Twice Bitten: Jaws on CD and DVD

by John Takis

I finally made it to the local video/music store, returning with all two items on my list: the newly restored JAWS DVD and the brand-spanking new CD edition of Williams' complete score. I was, in turn, thrilled, intrigued, and freshly enthused. And while not every element brought complete satisfaction, I was able to make up the difference. For instance: keep reading if you want tips on how to create your own, SUPERIOR score CD. (Yes, I know, teasers are cruel. Just a little incentive to help you reach the end. Or at least let you know there's something worth skipping to.)

First, a few notes on the DVD: the presentation is absolutely spectacular, and the generous amount of extras is to be admired - very much like Universal's Collectors Edition DVD of "1941." Still, fantastic as its picture/sound/supplementals may be, I had a few minor quibbles with this release. Why, for one thing, was an isolated score not included as an option, especially when they'd just remastered the music tracks? (Possibly, even probably, it was the concern that fans purchasing a DVD with an iso-score wouldn't bother ALSO purchasing the newly complete soundtrack release - a valid concern, in this instance, as that's probably what I would have done.) Still, I have fond memories of Williams' farewell concert with the BPO, where they showed the chilling "the shark revealed" scene (still the most effective scene in the movie - and the best use of Williams' music, in my opinion, as he first introduces us to his sweeping, goosebump-inducing "In awe of the big whompin' shark!" motif) first without music, then with. It would have been fascinating, as always, to study an isolated score track.

In addition, a few other aspects of the DVD fell short for me. "Shark World," for example, I expected to be a full-fledged and full-video "mini-documentary" instead of the scattershot assortment of "informative" stills. (Anyone who found their appetite whetted - or who just wants to learn more about the fascinating real-life world of sharks - would do well to check out Richard Ellis' masterful, and beautifully illustrated, "THE BOOK OF SHARKS" published by Knopf, ISBN 0-679-72210-6. I can't say enough good things about this entertainingly informative narrative. If you own one book on sharks, own this one. Ellis, incidentally, was a contemporary of - and good friends with - Peter Benchley, and the JAWS phenomenon is discussed at length in the book.) The hour-long "behind the scenes" documentary, while devoting a pleasing chunk of time to "Johnny" Williams, could have used a chapter-skip feature (as with the "1941" DVD) And the trivia game, while mildly interesting, was, frankly, trivial.

Also, while the special features were "not rated," they probably should have been. Parents sitting down to watch the PG-rated DVD with their children will find not one, but TWO occurrences of the "F-word." One of them, in the outtakes, follows a humorous bit, and I really didn't mind, but their un-bleeped inclusion will probably raise a few eyebrows.

But enough with all this nit-picking. The fact remains that JAWS is sensational on DVD. With a good home entertainment system, the presentation is probably better than it was for its original (mono) release. We should be counting our blessings - the release of JAWS marks the first in what will hopefully be a long line of Spielberg's classic blockbusters on DVD, continuing this fall with the Jurassic Park films. One also feels inclined to give Spielberg thanks for not giving his masterpiece the Lucas-brand "Special Edition" treatment, replacing "Bruce" the mechanical shark with a more streamlined, CG monster. Unlike "Star Wars," JAWS wasn't preoccupied with wowing the audience with over-the-top special effects. Solid craftsmanship and great dramatic instinct worked just fine.

Now: onto the score. I don't think it's exaggerating to call Decca's new release a "revelation." I can safely say that most of us now know more about the score to "Jaws" than we ever expected to. Here we have our favorite familiar cues from the original album, those unreleased cues we've been pining over for ages, and a smattering of material we never even knew existed.

But, as so many people have echoed, this new disc is no simple replacement for the existing album. For those of us familiar with the album versions of "Montage," "Out to Sea" and "The Shark Cage Fugue," to name a few, the scant development on this new release is almost laughable. The brilliant musical ideas weave in and out without ever reaching a level of true musical satisfaction. This is unfortunate, as the score promises so much more, and as the original MCA album demonstrates.

The liner notes are also a bit of a letdown. Comprised of quotes by Spielberg and Williams taken from the "Making Of" segment on the DVD, the booklet fails to elaborate on the actual cues contained on the CD. Also unfortunate, because the CD raises a great deal of questions that remain unanswered. What, for example, was the unused, unreleased "Shark Attack" cue composed for? An alternate cue? Music for Quint's final scene, as some have posited? With its ambiguous title, it's hard to tell. And are the differences between film and album cues merely Williams' directorial whim, or do they reflect edits in the film? We may never know.

