Giant: SE

What is it that constitutes a classic or epic film? Let’s look at the ingredients and see if this film has them.

Stars: Stars aplenty in this one, the likes of Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean, all major box office draws at the time.

Running time: At over 193 minutes, this fits the bill easily.

Scenery: Again we have a winner with some awesome and expansive Texas scenery.

Time to make: Giant took over four years to produce.

Date of release: 1956 and in colour.

Taking all these ingredients into account, we have an epic film that sits nicely in the 'classic' genre.

Director George Stevens decided with this film to finally show some respect to the viewing public. He chose to take his time with the making of Giant in an attempt to make it a film that would be viewed for years to come. With this release coming on the film's 47th anniversary, his decision has proven that the movie certainly has stood the test of time. Over four years in the making proving that the end result is far more important than beating a deadline.

The impressive cast.

The story is relatively simple and is spread over the entire lives of our main characters. I will apologise up front for large gaps in the storyline and also for any spoilers, but is there anyone left out there who hasn’t seen this film? If you are one of the few, hopefully this brief synopsis will give you an idea of what Giant is all about.

Bick Benedict (Rock Hudson) is one of the largest land owners in Texas. His Reata ranch is over 500,000 acres in size and he prides himself on being a traditional Texan stockman. He travels to Maryland to purchase a horse and meets the daughter of the owner, a feisty young lady named Leslie (Elizabeth Taylor). They are soon married and move to the Victorian style house on the Reato ranch in Texas. There Leslie meets Bick’s sister Luz (Carroll Baker) and employee Jett Rink (James Dean). Leslie soon conflicts with Luz who has always run the household prior to Leslie’s arrival, her and the servants that is. Meanwhile, Jett is fascinated by Leslie, giving Bick yet another reason to despise him.

Through a series of circumstances, Jett ends up with a small portion of the Reata homestead and decides to drill for oil. He soon strikes it rich, but still longs for Leslie. Meanwhile, Bick and Leslie begin having children and the story follows their relationship and the lives of their children as they grow. The whole story builds to the ultimate showdown between Bick and Jett.

For a 1956 production, there are many issues covered here including racism, womens' liberation and greed. All are fairly common topics covered in today’s films, but for this period in history it was a bold move by the producers.

The young cast are very well suited to their roles and the way the producers have aged them throughout is very impressive. To see Liz Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean, all in their early to mid 20s at the time, portray characters in their 40s and 50s is a terrific demonstration of the makeup artist’s talent and the actors’ ability. The film is full of actors who are well known names today, but were only just beginning their careers at the time - the most notable is a very young Dennis Hopper. The untimely death of James Dean only days after filming his final scenes also adds to the intrigue.

A very young Dennis Hopper

The film truly deserves its classic tag. The story is nothing to really set the world on fire, but the film truly bursts at the seams with quality. The cinematography is stunning, the acting superb, the story and script interesting and the pacing well managed. The running time is a little daunting at 193 minutes and is placed on both sides of disc one, so many viewers may wish to watch the film in two sittings. Personally, that was my plan, but I got so drawn in that I had to watch the whole film in one session.

Let me start off by saying this film looks as good as the day it was released, this should give you an indication of the wonderful job Warner Brothers have done with this release. It is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1 and is sadly not 16:9 enhanced. Colours are bright and true, but the most impressive feature here is the lack of film artefacts. For a film of this age, the expectation was for at least a few white flecks but this is free of any artefact problems, quite an impressive result. There are obviously going to be some problems with a film of this age and yes there are a few. There is occasional softness and a lot of edge enhancement and ringing around the actors, but thankfully aliasing is not a problem. These issues are a little obvious, but again, for a film of this age the end result is still something the restoration team can be very proud of.

There are a few choices of subtitles and the English ones sampled were true to what was said on screen.

