Thoroughly enjoyed both movies. Jaws, to me, is vastly superior.
Others have touched on the reason I like it better – character development. There are dozens of wonderful character moments in the film, while Jurassic Park focuses more on special effects. Scenes like Martin making faces with his son; Hooper getting mad at Quint and acting juvenile, even as he’s climbing a ladder out of the scene; the aforementioned dialogue around the table which culminates in the Indianapolis monologue; Martin researching sharks at his house while his wife tells him he’s overreacting, then when she sees a drawing of a shark attacking a boat in one of the books, she yells at the kids to get out of the boat like their father told them to; the shark-cage discussion between Quint and Hooper; Hooper’s interruption of the town meeting; crushing the can and the cup; the brief dialogue between Hooper and Quint when they both realize they’re up against something they’ve never experienced before; Hooper exhorting Martin to go out on the bow of the boat so he can have some scale in his photo, and Martin adamantly refusing in disbelief …
And the dialogue! Geez, there are multiple classic lines in that film. The aforementioned (and iconic) “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” But so many others:
Martin: “I can do anything. I’m the chief of police.”
(Hooper, trying to show off a scar, unbuttons his shirt, exposing a hairy chest.) Martin, offcamera: “You’re wearing a sweater.”
The Mayor (to Hooper, as they talk about the size of the shark): “You’d love to prove that, wouldn’cha? Get your name in the National Geographic?”
Quint: (paraphrased) “You all know me. Know what I do for a livin’. This shark … swallow ya whole. Three thousand dollars, chief? I value my hide a lot more than three thousand dollars. I’ll find your shark for three. But I’ll catch him – and kill him – for ten.”
Quint (to Hooper): “You go in the cage … cage goes in the water … shark’s in the water. Our shark.” Slow smile, then singing: “Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies …”
Hooper: “Mayor, we’re talking about a miracle of evolution … an eating machine. All this thing does, is swim, and eat, and make baby sharks.”
The Mayor (to Martin, after the shark attacks on the Fourth of July): “MY kids were on that beach, too.”
Man. How can you not love that movie?
