I’ve been a diehard JAWS fanatic since the film debuted in 1975. I saw it umpteen times in the theater back then and since it’s been available on VHS/DVD, fuggedaboutit (yo, Universal, where the hell is the blu-ray?). I’ve easily seen the movie 50 times and never get tired of it, so I was pretty psyched when spying a copy of Matt Taylor’s JAWS: Memories from Martha’s Vineyard on the bookroom shelf.

Unlike Carl Gottlieb’s wonderful The Jaws Log, this offers reflections from the Martha’s Vineyard residents who were hired to work on the production doing everything from acting to building sets. Except for the handful of lead roles, all the minor parts were played by locals, many of whom had little, or in most cases, no acting experience. The then fledgling director Steven Spielberg wanted the film to have an authentic feel to it, so dozens of roles went to residents.

The book is chock full of anecdotes and is bursting with more than 1000 pix shot by residents that have never been seen before. If you’re a JAWS nut, then you’re going to need a bigger book shelf, because this behind-the-scenes beauty is an absolute must have. I’ve got the paperback edition, but there’s also a killer deluxe boxed Limited Edition hardcover with a DVD containing 8mm behind -the-scenes footage of the JAWS production, which was shot and narrated by Islander Carol Fligor, plus a 1″x1″ piece of the fiberglass hull of the Orca II (a.k.a., sinking Orca) used in the movie with a note of authenticity from owners Lynn and Susan Murphy (how freaking cool is that!). For $250, you get the book, the disc, the whole damn thing. Or, you could bid farewell and adieu to $50 for the paperback,

 Soak up these pix and a check out the book’s website.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 26th, 2011 at 11:33 am and is filed under News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.