Williams' judicious (depending on your personal view) rearranging of score cues also struck me as a bit ill-advised. As Jeff Bond pointed out in his June 7 review, many listeners experience the movie in their heads as they listen, and moving a cue like the "Shark Cage Fugue," for example, so far out of place has been enough to ruffle more than a few feathers.

Enter modern technology. Beyond CD player programming, computers have provided the remedy to all your chronology/film-version ailments. With a good CD-burner, it's quite easy to remix the existing album in chronological order. And with a halfway decent wav file editor, you can tweak it even more, splicing in cues and segments from the original MCA album. Here is my personal adjusted track list. OST stands for "Original Sound Track" and EST stands for "Expanded Sound Track."

In cases where the film version was all but identical to the original album version, I kept the film version for the sake of accuracy. The montage, out to sea, and fugue cues, on the other hand, were replaced outright from the OST, as the amount of further development struck me as especially significant, and, to my ear, were required for a satisfactory listening experience. This prompted me to use my wav editor to isolate the film version of "Chrissie's Death" and the new material following "Out to Sea," the latter of which I have deemed "The Shark Hunters." (Hence the "A" and "B" designations of certain track #s)

I also went with the OST versions of the Main and End Titles. While some may prefer the abridged opening to start off the CD, I adore the overture-like presentation of the MCA album - which, I might add, appears nowhere else in the score and not at all on the Decca release. As for the end titles, the old release simply includes more material.

At the end of my "ideal" chronological score presentation, I have included what I felt were the most significant alternate versions and album cues that did not fit into the body of the score. (One might note that the expanded release could have done likewise, taking up, as it did, only 51 minutes on a 74 minute CD. Certainly, extra material was available. Why was it not included?)

JAWS -- THE COMPLETE SCORE

by John Williams

1. Main Title (2:16) OST 1
2. First Victim (3:30) EST 1B
3. The Empty Raft (1:23) EST 2
4. The Pier Incident (2:22) EST 3
5. Father And Son (3:43) EST 8
6. Ben Gardner's Boat (3:31) EST 6
7. Montage (Tourists On The Menu) (2:46) OST 3
8. Into The Estuary (2:51) EST 9
9. Out To Sea (2:30) OST 4
10. The Shark Hunters (2:06) EST 10B
11. Man Against Beast (5:34) EST 11
12. Quint's Tale (2:41) EST 12
13. Brody Panics (1:10) EST 13
14. Barrel Off Starboard (1:31) EST 14
15. The Great Shark Chase (3:28) EST 15
16. Three Barrels Under (2:05) EST 16
17. Between Attacks (2:06) EST 17
18. The Shark Cage Fugue (3:24) OST 8
19. The Shark Approaches (2:41) EST 18
20. Shark Attack (1:18) EST 5
21. Blown To Bits (3:03) EST 19
22. End Titles (2:18) OST 12

BONUS CUES

23. 23. Main Title [film version] (0:56) EST 1A
24. 24. The Shark Cage Fugue [film version] (2:00) EST 4
25. 25. Sea Attack #1 [Man Against Beast] (5:26) OST 6
26. 26. One Barrel Chase [The Great Shark Chase] (3:08) OST 7
27. 27. The Underwater Siege [Shark Approaches] (2:35) OST 10
28. 28. End Title [film version] (1:52) EST 20

I know this leaves out several repeated cues, from both versions. This is due to lack of space on the CD. I placed these orphaned cues in chronological order at the end of my re-sequenced JAWS 2 CD, along with some miscellaneous concert versions that I liked (the version of "The Shark Cage Fugue" from the "Spielberg/Williams Collaboration" CD is to DIE for, with an expanded finale that will leave you breathless!)

So there you have it. No bootlegging, nothing illegal -- just the perfect way to create your own "ideal" JAWS CD to pop into your CD player. After listening to the Decca release as-is several times, I'm much more satisfied with the version I've created for myself. A blend of old and new CAN be done. And it sounds GREAT. One wonders if the recent Varese Sarabande re-recording took this approach. If so, it will definitely be worthwhile - having an opportunity to shed even more light on this, one of Williams' seminal scores.

But first, of course, you have to rush out and buy the Decca release. As producer Michael Matessino has told us, the more successful these releases become, the more we'll see of them in the future. With the collectors edition CD of JAWS, another long-sought-after expansion gets checked off the list. Next up: who knows? The "Indiana Jones" Trilogy? "Fiddler on the Roof?" "Hook?" One can only dream... and with John Williams, dreams come true.

MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com