Rating: 
Summary: A gigantic screen presence
Review: What about this movie isn't big? Big stars (Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson); big state (Texas); big ranch (2 million acres of prime cattle land), and big length; at 202 minutes, this film runs about 45 minutes too long. The story is the familiar one about grandiosity run amok; the moral, which has been done to death, is that the simple life is the one best worth living. We've seen it all before. So why see this movie? In two words: James Dean. In his last film before his tragic death on the Freeway at the age of 24, Dean showed that he was what his legion of fans always claimed: a true genius. Try to imagine anyone else in the role of Jett Rink , and the character remains a cipher - lifeless, dull, nothing. It took Dean to bring it to life and make it his own. In this movie, James Dean and Jett Rink become indistinguishable from each other. And perhaps only an actor as brilliant as Dean could turn Rink from a character we love in the first half of the film, to a character we hate at the end. His drunken tirade near the movie's end is a tour de force. Dean's magnificent performance doesn't take away from the very creditable acting by Rock Hudson as the millionaire rancher Bick Benedict, Elizabeth Taylor as his wife Leslie, the young Sal Mineo, and especially Mercedes McCambridge as Bick's bitter, sexually frustrated sister with an unrequited passion for Jett Rink; but next to Dean's knockout performance, they pale into mere adequacy. Forget everything else; this is Dean's movie.
Rating: 
Summary: The quintessential Texas epic loaded with stars!
Review: This 202-minute slow-paced drama exemplifies the lives of three generations of cattlemen on a grandiose west Texas cattle ranch at the onset of the oil boom. Being a native Texan with relatives living close to the area near Marfa, Tx where GIANT was filmed, I LOVE this movie for the sheer drama and myth of our state. (and yes, there ARE some exaggerations) But it's also a well-crafted movie with exemplary performances by Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, and a very young Dennis Hopper! Viewers seeking a fast-action adrenaline-pumping film probably will be bored by GIANT, but viewers who enjoy classical performances, historical sagas, (and old movies) will cherish this movie. It's sort of like a western "GWTW"! They don't make 'em like this anymore!
Rating: 
Summary: A DISGRACE
Review: 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."
Rating:
Summary: Giant Of A Movie!
Review: This is a movie that you always remember after you watch it.In
this movie Rock Hudson plays the lead role as the Texas Rancher.
He courts and marries Elizabeth Taylor.Carroll Baker and Dennis Hopper play the role of their children.One of the more lasting roles was the character of Jett Rink played by James Dean in his final acting role.Rink strikes oil and becomes a millionaire.This
movie covers life on a Texas ranch. The neighboring rancher is played by Chill Wills.You get a very good history of this ranching family in this movie. It is a giant of a movie in every way.The two industries that are famed in Texas,ranching and oil are well covered in this classic movie.See this movie,you will
never forget it.
Rating:
Summary: MASTERPIECE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS
Review: i recently purchased this film, and subsequently watched it. i had viewed this film years before but until i watched it last week, i never realized what a truly magnificent opus of filmmaking it really is. it is more than just a movie. this film was the personal tour de' force of filmmaking of director George Stevens. it spans three generations of a Texas family and boasts one of the greatest ensemble of actors ever assembled in a single production: Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean. it also includes a great array of character actors such as Chill Wills, Mercedes McCambridge and Jane Withers and many more. all those involved in this wonderful cast gave stellar performances. as for the DVD, it is absolutely one of the greatest transfers i've ever seen on a DVD to date. this film is 47 years old and the vibrance of the colors and the flawless picture clarity is phenomenal. it's as if it were filmed this year. the special features are absolutely as phenomenal. there are 2 45min documentaries and 2 retrospective documentaries which are excerpts taken from the old tv series "Behind The Cameras" hosted by Gig Young. there is also a New York premiere promotional of Giant from the initial release of the film, hosted by Jane Meadows and Chill Wills. there's even a few more extra than that i won't mention. if you purchase this great epic and great DVD, you will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: FANTASTIC!
Review: 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".
Rating:
Summary: Giant Is Not A Widescreen Film
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: a masterpiece
Review: 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).
Rating: 
Summary: Film buff's delight in extras
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: LUSCIOUS
Review: 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.
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