When author Peter Benchley’s 1974 book was going to print, he needed to choose a title. He has juggled various titles — “Leviathan Rising,” “Silent Fall” — before, at the last minute, choosing “Jaws.” What did it mean? Benchley, himself, wasn’t sure, he told his editor, but it was short.

Steven Spielberg’s "Jaws" changed the movie landscape forever. 50 years later, the film’s legacy looms as large as the great white shark itself. This is

Until then, we only really catch its dorsal fin before victims are ripped under the waves as the water around them turns the color of ketchup. “Jaws” is credited with inventing the summer blockbuster.

When “Jaws” debuted in U.S. theaters 50 years ago today, it helped launch a new era in American movies. Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster about a bloodthirsty great white terrorizing a beach town also stoked fear and fascination, exacting a toll on sharks.