Giant on DVD

Maybe it’s just us, but George Stevens’ big, sprawing soap opera didn’t seem as good a film to us as the hype or its honored position in movie history would warrant.

Still, it’s an epic that should be seen, and we would have expected that this deluxe two disc DVD would have been the best way to see it.

Perhaps it is, but only if you don’t own a widescreen television.

Giant follows the Benedict family, wealthy Texas cattlemen, and those around them. Young Benedict patriarch Jordan (Rock Hudson), who goes by the name Bick, brings his lovely new bride Leslie (Elizabeth Taylor) home to his sprawling ranch and mansion. It’s a new world to her; she’s used to green and trees, and this part of Texas is a wide, flat, dry vista. It’s also a new world to her sensibilities as she brings feminism and East coast liberalism to the ranch, treating the humble Mexican immigrant workers as equals and not being cowed into her place as the little woman.

Meanwhile, strange loner Jett Rink (James Dean), who Bick never liked, inherits a part of the ranch and homesteads it, over Bick’s objections. Later (wouldn’t you know?) he finds oil and becomes a tycoon.

Meanwhile, Bick and Leslie raise their family and try to live their lives while the world around them changes.

The three main stars, who age some thirty years over the course of the movie, are excellent. Hudson and Taylor have great chemistry and are convincing all the way through - and as they age they get even better. The real surprise, to us, was Dean. He was only beginning his career in Giant (he was 23 years of age and this was only his third film) and would undoubtedly have had a long and distinguished career had he not been killed. As Jett Rink, we see him grow from silent and sullen ranch hand to arrogant, haunted billionaire; it’s an excellent portrayal.

The list of other stars is long, and includes Carroll Baker, Jane Withers, Chill Wills, Mercedes McCambridge, a very young Dennis Hopper and Sal Mineo, along with Rod (Rodney) Taylor, and Earl Holliman.

The scale is breathtaking, the cinematography is wonderful. This is definitely an epic, albeit a flawed one. And it’s flawed mostly because, as with TV’s Dallas, it’s really just a soap opera, though in this instance a soap on a grand scale.

The new Warner DVD offers a lot of promise, but they blew one of the most important aspects of it: it isn’t anamorphic! According to the box, the 1.66:1 widescreen release is the original theatrical format, and that’s fine. But it’s only letterboxed, so while owners of “old fashioned” 4x3 TV’s won’t notice the difference, owners of widescreen TV’s (the ones who’d really appreciate Giant’s epic look) will be forced to stretch and/or zoom the picture to fit their screens lest the gray or black bars beside the picture burn in.

This is unforgiveable. Giant looked great on our 4x3 reference TV, but on our 57 inch 16x9 rear projector, set to “zoom” mode to preserve the aspect ratio while filling the screen as much as possible, the picture lost a lot of its resolution and the result was a substandard DVD.

Rats! On the 4x3 TV the picture was so clean and sharp you could almost see where the actors’ makeup had been applied seemingly with a trowel. What a shame it is that people with more state-of-the-art home theaters won’t get this.

Audio is supposedly Dolby Surround Stereo, but though the sound quality is adequate it sure sounded as if it was only mono to us - not that there’s anything wrong with that. Still, the overall sound quality is okay.

Disc One includes a running commentary featuring film critic Stephen Farber, screenwriter Ivan Moffat and George Stevens Jr. There’s also an introduction to the film by Stevens, Jr. and a set of interviews with other directors commenting on Stevens Sr.

Disc Two is full of interesting stuff, including some reasonably full length documentaries where cast and crew members reminisce about the film. There’s also a copy of the film’s New York premiere, a featurette on the Hollywood premier, newsreel, “Behind the cameras” segments that are quite interesting, production notes, trailers, stills and documents. There’s a lot of stuff.

Now if only they’d release an anamorphic version we’d be pleased to recommend this DVD. As it is, we can’t.

Giant, from Warner Home Video
201 min. widescreen letterboxed (1.66:1, not 16x9 TV compatible), Dolby Digital surround stereo
Starring Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean
Produced by George Stevens and Henry Ginsberg
Written by Fred Guiol and Ivan Moffat, Directed by George Stevens

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