'Jaws' Documentary Airs Never-Before-Seen Footage for 50th Anniversary

'Jaws' Documentary Airs Never-Before-Seen Footage for 50th Anniversary originally appeared on Parade.

To this day, it's hard to think of a movie more influential than Steven Spielberg's immortal classic, Jaws.

Forever changing the way audiences watched movies in the theater, Jaws also indirectly nurtured a deep-seated fear and fascination of the open ocean, its impact on the larger landscape of mass culture impossible to fully summarize.

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With Spielberg's film celebrates its historic 50th anniversary this summer, National Geographic has recently released a brand-new documentary chronicling the film's production, all the while underscoring the unique qualities that made the film such a massive success.

Complete with interviews with the cast and crew of the film, Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story also comes complete with numerous behind-the-scenes footage documenting the movie's production.

Not only that, but it also includes several unused outtakes later left on the editing room floor, including several rare sequences showing the great white shark in action, including its grisly attack on a young boy early in the film.

A tremendous celebration of Jaws' impact on the world of pop culture, Jaws @ 50 also offers a more introspective look at the various themes and subjects spread throughout the film.

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With Spielberg shedding light on some of the movie's most telling production aspects, the documentary eloquently finds a way to show how certain issues like the Vietnam War and Watergate influenced Jaws' narrative -- perhaps even influencing how audiences reacted to the film in the summer of '75.

Focusing on Jaws' inception both under as an original novel by Peter Benchley up to its tumultuous filming process by Spielberg, Nat Geo's latest documentary serves as the perfect companion piece to the original film.

Emphasizing the countless challenges the young director faced on the film, it also illustrates how revolutionary Jaws was at the time of its release, influencing millions of viewers fortunate enough to see it to this very day.

'Jaws' Documentary Airs Never-Before-Seen Footage for 50th Anniversary first appeared on Parade on Jul 11, 2025

This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 11, 2025, where it first appeared.