JAWS stars and Steven Spielberg show they are Top Gun in the air
With Tom Cruise Top Gun sequel, Maverick, flying high after its huge success on the big screen, it’s chocks away for the main actors from JAWS who during their film careers have also been magnificent men in their flying machines.
But which of these films do you think are up there with the best of the best?
Robert Shaw in The Dam Busters (1955)
Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave are very much the stars of this film, along with the Lancaster bombers and the bouncing bombs, but we do get Shaw feature as Flight Sergeant John Pulford.
The film charts the real-life story of creating a weapon that would help the British slow the industrial might of Nazi Germany, in fact its daring mission - of the 133 men who took part, 53 were killed, and three were captured - has helped influence everything from the Death Star run in Star Wars (1977) to Top Gun: Maverick (2022).
Robert Shaw in Battle of Britain (1969)
A Bank Holiday staple in the UK, this story of triumph over adversity is still a fantastic watch to this day.
And if the planes and air combat scenes don't do it for you then it is worth a watch just for the cast alone, which includes an ever cool and calm Robert Shaw as a squadron leader, future JAWS the Revenge star Michael Caine getting some pre-Hoagie flying in in practice for buzzing a great white shark, Christopher Plummer, Lawrence Olivier, Ian McShane and Barry Foster.
Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Spielberg’s follow-up to the small movie about a big fish, JAWS, saw him reunited with Richard Dreyfuss, with the Matt Hooper actor first hearing about the film on the set of JAWS and campaigned hard to convince Spielberg that he was the right everyman for the job.
Dreyfuss’s character, Roy Neary, doesn’t board his flying machine, the stunning mothership, until the end of the epic film but five infamous planes add intrigue to the plot early on with the discovery of World War 2 era planers in the desert.
That would be strange enough on its own, but the last time these planes and their pilots were seen were before they flew into air space better known as being in The Bermuda Triangle, supposedly the infamous Flight 19, reported missing in 1945.
As well as a returning Dreyfuss, composer John Williams and production designer Joe Alves were also back to help perfect Spielberg’s vision and bring his science-fiction masterpiece to jaw-dropping life.
Roy Scheider in Blue Thunder (1983)
Or, what Roy Scheider did to make sure he was busy when JAWS 3D was filming.
The film is written by Alien (JAWS in space, that was the pitch) scribe Dan O'Bannon and is about a state of the art surveillance police helicopter that is probably more pertinent today than when it was first made.
Vietnam vet Frank Murphy (Scheider) is the loose cannon pilot with rookie (played by Home Alone's Daniel Stern) who uncovers a conspiracy and put their own lives in danger.
Scheider is as reliable as ever, he just looks to be having fun and is a joy to watch. The helicopter antics are fun and exciting enough, especially over the city - many of the aerial shots in Netflix's documentary The Night Stalker reminded me of the vistas from this film - and I especially loved his Casio LCD watch with ‘countdown’ that was used to great effect in several scenes to check Murphy’s ‘sanity’.
Bad guy duties fall to Malcolm McDowell - another pilot who - conveniently - Scheider’s character came up against in 'Nam.
Richard Dreyfuss in Always (1989)
Having worked with Steven Spielberg on both JAWS and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Richard Dreyfuss was on leading every man duty again with Always.
The film, which was released the same year as Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade lacks the love it should get, it being eclipsed by the third Indy film released late that year, and by the Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore film Ghost (1990), which was released the following year and covered some similar ground.
Always is a loose remake of the Spencer Tracy starring A Guy Named Joe, which is a film both Dreyfuss and Spielberg were obsessed by, you can even see it playing on a TV during a scene in the Spielberg produced Poltergeist.
Joe was set during World War 2, with Always keeping the planes, romance and pretty much everything else but transplanting it to an airborne forest fire fighting service.
It is funny, sweet, has some wonderful action sequences and Dreyfuss, along with John Goodman and Holly Hunter are an engaging ensemble. It feels old school in its themes and sentimental storytelling, and also boasts the final screen performance by Audrey Hepburn. At one point Paul Newman and Robert Redford were reportedly interested in the main roles.
The aerial scenes and firefighting sequences are fantastic, and Spielberg still knows how to raise the tension and Dreyfuss is firing on all charismatic cylinders. The photography, score by John Williams and model work are first rate - just writing about it makes me want to watch it again.
On a side note, this was my first Steven Spielberg film I saw on the big screen and was also one of my mum's favourite films, so it will always have a very special place in my heart. And yes, smoke may get in your eyes once or twice, but it is a beautiful looking film.
Steven Spielberg and 1941 (1979)
And, with planes being so prominent, we must also mention Steven Spielberg's World War 2 comedy farce, 1941. It's brash, bawdy and bombed spectacularly, but is still wonderful to look at and has some great sequences and set pieces – alongside some impressive model work - with Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Treat Williams, Robert Stack, John Candy and Christopher Lee all making appearances.
It is also of note for JAWS fans with it featuring a JAWS opening sequence skit with Susan Backlinie who played Chrissie Watkins and also features Murray Hamilton (Mayor Vaughn) and Lorraine Gary (Ellen Brody).
Steven Spielberg and The Mission (1986)
A World War 2 bomber which has difficulties with its landing gear is an exciting Spielberg directed intro to the TV series Amazing Stories, which featured the likes of Kiefer Sutherland and Kevin Costner on board, helping add that big screen feel to proceedings.
In fact in the UK and several other European countries it was released theatrically along with the episodes Mummy Daddy (directed by William Dear) and Go to the Head of the Class (directed by Robert Zemeckis), just like Duel (1971) was all those years before.
Steven Spielberg and Empire of the Sun (1987)
On the road to Schindler’s List (1993) Spielberg directed my grown-up cinematic offerings in both The Color Purple (1985) based on the book by Alice Walker, and Empire of the Sun based on the semi-autobiographical book by JG Ballard.
Jim, played by a young Christian Bale, is obsessed by planes – the P-51 Mustang - and Spielberg is great at capturing the wonderment as seen through his young eyes and his loss of innocence in an invaded Shanghai and his eventual interment in a prisoner of war camp, all against the backdrop of World War 2 and his personal war of survival and trying to find his parents.
And let's not forget the prominent and memorable roles that planes play in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).
And there were breath-taking plane scenes in the opening episode of the seminal Band of Brothers (2001), which was executive produced by Spielberg and Tom Hanks.
It is perhaps little wonder planes have continued to play an important part throughout the films of Steven Spielberg as his dad, Arnold Spielberg, was a sergeant in the Army, going on to work as a radio operator and chief communications man for the 490th Bomb Squadron, also known as the “Burma Bridge Busters.”
Dog fights featured heavily in one of Spielberg's early home movies that he made starring his friends, entitled Fighter Squad, utilising real abandoned fighter planes – even in those early years before filming JAWS on the ocean he strived for realism.
Words by Dean Newman
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