“You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” Join your favourite TransAtlantic podcasting crew – Ian & Megs – as we head out to sea with special guest Carlo from The Movie Loot for our 288th episode, diving deep into Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster breakthrough Jaws (1975). We’re trading crane kicks for chum buckets and mechanical shark mishaps as we discuss:
- The real-life beef between Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw—method acting, ego clashes, and barbed insults at sea.
- Spielberg’s first reaction to hearing the now-iconic Jaws theme from John Williams… and why he thought it was a joke.
- Just how crucial it is to find an actress who can tick all the boxes—especially when it comes to screaming convincingly.
- The urban legend behind the film’s POV shots—and whether the broken shark really made the film better.
- Is the actual shark reveal a thrilling payoff… or a rubbery letdown? We break down whether it holds water.
- We all agreed it’s a film of two halves—but did we agree on which half was better?
- Would Jaws still work with a female character in one (or more) of the core trio? We explore casting, gender dynamics, and cabin tension.
- How many big screams should a film have? Is there a magic number—or do we just love that head-in-the-boat moment too much?
- Does Brody have the worst wife ever for casually revealing his deepest fear to a total stranger at dinner?
- The key changes from the Peter Benchley novel—and why most of them were for the better (goodbye, mafia subplot).
- Why Spielberg was convinced he'd never work again after Jaws—and how it nearly swallowed his career whole before making him a legend.
- And finally, whether Jaws is the Best Film Ever.
Catch so much more of Carlo on The Movie Loot on Apple Podcasts at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-movie-loot/id1578191119
or on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/4o5ZvtvZ64XAoxIIxiAj1q
Become a Patron of this podcast and support the BFE at https://www.patreon.com/BFE.
We are extremely thankful to our following Patrons for their most generous support:
- Juleen from It Goes Down In The PM
- Hermes Auslander
- James DeGuzman
- Synthia
- Shai Bergerfroind
- Ariannah Who Loves BFE The Most
- Andy Dickson
- Chris Pedersen
- Duane Smith (Duane Smith!)
- Randal Silva
- Nate The Great
- Rev Bruce
- Cheezy (with a fish on a bike)
- Richard
- Ryan Kuketz
- Dirk Diggler
- Stew from the Stew World Order podcast
- NorfolkDomus
- John Humphrey's Right Foot
- Timmy Tim Tim
- Aashrey
Buy some BFE merch at https://my-store-b4e4d4.creator-spring.com/.
Massive thanks to Lex Van Den Berghe for the use of Mistake by Luckydog. Catch more from Lex's new band, The Maids of Honor, at https://soundcloud.com/themaidsofhonor.
Also, massive thanks to Moonlight Social for our age game theme song. You can catch more from them at https://www.moonlightsocialmusic.com/.
