Jaws

Jaws is a fantastic blockbuster by Steven Spielberg, and premiered in the summer of 1975. It was Spielberg's first major film - most of his work prior to Jaws was direct-to-video short films or television specials. The film is significant for it's difficult production which, in many aspects, ended up improving the film in many ways. Spielberg had wanted to use a mechanical shark that would pop up at key points and scare beach-goers and swimmers. However, the shark failed so many times that several scenes were rewritten to make the shark more of an ominous presence ala Alfred Hitchcock's movies rather than a big fake-looking prop. In addition, the filming was set to wrap in 55 days, but the film wasn't complete until after 159 days. This delay actually let the script become more refined, leading to a much more appropriate dialogue and some ad-libbed lines.
In essence, the plot to Jaws sounds more like a B-movie horror than what it has become today. A giant killer shark is terrorizing the beaches of Amity, and three men - Police Chief Martin Brody, an oceanographer named Matt Hooper, and a shark hunter named Quint. They pile into a boat and try to track and kill the shark, nearly dying in the process.
The score for Jaws is fantastic and brands the movie perfectly. It creates suspense and combined with the lack of visual representation of the shark in the film, it fills the viewer with a sense of heavy dread and fear. Without the score, Jaws would almost be comedic due to the lack of fear from the audience and the movie wouldn't have done nearly as well, in my opinion. Spielberg used the disadvantages placed against him to prosper in terms of editing, sound, acting, and camera movement to create an amazing and thrilling blockbuster experience that will not soon be forgotten.