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Rating: 
Summary: Just when you thought it was safe . . .
Review: . . . for the film's 25th anniversary comes this wonderful book about my favorite movie of all time. The author has done a marvelous job of assembling his material and covers every facet of the picture from pre-production (did Spielberg actually consider saying no to the film that truly launched his career?) to the exciting phenomenom the movie created. Although some of the book rehashes the old stories from Gottlieb's 'The Jaws Log' and the great documentary that accompanied the recent laserdisc special edition, there are pearls here that will make the 'Jaws' fan in your life . . . or you, if you are as obsessed as I am . . . giddy with joy.
Rating: 
Summary: Rip off? Yes!
Review: A pedestrian rehash of existing materials, and no mention of THE JAWS LOG (soon to be reissued by Newmarket Press!), which is the source of much of Mr. Andrews' lightweight book. It's full of dialogue errors, misreadings of the film, and lots of chatty disinformation. In all, a disappointing package. Some nice art, an excellent cover, and slickly published, but on the whole, not worth the money.
Rating:
Summary: This book is an embarrassment
Review: I eagerly bought this book the moment I saw it. The cover--front & back--is marvelous, and though it's outrageously (I'd even say snobbishly) priced, Jaws is my favorite film and I believe there isn't enough solid criticism on 70's cinema. So, I scooped it up. Pretty quickly I was ashamed. Mr. Andrews style renders trite his frequently astute observations, and he frequently lacked follow-through. For example, his section entitled "Ben Gardner's Head: the Untold Story" (pg. 99) hardly provides exactly that; instead, he merely poses the same questions my associates and I have been asking for 25 years, ending with another one of his 'jokes'--"Ben Gardner: The Movie". For this I paid 14.35? Worst of all, the fact that renders this book 'defective': 10 mis-quotes in 9 pages! (These happen from pages 71 to 79.) Did he write this book out of memory? Perhaps two of Jaws's most famous lines--"You're gonna need a bigger boat." and "For that you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing"--are incorrect as well as some sloppy oversights. An intern and a VCR for a half hour's work could have saved Mr. Andrew's and the whole Bloomsbury Film Guide series from being a disreputible waste of time. Just because this is a 'Film Guide' doesn't free them from the fundamentals of journalism, in this case accuracy. If you've already fallen prey the way I did, I suggest you mail the damn book back. I did, with these complaints, only to be refused. If more people try, perhaps the second printing will relfect the negative attention and have corrections. I just want a comapny to assume responsibility for their product even if it is just popular culture sociology.
Rating:
Summary: This book is an embarrassment
Review: I eagerly bought this book the moment I saw it. The cover--front & back--is marvelous, and though it's outrageously (I'd even say snobbishly) priced, Jaws is my favorite film and I believe there isn't enough solid criticism on 70's cinema. So, I scooped it up. Pretty quickly I was ashamed. Mr. Andrews style renders trite his frequently astute observations, and he frequently lacked follow-through. For example, his section entitled "Ben Gardner's Head: the Untold Story" (pg. 99) hardly provides exactly that; instead, he merely poses the same questions my associates and I have been asking for 25 years, ending with another one of his 'jokes'--"Ben Gardner: The Movie". For this I paid 14.35? Worst of all, the fact that renders this book 'defective': 10 mis-quotes in 9 pages! (These happen from pages 71 to 79.) Did he write this book out of memory? Perhaps two of Jaws's most famous lines--"You're gonna need a bigger boat." and "For that you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing"--are incorrect as well as some sloppy oversights. An intern and a VCR for a half hour's work could have saved Mr. Andrew's and the whole Bloomsbury Film Guide series from being a disreputible waste of time. Just because this is a 'Film Guide' doesn't free them from the fundamentals of journalism, in this case accuracy. If you've already fallen prey the way I did, I suggest you mail the damn book back. I did, with these complaints, only to be refused. If more people try, perhaps the second printing will relfect the negative attention and have corrections. I just want a comapny to assume responsibility for their product even if it is just popular culture sociology.
Rating: 
Summary: A must read for "Jaws" film fanatics
Review: Terrific read especially if you need to know the nitty gritty during the filming. "Jaws" is a classic film but making it was sheer hell. All the details of the filming are contained in this book. If you have been lucky enough to visit Marthas Vineyard you can match the locations mentioned in the book. (The good news is that very little has changed - you will get that "Jaws" feeling when sitting on State beach or standing at the dock). There some good photos and break down of characters etc.
All in all a must for all movie fans.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for "Jaws" film fanatics
Review: Terrific read especially if you need to know the nitty gritty during the filming. "Jaws" is a classic film but making it was sheer hell. All the details of the filming are contained in this book. If you have been lucky enough to visit Marthas Vineyard you can match the locations mentioned in the book. (The good news is that very little has changed - you will get that "Jaws" feeling when sitting on State beach or standing at the dock). There some good photos and break down of characters etc.
All in all a must for all movie fans.
Rating: 
Summary: Book on Jaws
Review: The Bloomsbury Pocket Movie Guide series is an excellent series that dissects famous movies from beginning to end. Jaws is a brilliant movie that launched the career of Steven Spielberg and it is nice to see it get this type of treatment. The book contains many interesting anecdotes and behind the scenes stories. The book suffers from author Nigel Andrews numerous misquotes and mistakes that are blatantly obvious and inexcusable. But, if you can get around those errors and you are a big fan of the film, then this book will ultimately prove to be entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Book on Jaws
Review: The Bloomsbury Pocket Movie Guide series is an excellent series that dissects famous movies from beginning to end. Jaws is a brilliant movie that launched the career of Steven Spielberg and it is nice to see it get this type of treatment. The book contains many interesting anecdotes and behind the scenes stories. The book suffers from author Nigel Andrews numerous misquotes and mistakes that are blatantly obvious and inexcusable. But, if you can get around those errors and you are a big fan of the film, then this book will ultimately prove to be entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Rip off? Yes!
Review: This is one of the most disappointing movie books I have ever read. The author rehashes the same old stories without adding anything new of any real value. If you've read the books that came out in the mid-70's on the making of Jaws, then you definitely don't need this book. The number of errors is astounding for a professionally published book; most of the lines from the movie that he quotes he gets wrong (and it's a "land shark," not a "ground shark" in Saturday Night Live's famous parody). At one point, he sets up an analogy that even a ten-year-old could see doesn't work: behavioural scientists are like Chinese food because "soon after inventing one, you want to invent another." Neither scientists nor chinese food invent one another. I read the whole thing because I was stuck in an airport, but I'm throwing it away now. If you really must read it, use the library.
Rating:
Summary: Don't bite
Review: This is one of the most disappointing movie books I have ever read. The author rehashes the same old stories without adding anything new of any real value. If you've read the books that came out in the mid-70's on the making of Jaws, then you definitely don't need this book. The number of errors is astounding for a professionally published book; most of the lines from the movie that he quotes he gets wrong (and it's a "land shark," not a "ground shark" in Saturday Night Live's famous parody). At one point, he sets up an analogy that even a ten-year-old could see doesn't work: behavioural scientists are like Chinese food because "soon after inventing one, you want to invent another." Neither scientists nor chinese food invent one another. I read the whole thing because I was stuck in an airport, but I'm throwing it away now. If you really must read it, use the library.
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