Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

claudiaeilcinema Strange what time does. I wasn't in a hurry to see Giant again. I had a fuzzy memory of the film. I remembered James Dean but I also remembered the length and the pace. Now in 2018 it had a completely different effect. I was riveted from beginning to end. Elizabeth Taylor ! How is it that I didn't remember the groundbreaking aspect of her character. She's a woman of the future tied by marriage to a reactionary past. I was born in Italy but I've been married to a Texan for 23 years. I know Texas well and I know the difference between Texas and New York as well as Texans who never left Texas and Texans who have lived and traveled elsewhere. Giant, made in 1956 tells us that without partisan bias. That's how it was and how, in many respects still is. James Dean, magic, of course Rock Hudson is terrific but it is Elizabeth Taylor's film. Carroll Baker, Dennis Hopper, Mercedes McCambridge and Sal Mineo are moving parts of this arid and beautiful landscape.

lasttimeisaw George Steven's epic western GIANT, based on Edna Ferber's roman-fleuve about a wealthy Texas rancher household that spans over decades, rightfully won him a second Oscar for BEST DIRECTOR, but this is the sole trophy out of the picture's 10 nominations (although Mercedes McCambridge's coattail nomination is a fluke in hindsight, she has nothing to wield but a frosty front), mostly lost out to Michael Anderson's less time-honored AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (1956), another taint forever besmirches the Academy's credibility. The couple under the limelight is Jordan "Bick" Benedict Jr. (Hudson), the said rancher and his wife Leslie Lynnton (Taylor), a socialite from Maryland, who must adapt herself to the a completely different lifestyle but never flinches from her modern view of treating their Mexican employees (yes, they are referred as wetbacks) with equal respect, which collides with Bick's more entrenched racist frame of mind, and this "progressive East Coast vs. traditional Western Inland" leitmotif maintains as the pillar of the film and later evolves into Bick's epic defeat of his paternalistic arrangement in relation to their three children. Throughout, it is Bick's glacial change of his old-world attitude that flourishes during all the long years, Rock Hudson gives an endearingly no-nonsense impersonation that not unlike his first name, becomes a bedrock of the film, a pretense-free Texan learns to brave a new world that beyond his widest imagination and eventually transmutes into a better person, a titular "giant" in the end, even he is beaten up for standing up for the right cause, why it is so inspiring because it is a personal victory, and means the world to them, good deeds must be carried out no matter how formidable adversity looks, who can refute that? Taylor, on the other hand, dazzles in Leslie's bluff honesty and impeccable integrity that makes us root for her right out of box, Leslie's life orbit is less tectonic, but incredibly, both she and Hudson acquit themselves convincingly under their senior makeup, to parent fresh-faces like Dennis Hopper and Carrol Baker, and a strong sense of affinity between the two never get attenuated, not even during their not-so-infrequent spats. Of course, the biggest selling point is James Dean in his final picture, although for sentimental reasons, he received his second posthumous Oscar nomination in the leading actor category, but his indecipherable upstart Jett Rink is a substantial supporting character in the whole picture, and he would be a shoo-in to win if he could have competed in the category where his character truly belongs, however, his name had already become too big a legend to be relegated at that point. His portrayal of Jett, emphatically registers a false layer of insouciance that defies operatics, vaguely masks his touching vulnerability and troubling uneasiness towards the unattainable object of his desire, Leslie, whose footprint inadvertently strikes gold for him, but whose heart he can never conquer. Thus, it is the black gold that sounds the death knell of the Western genre as we know it, Stevens and DP. William C. Mellor employ stunning imagery to exhibit the burgeoning modernization that invades the vastness where materialistic gain lies beneath and beckons, as an answer to the prior un-warped long shots which retain the Old West in its most august splendor, the cattle herd sequences, or the majestic take on Benedicts' singular mansion for instance, but at the end of the day, it is the story's sagacious message that transcends its racist, patriarchy milieu, and makes GIANT a culturally, historically and aesthetically significant American tome that takes us through an elemental learning-curve of open-mindedness and righteousness that flouts the specious "winner takes it all" precept, without forging its tangy nostalgia for a bygone era.

elvircorhodzic GIANT is an epic drama in the western style. some very sensitive and provocative themes are covered through the film story. The dramatic and complex story has a direct impact on the duration of the film.The epic story of the life of a Texas landowner, his family and his associates.The story is shocking, through it runs a rather vivid and colorful drama and epilogue is insecure tragic. The impressive and magnificent scenery is decorated with a passion of human relations in a "hot" and tense atmosphere.The main theme of this film is the family. How many external influences and drama can change a man in relation to his family and the world around him? Oil is completely confused lifestyle of farmers and landowners. However, it has changed the tradition and certain family values. The money finally got an ally. Topics are related to each other. Love in this film is a sudden, in some cases even inappropriate. It is on the constant examination in relation to tradition, racism, wealth or generational conflict. Family passions and drama becomes a bit vulgar towards the end of the film. Petroleum revolution is being represented with a certain amount of irony and idiocy. A capable man can earn big money, but he will eventually be left alone with his personal frustrations and a half-empty bottle of liquor. Racism against Mexican Americans is presented as a sub-theme, until it becomes part of the family drama.Rock Hudson as Jordan "Bick" Benedict Jr. is stubborn, perverse and polite at the same time. His character is growing in every way and finally modesty emerges as the greatest virtue. Elizabeth Taylor as Leslie Lynnton Benedict is a beautiful and capable woman. The woman who crashed family and traditional taboos and gracefully aged. Her character is the most important thread in this film. Her performance, full of love, loyalty and respect has changed her environment in this film.James Dean as Jett Rink is an eccentric and awkward rancher who becomes an oil baron. He is an unusual and a cunning villain. It is difficult to distinguish between the things that he does for personal rebellion and those that he does out of traditional spite. What makes the difference between Bick and Jett has a name and is called Leslie. The film definitely takes a long time, but I think that everyone can enjoy in the hot Texas plains and dramatic plots.

