the TIME Vault:_** [Summer of the Shark](http://time.com/vault/issue/1975-06-23/page/50/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3894762/jaws-1975-review/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3894762/jaws-1975-review/"},"headline":"Read What TIME Thought of Jaws in 1975","datePublished":"2015-06-19T13:30:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:34:56.739Z","description":"'Jaws is an efficient entertainment machine'","url":"https://time.com/3894762/jaws-1975-review/","keywords":["movies","Sharks"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03cb39fa44c59cf7/69885175e20a877c7aa8b7f5/1101750623_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03cb39fa44c59cf7/69885175e20a877c7aa8b7f5/1101750623_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The June 23, 1975, cover of TIME","caption":"The June 23, 1975, cover of TIME","creditText":"TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3894762/jaws-1975-review/","name":"Read What TIME Thought of Jaws in 1975"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"100 Years of Blockbusters in 5 Minutes","description":"Time has taken the highest grossing film each year for the past century and crammed them into 5 and a half minutes. No Intermission.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/tfrXo5zL/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-02-12T15:57:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tfrXo5zL.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3894762/jaws-1975-review/","duration":"PT5M21S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3894762/jaws-1975-review/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```