Jaws | featured news

AS part of Universal’s centennial celebration that studio has reissued “Jaws” (1975) on Blu-ray in a newly restored edition, retrofitted with a remixed 7.1-channel stereo soundtrack. Happily, the filmmakers have resisted the temptation to replace Bruce, the balky mechanical shark (actually three of them, used for different types of shots) whose frequent breakdowns helped swell the shooting schedule to 159 days from 55, with a digitally animated creature. A C.G.I. shark might have been more convincing for contemporary audiences — poor Bruce can’t do much more than roll his eyes and flap his mouth, like the world’s most menacing Muppet — but the movie isn’t really about him, after all.

Film producer Richard Zanuck, who won the best picture Oscar for "Driving Miss Daisy" and was involved in such blockbuster films as "Jaws" and "The Sting" after his father, Hollywood mogul Darryl F. Zanuck, fired him from 20th Century Fox, died Friday. He was 77.