JAWS: HOME VIDEO HISTORY

Today I’m starting a new series I’m calling “A Home Video History” starting with my favorite movie, JAWS! We track Jaws from Laserdisc and Discovision in 1978 all the way up to the 2020 4K UHD Blu-ray release, covering all the special edition VHS and DVDs in between!

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#Bluray
#4K
#jaws

[hadassahbenson]

I first watch this movie when I was nine and spending a summer in Hawaii. Lol. I was a little freaked out by the ocean after that.

[NoirFan]

Jaws I've owned on so many different formats not only because it's a great film but also because it's always one of the standout examples of a film that showcases the upgrade quality of each & every new format. I'm always impressed with how it looks.

[KieranHighman]

Wizard of Oz probably has a loooong history of releases you could cover like this. Really enjoyed this feature, a very interesting look

[heavyspoilers]

This was brilliant. Such a good idea for a series too. Would love to see you do The Thing next.

[braxerax]

The CED is one of the most fascinating failed formats of all. If you're curious, there's lots of videos about it. One of the best is from Techmoan, and if you're in for the long haul Technology Connections did a set of videos covering its complete history and how it's tied to the downfall of RCA. So glad to see it on this list because CED releases are usually forgotten!

[DerekHamby]

This was a great idea whoever suggested this. I'd like to see you do classics like Frankenstein, Psycho, Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz and Halloween. Great video, Jeff.

[syntroniccyndi]

This is a great idea. I have a few suggestions. The Shining, Willy Wonka, Star Wars trilogy, or Halloween.

[lukecorwin]

Given the recent 4K remaster of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, that is one I would like to see reviewed like this.

[JDMVman]

I remember renting that Widescreen VHS from my library. That edition is what made me hip to how widescreen worked and I had watched the movie countless times on full screen by that point so it was jaw dropping.

[scotttild]

Laser disc were so cool back in the day, the artwork on a lot of them are worth collecting alone.

[brycekellyhowe]

I feel deep dives in other Spielberg movies and Kubrick films would be super fascinating. Love this idea!

[klel]

I used to have a laserdisc machine, I had quite a few movies. I had all the Back to the future movies and the Batman movies. Back to the future 3 was a two disc with three sides, Back to the future 1 & 2 was a single disc with two sides. I sold them when I bought a DVD machine in 1997.

[chadwicke]

Hey great Video Jeff! This brought back memories big time. My dad in the 70’s worked for DiscoVision before he worked as an engineer for Pioneer, and I used to sneak a peak at some of the Laserdiscs he collected while he was at work, such as Alien, Smokey and the Bandit, some behind the scenes footage of the TV series Star Trek(bootlegged) to name a few, however, Jaws was the only disc he let me watch as a kid. Jaws to this day is one of my top 5 favorite films.

[ToastyBuff]

Jaws is as close to a perfect film as I can think of.

[maxpower-]

I was born in 1978. Sometime in the mid 1980s, my family taped on vhs an ABC TV broadcast of Jaws. That tape had a version of the movie ive never seen since. They edited-in many of the deleted scenes we later got on dvd, bluray and now 4k. It was great. More Quint, more of the initial conversation between Brody and the summer dink who lost his girl to the shark in the opening scene. It was a longer cut. Much like the Godfather Saga which took place in sequential order with deleted scenes added in. I wish i still had it.

[christophermosca]

I absolutely love this idea Jeff !!! thank you so much.

I’m a fellow New Englander (I’ve lived my whole life in Rhode Island), and like yourself, Jaws is one of my favorite films. I both loved to see a focus on the film, but the history of home media for the film. I am older (52), and honestly, never knew there were this many types of home media on Jaws (despite being an avid movie collector, and owning not only many films, but having had a few versions of this film.)

My parents took me to see Jaws at the drive in, back in the 70’s, in it’s initial run….. this along with Boston MA based UHF signal channel 56’s “Creature Double Feature”, helped to fuel my love of both horror, sci fi and suspense films (in a historical sense) and a love of 70’s cinema. It is great to see a focus on individual films, and any part of their history (even a release of home media formats.)

I have subscribed to you, from watching Heath, at Cereal at Midnight (Heath’s show has been my “gateway” to so many excellent film fans-turned educators)…. You, Heath, Mixed Media report, Daiske Beppu and Vanessa Buttino have become my “go to” teams for film history, new releases, and with yourself, even tech sugggestions. Thank you so much and keep up the super work.

Could you consider reviewing next: Star Wars, The Exorcist, Phantasm, and Salem’s Lot ?

Quick question: being a Jaws fan, can you answer me a question: do you have any idea if there were alternate edits of the film, from the 70’s, that no longer exist ? either an 80’s tv edit, or 70’s only edit, that had additional scenes…..even minues or seconds of extra footage. I seem to remember an extended version of the “Estuary attack” sequence, where a young Mike Brody was seen from a different camera angle, next to the shark, and with the adult, spewing blood from his mouth as he was dragged under the water. I could swear this was from a theatrical edit I saw in the RI, at the drive in….. it’s a version I have only seen once, and I’ve never read anything about it being used. The only mention of it, is that Steven Spielberg attempted to film this, and it landed on the cutting room floor. I am almost positive I remember this from the 70’s when I was a little kid.

Might alternate edits / versions of movies be another angle for you (or others ) to attempt ?

I’ve viewed the Halloween home media history too….. AWESOME !!!!

Thanks and keep up the superb work !

Best,
Chris Mosca
Johnston, Rhode Island

[Out-Cast]

man i love the 4k Jaws package with the booklet, when you watch it its so amazing how it looks .

[ericlozen]

I began collecting LD's somewhat near the end of it's desirability. A market that appealed only to a small percentage of home theater enthusiasts . I purchased my last LD (Dances With Wolves Limited Collectors Edition) in 1997. However I never did get JAWS. DVD technology was about to hit the consumer market and I was excited as hell. Now so many years later, home theater systems are extremely popular and I believe that it'll never loose interest in the consumer market. I'm fairly new to the 4K market and my modest collection of 4K movies is slowly beginning to increase; yes, I do have JAWS and I love it. I saw it in the movie theater. I was just 7 years old. Because of 4K technology, I decided to purchase an entire home theater system to replace my dated one. I spent a lot of $$ but it was well spent. The 4K player I got was the UB9000.

[ChrisRoth]

I ❤️ this video.I ❤️ to learn about the history of releases of home video releases.
I remember Beta, CED, & Laser Disc when they were new when I was a Kid.Movies to purchase back then we’re expensive! Thanks again for this fantastic video!

[popey]

Good episode. Good the Bad and ugly has a storied history of releases.