Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story

With all the wannabe JAWS docs emerging this 50th year since it hit theaters, it's good to know the true one has finally surfaced, JAWS @50: THE DEFINITIVE INSIDE STORY.

Packed with new interviews with Steven Spielberg, Richard Dreyfuss and the crew behind the film, it's a fresh haul of new details and perspective on the creation of the first true summer blockbuster to be released in thousands of theaters.

Any film buff who collected Laserdiscs and Criterion discs of all formats knows the name Laurent Bouzereau. He's been creating the best "Making Of" documentaries for films for decades.

His five decade relationship with Spielberg gets the director to open up about the stress of making JAWS with a frankness he's never expressed.

This truly was the shoot from hell for the young director and his crew.

Fresh off making "Duel" for ABC, one of the most impressive Made for TV Movies ever and "Sugarland Express" with Goldie Hawn, Spielberg insisted on filming JAWS off the New England coast on open water. It was a bold move for a young director on his second big screen film, but it clearly paid off on screen.

Cameron Crowe, JJ Abrams, James Cameron and Jordan Peele are but a few of the American Directors who offer their perspective on the film and its impact on them. Watching Spielberg maintain control during the five month shoot is impressive.

An enjoyable blend of scenes from the film, never-before-seen archive footage and clips from numerous features over the decades, this National Geographic doc is a lot of fun for movie fanatics and Jaws fans.

It's also packed with fascinating information on the impact of the classic thriller on the globe since 1975. I remembers seeing the film with my Mom, Sister and best friend at the Round Up Drive-In in Scottsdale opening weekend.

Of course, I saw it again many times in the theater that summer and fall, when the world revolved around JAWS on every wavelength. The film brought back great memories of the first season of Saturday Night Live, with Chevy Chase's "Landshark" knocking on doors and biting anyone dumb enough to answer. It's senseless, hilarious and just a taste of the memories I have of JAWS being across the zeitgeist that year.

From the poster art to the 1975 marquees, Bouzereau takes you on a high seas adventure across five decades of Jaws lore. I LOVED the stories about Robert Shaw and Roy Scheider that are shared by their children.

Janet Maslin talking about when she and Steven went down to the Rvoli theater in NYC to see if anyone was there and finding a line around the block is fantastic.

Watching this doc has inspired me to see JAWS again on the big screen when it's re-released in IMAX this August.

Can't wait to hear those opening notes of John WIlliams brilliant score as we glide through the ocean.....duuuhhhh-dum, duuuhhh-dum.

Yes please.

JAWS@50 gets an A.