Audio is supplied in English, French and Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 surround. As is the case with the video, the audio has also been remastered and does a fine job. Although a DD 5.1 mix would have been nice, the DD 2.0 surround is the next best thing and offers quality audio to support the impressive vision. Sound is reasonably sharp throughout with no synch problems. Rear speakers are used in a supporting role and offer some fullness to the track, but are very rarely used for directional effect. The musical score is very well suited to this film and this audio track delivers it well. The subwoofer is mostly dormant except for when the oil gushes for the first time, but for the majority of the time the film doesn’t require a lot of subwoofer activity.

Being a 'Special Edition' release, most purchasers will require more than just the film, even if it has been remastered and looks and sounds as good as ever. Luckily there are plenty of extras with this release, requiring an additional disc to house them all. It is rare these days to find a new release film with as many extras, but for a film of this age it is astounding.

Introduction
Running for 2:53, this is an introduction to the film from George Stevens Jnr, the son of the director. He gives some insight into his father’s aims with the film.

Commentary
Featured here are George Stevens Jnr, screenwriter Ivan Moffat and critic Stephen Farber. The commentary is scene specific, so runs for the entire length of the film. Stevens does most of the talking, however the three offer a good balance. The inclusion of a critic on commentaries is often a good thing and really works here. Having someone who is obviously a fan of the film but also a critic gives a good perspective from both sides in an impartial manner.

George Stevens: Filmmakers Who Knew Him
This featurette runs for 45:39 and is located on the B-side of disc two. Being the disc containing the second half of the film, it automatically plays when inserted, so be sure to go to the menu after the completion of the film. It looks at people who have worked with Stevens and includes names such as Warren Beatty, Robert Wise and Fred Zinnemann.

Memories of Giant
The second featurette in this vast array of extras runs for a lengthy 51:38 and is again of excellent entertainment quality. It contains interviews with George Stevens and many of the cast and appears to have been made fairly recently.

Return to Giant
Phew! These featurettes are sure lengthy y’all! Next is another long one running at 55:10, this time narrated by The Eagles' Don Henley. It was made in 1996 and again contains many interviews and snippets from the film. The only sad point is that a lot of footage from the previous featurette is also featured here.

New York Premiere Telecast
This featurette runs for 28:53 and contains the live broadcast of the 1956 New York world premiere. It is hosted by Chill Wills and Jayne Meadows and looks at all the famous guests at the premiere. Image and sound quality are very poor, but this is a nice inclusion for purists.

Hollywood Premiere
Much the same as the previous featurette, this looks at the arrival of stars for the Hollywood premiere. It has a much briefer running time of 4:20.

Giant Stars Off to Texas
This featurette looks at the cast having a meal before heading off to Texas to begin filming. It runs for a brief 38 seconds and could have possibly been included somewhere else.

Photo Gallery
With a running time of 7:11, this feature contains many behind the scenes photos. Most are in black and white and are all presented well.

Documents
Running for 4:24, this feature contains several interesting documents pertaining to the film. This feature reminded me a lot of a similar feature contained on the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid release. That also contained memos between the director and studio along with many other interesting documents relating to the film.

Behind the Cameras: On Location in Marfa, Texas
Running for 5:58, this featurette looks at the effect the film had on this small Texas town. It is in black and white and is very interesting.

Behind the Cameras: A Visit With Dimitri Tiomkin
This featurette looks at composer Dimitri Tiomkin and runs for 6:34. It is also in black and white and is in the same format as the previous feauturette.

Theatrical Trailers
There are four trailers contained here, all giving a good impression of the restoration work done on the main feature as they are all grainy and littered with artefacts. Trailers contained are 1956 Book Trailer, 1956 Original Traler, 1963 Re-Issue Trailer and 1970 Re-Issue Trailer.

Awards
This feature contains two screens looking at all the awards the film has won.

Overall this is a terrific release that gives the film the treatment it deserves. The video and audio quality are wonderful considering the age of the film and the extras contained are enough to put most recent releases to shame. If you are a fan of Giant, or classic cinema in general, you should rush out and purchase this immediately. If you have never seen it, where have you been?