Customer Reviews

Giant

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I recently decided to view this film. Let's see - a reference to Neiman-Marcus - some wide open spaces, some cattle and oil wells. O.K. - but this film does not really tell about Texas and Texans. Thankfully, Chill Wills (from Seagoville, TX) was in it. He was the most Texan thing about this film. I wish I had something more positive to say - but I don't.

The product information here should be carefully read, as it reveals that this edition of Giant has been transferred in a 1:1.66 letterbox transfer. This is a travesty. Giant was filmed and released in the classic 1:1.33 "Academy" aspect ratio, which also happens to be the aspect ratio for NTSC analog television. George Stevens disliked widescreen processes, although he was forced to use them by studios on later films.
The time has come to put a stop to these unnecessary, phoney "restored" versions of classics. It's just a marketing ploy to squeeze more money out of old warhorses. Going back to the good old days of the laserdisc, I never much cared about the extras that were first introduced by Criterion and later imitated by the major studios. I've always responded to a high quality video transfer taken from the best film elements available. Getting the aspect ratio wrong and mutilating the images of Steven's classic film makes everything else irrelevant.
Thank goodness I still have my laserdiscs. Failing that, grab a copy on VHS.

The DVD is superb -- I do not know what all the complaints about sound, etc. are all about! My goodness, this film is almost 50 years old -- and I think it is in wonderful shape!

I purchased this video because I have become a big James Dean film, but the acting of Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Carol Baker, and Dennis Hopper were splendid.

To think that Hudson was a mere 29, Taylor 23, and Dean 23 and could play characters who age 30 years with such reality is a true testament to their genius! Of course, the makeup artists must also receive recognition.

The most disturbing portion of the film to me is when Hudson confronts "Sarge" the restaurant owner in a fist fight and when "Sarge" lands into the juke box, "The Yellow Rose of Texas" begins to play. However, this epic film is full of irony and subtle twists and nuances -- to really grasp the entire message this film needs to be viewed more than one time.

The irony of the Mexican children singing The National Anthem during the funeral of Angel (played by a very young Sal Mineo) touched me. Little Angel was a person who died for the United States and yet was the focus of bigotry from his impoverished birth until his death.

Or course, in my opinion, there was and never will be another James Dean -- it is heartbreaking to watch this dramatic genius in the final film performance before his untimely demise. Like Buddy Holly, I will always wonder where Dean's career would have gone.

Carol Baker is fantastic in her first film role and the very young Dennis Hopper's performance is equally memorable.

This film speaks to the injustices of racial bigotry that unfortunately will always exist except in a utopian world.

The additions to this DVD make it a must-buy!

Please don't hesitate to purchase -- this DVD is worth every penny -- and then some!

Oh, the editorial review refers to Elizabeth Taylor as a Southern Belle and this is incorrect. Leslie Benedict is from Maryland and even makes the comment to Hudson and his crownies that she was from the "Center of Politics" when Hudson tries to push her aside so the men can talk "Business and Politics".

Please heed the one brave reviewer who also found this DVD of GIANT a disgrace - and it is. Don't be mislead! The sound quality is terrible. The colors are, in some scenes, almost completely washed out, which make the images appear as if they were once in black and white and then colorized. In several scenes, you can actually see flashes of lines, as if the print was lifted off a television screen. There was NO attempt to upgrade, enhance or preserve this wonderful, classic film. The extras? Nothing special. Certainly not worth the cost of buying this terrible DVD expecting a top grade enhancement and then finding that you have something that wouldn't even be shown on TCM! My question is, where did TCM get THEIR print?? Please heed this advice. Buy the 1985 VHS tape before you waste your money on what has to be one of the worst rip-offs in DVD retail yet. By comparision: check out the terrific quality of the "North by Northwest" DVD. Beautifully done, lovingly preserved. This disgrace should never have been released. I wasted my money on this. It's TERRIBLE. Poor sound, poor colors, poor everything ... except for a great film getting a very poor treatment. Stay away! A disgrace. An absolute disgrace. Shame on these other reviewers. What were they looking at? From the opening scene you can hear how bad the sound is, how disappointing the colors are, how terrible the whole thing is. The DVD of "Giant" is "Little."

James Dean literally steals the movie and give the performance of his life as Jett Rink.his on and off screen battles for recognition explode in Giant and steal the show away from the Benedicts(Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor).

Portentous, overwrought, overlong, meandering but American, made about the quintessential (cliche) American state, by a very American director with all the American values examined - violence to settle differences, racism, materialism, taming the frontier, guns, individualism. Although it doesn't work as a movie there's enough in it to make it worthwhile viewing and re-viewing, and the extras are a REAL bonus with interviews featuring Mr Beatty, Mr Pakula etc, a documentary etc on three full sides of two DVD's of material. The film itself is let down somewhat by poor sound, but the extras make this a very worthwhile DVD to own.

Oh please! For those of you who bash this movie, you obviously have no appreciation for the Hollywood system of the 1950s, with its epic movies and larger than life themes. Giant is one of these. Yes, it's long, yes, it's often over-the-top. But the bottom line is that it's luscious. You've got James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rock Hudson, three of the cinema's finest actors; plus a fine supporting cast, including a young, hot Dennis Hopper. I'd bet that anyone who doesn't enjoy this probably also didn't like "Gone with the Wind" or any other overproduced Hollywood gem.
Texas in all its glory lives in this masterpiece of a film.

george stevens really earned his award for this grande of a movie. I really sat threw the 2 tapes and watched the 200 minutes of it and I tel you it payed off good. lots of nicely shot footage of the western country. James Dean as Jett Rink is the treat here. He is the likable character in this piece. Hudson and Taylor do good jobs as well. romantic, dramatic and exciting

It stars Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean. It is based on a bestselling book by Edna Ferber, about a tale of oil, cattle, and racial injustice that follows the fortunes of one family from the 1930s to the 1950s, in Texas. It is directored by George Stevens, who won an Oscar, for this 1956 box-office hit, which got nine other nominations, including Best Picture.

First, let's establish that I don't think "Giant" is a classic by any definition. Too long, indifferent acting, too much fluff. That said, I guess I remember it as a spectacle worthy of the total sprucing up it needed to bring it to DVD. Tiomkins rousing score in 5.1 digital sound. Punching up of the very faded VHS tapes film quality and some nice extras. Maybe 1 out of 3 isn't bad except in this case the extras are the only plus. Otherwise the movie seems to have been transferred directly from VHS to DVD. The sound over the opening titles was so tinny and distorted that I double checked my sound settings to make sure my equipment wasn't out of wack. Nope, just plain lousy monophonic clamor. The color is so washed out in many places that I started to think maybe I had been sent a preproduction copy before sound and color had been worked on. But I see several other reviewers had the same reaction.
Shame on Warner Bros for putting out a major movie of such abominable quality. The extras are terrific but I know very few film fans who buy movies based on the extras. Take it off the market and do it right Warners.