dougdoepke No need to recap plot or echo consensus points. Instead I want to briefly examine three significant themes that the movie deals with. These prove especially topical now, even 60-years after the movie's release. Many film elements may have dated, but the themes haven't. First, however, a brief background since I remember the movie's initial splash with fond memories.Okay, what does a 1950's studio do to get people out of their TV chairs and into a cramped theatre seat. First, they hire two of the biggest stars of the day (Hudson & Taylor), then the fastest rising star (Dean), and a whole troupe of colorful supporting players, plus an established director (Stevens) with a flair for epics. Then they send them all down to the great expanse of southwestern Texas to film locations. For a screenplay, they get well-known Edna Ferber's sprawling account of our then biggest state and adapt it for the Technicolor screen in the brightest hues. Put 'em together and Warner Bros. has a box- office smash that drew folks, especially Dean-soaked teens, into theatres and drive-ins everywhere. Sure, much of the novel appeal has faded over time, while the sometimes dawdling 3-hour runtime seems excessive for today's attention spans. At the same time, the screenplay's cultural significance can be easily overshadowed by these showier parts. Still, the film's loaded with visual appeal and ideas that still resonate. So, will Bick (Hudson) and Leslie (Taylor) overcome their cultural differences and make a married go of it on his sprawling Texas cattle ranch. After all, she's from the East and clearly of a background that lets her speak her mind. Trouble is, upper class Texas wives are expected to keep their place and hold their tongue. So when Leslie intrudes on a husbands' political parley and calls the men Neanderthals for excluding women, we know Bick's got big adjustments to make. More than that—we've got a 50's foreshadowing of the feminist movement that would gain real momentum in the 1960's.But not only is wife Leslie a prophet of feminist ideas, she's an advocate of racial equality. In Texas, that means putting the repressed Mexican-Americans on an equal footing with whites. And that means confronting a more pointed issue than whether wives should speak up. Here, I think, the script fudges some. Leslie is quite insistent on integrating her Latina daughter-in-law (Cardenas) into social occasions, thereby breaking the color line in an obvious way. Nor does she oppose son Jordy's marrying a Mexican-American, unlike Bick and the traditionalists. Clearly, Leslie's character is designed as an agent of change, bringing more modern social values to a traditionally male and race dominated Texas culture.Now, where I think the screenplay fudges, is by not really showing any overt opposition to Leslie's integrationist ways from Bick's elitist social class. Of course, blue-collar café owner Sarge (Simpson) decks Bick over the issue, thereby signaling that in the conflict between property and equality, property rights (his café) are the priority. On the other hand, Bick's upper class peers are portrayed as going meekly along with Leslie's (and eventually Bick's) integrationist efforts, regardless of what they may be thinking. There could be a number of reasons for the script's finessing this point, but it strikes me as a retreat from an especially significant aspect of a key theme. After all, the elite have all kinds of ways of pressuring Bick besides decking him Sarge-fashion.The last key theme is not emphasized as much as the other two, but is significantly present, nonetheless. And that is allowing the individual to decide his (or her) own course in life without having it dictated by tradition. Bick would naturally like eldest son Jordy to take over his cattle and oil empire after he passes on. Nothing unusual about that. In fact, the roots go back to that of preserving wealth and power in the middle-ages through inheritance. But Jordy has other ideas, like being a doctor, instead. Bick's not happy about his empire not being passed to Benedict the Third, but maybe one of his son-in-laws will be interested. Except that turns out to be a bigger problem than he thought. Anyway, each family member is portrayed as eventually following his or her desires rather than something imposed. Still, the question of life's chosen path remains an ongoing difficulty regardless of era. Oddly, the movie's third main character Jett Rink appears uninvolved in any of these underlying themes. Instead, he's driven by his unrequited love for the unobtainable Leslie. But since the actor's the famously eccentric Dean, his movie character can't be someone too conventional. So Rink follows his own quirky beat.Anyway, seeing the movie again after 60-years was still a visual treat. What I guess grabbed me now are the themes that must have slipped by my first viewing. After all, where else at that time could such big stars as Taylor and Hudson and teen idol Dean be seen in the same feature, along with the vast Texas expanse and those opulent mansion interiors.At the time, these visuals seemed overwhelming and still are entertaining. But then focus does have a way of altering over time, and I guess mine did.