Okay...in my humble opinion...
I think that Jaws is an awesome movie...does it make it on my top 5 list ? Probably not...possibly in my top 10...but I haven't really sat down and created one.
I think the casting for the movie was precise. I think that Robert Shaw was a awesome Quint ( as well as liking him in The Sting, but this thread isn't about that, is it ? ). Richard Dreyfuss was great as Hooper...I couldn't imagine anyone else playing that character, and I don't think he should have died. Roy Scheider played Brody quite well...though there are moments during the film where he seems a little drawn out and boring.
As for the plot...seeing as this movie came out when I was very young...it scared every kid in the world to go into the water. Just the possibility was overwhelming. I loved the story of the Indianapolis as Quint told it...his accent really made the story that much more intense. And then the following sequence where Quint, Hooper and Brody begin to show their battle scars...( With Hooper winning from having a broken heart ! )
The movie provides us movie lovers with a lot of quotable lines...which one of my favorites is from Quint.
"I know a taxidermy man back home. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him"