Giant (1956) (Blu-ray) Available for Preorder (1 Viewer)

[Mark-P]

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I hate to admit, I have never seen a James Dean film. He never really appealed to me. Have all these films on DVD, but remarkably, I never opened a single one over the years. I am wondering which films are worth buying (GIANT obviously), and if there will be a worth in purchasing the entire UCE.​

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Will have to wait for a price announcement.​

I demand that you turn in your film buff card immediately!

 

[Bob Furmanek]

I will be very curious to see what it looks like - Giant is almost one long optical - there are so many endless opticals in this film, maybe more than any other ever made in terms of length of dissolves on the A & B side.

Well meaning but ignorant Blu-ray reviewers blamed the Mackie lines in DIAL M on the 3-D process. I'll be curious to see what excuse they come up with for this one!

More info on the problems with restoring Warner color can be found here: http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/dial-m-blu-ray-review

 

[Robin9]

Matt,

Agreed. I don't think that set is going to retail for $45 here.

Most of those UCE sets end up in the $70 range, and that is
just for a single film with box-o-junk.

I'll buy the French version, but I want to see what the packaging
looks like first. It may be a turnoff having the title in French across
the front.

The other point you should check out before buying is that some French discs have burned-in sub-titles.

 

[ChristianLiemke]

The other point you should check out before buying is that some French discs have burned-in sub-titles.

The French set is from Warner, too, so there will be optional subtitles.

 

[Douglas R]

I hope it looks better than the HD version which Sky TV have been showing in the UK. I've never seen such an awful looking HD film broadcast

 

[Persianimmortal]

I know I'm in the minority in that I actually only really enjoy Rebel Without A Cause, and feel rather indifferent to Giant and East of Eden.

It's not looking good for me, because my options seem to be limited to either (a) Buying the large "box-o-junk" as Ronald puts it; or (b) being stuck with a digibook of Rebel (and I hate digibooks). I really do wish all studios released bare-bones versions of these celebrated movies for those of us who actually just want to enjoy a movie in a regular case without all of the fluff. Maybe we should be thankful that at least they didn't include a James Dean action figure in the set...

 

[Angelo Colombus]

I do have the region 1 Warner non-anamorphic dvd and the Canadian anamorphic Warner release and both looked ok but it does show how uneven the studio’s WarnerColor process which used Eastman film was and lots of edge enhancement. Looking for a big improvement on this new blu-ray release.

 

[darkrock17]

Why didn't WB just use the originial poster or the pervious Special Edition from 2004? What was wrong with this iconic image from the film?

The blu-ray cover makes James Dean look like Edward Cullen from The Twilight Saga

 

[Robert Crawford]

Why didn't WB just use the originial poster or the pervious Special Edition from 2004? What was wrong with this iconic image from the film?

The blu-ray cover makes James Dean look like Edward Cullen from The Twilight Saga

Just a guess, but they probably wanted all three stars on the cover.

 

[Andrew Budgell]

I get that this is part of a James Dean boxed set, but I don't think it was right that WB emphasize Dean at the expense of Taylor and Hudson, who had much larger roles in the film. (I run an Elizabeth Facebook page, and when I posted the cover art 1/4 comments basically said the same thing.)

 

[Robert Crawford]

I get that this is part of a James Dean boxed set, but I don't think it was right that WB emphasize Dean at the expense of Taylor and Hudson, who had much larger roles in the film. (I run an Elizabeth Facebook page, and when I posted the cover art 1/4 comments basically said the same thing.)

At least they have a picture of her on the cover and her name is listed first. The same with Hudson being pictured and second before Dean.

 

[DVDvision]

I think the Blu-ray cover evidently try to appeal to the younger crowd -- cannot imagine any Twilight or Hunger Games fans buying this set thought. Unless their into dead icons or something.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Cover art I can take it or leave it. It's not very important to me, but I have found that the original artwork might not be the best for today like it was when the film was first released and marketed in yesteryear.

 

[Robert Harris]

I will be very curious to see what it looks like - Giant is almost one long optical - there are so many endless opticals in this film, maybe more than any other ever made in terms of length of dissolves on the A & B side.

This a huge problem, and no way around it. I examined the elements years ago, at the time a few dye transfer prints were struck. They weren't pretty, especially with that tecnologiy's high contrast. As I recall, one notable dupe (a dissolve) runs around 200 feet.Digital technology, and a top colorist, may be able to massage contrast a bit, but there won't be much in the shadows to work with.This one will test some reviewers, who will undoubtedly give bad scores for something that is a part of the original look of the film. Be prepared.All original prints were step contact direct positive. RAH

 

[Andrew Budgell]

At least they have a picture of her on the cover and her name is listed first. The same with Hudson being pictured and second before Dean.

True. I'll just be happy to have the film on Blu. Not enough Elizabeth Taylor on Blu-ray!

 

[Robert Crawford]

This a huge problem, and no way around it. I examined the elements years ago, at the time a few dye transfer prints were struck. They weren't pretty, especially with that tecnologiy's high contrast. As I recall, one notable dupe (a dissolve) runs around 200 feet.Digital technology, and a top colorist, may be able to massage contrast a bit, but there won't be much in the shadows to work with.This one will test some reviewers, who will undoubtedly give bad scores for something that is a part of the original look of the film. Be prepared.RAH

Hell, you see such reviews on current films being released on BD with an intended look faithful to the original look of the film during its theatrical run. It's quite sad to say the least and will get worse with such classic films like Giant coming out on BD.

 

[Mark-P]

All three films are classics and well worth owning (and worthy of multiple views). I'm very attracted to that $45 price tag for the French set. Wow!

Matt,

Agreed. I don't think that set is going to retail for $45 here.

Most of those UCE sets end up in the $70 range, and that is
just for a single film with box-o-junk.

I'll buy the French version, but I want to see what the packaging
looks like first. It may be a turnoff having the title in French across
the front.

I don't know how accurate the info is on the French and German box sets, but Amazon is listing 3 BDs and 3 DVDs. While I'm sure the BDs will be fully playable in the US, the bonus DVDs will probably be region-locked and PAL encoded. If you don't care about the bonus DVDs then it's a really great deal, otherwise you'll have to spring for the US box which is reported to have 9? discs.

 

[Matt Hough]

I don't know how accurate the info is on the French and German box sets, but Amazon is listing 3 BDs and 3 DVDs. While I'm sure the BDs will be fully playable in the US, the bonus DVDs will probably be region-locked and PAL encoded. If you don't care about the bonus DVDs then it's a really great deal, otherwise you'll have to spring for the US box which is reported to have 9? discs.

That is something to think about. Thanks for the warning!

 

[David_B_K]

I get that this is part of a James Dean boxed set, but I don't think it was right that WB emphasize Dean at the expense of Taylor and Hudson, who had much larger roles in the film. (I run an Elizabeth Facebook page, and when I posted the cover art 1/4 comments basically said the same thing.)

While all three of the stars certainly contribute to Giant, I have always seen it primarily as an Elizabeth Taylor movie (though Rock Hudson is great in it, too). I've never been a huge fan of Edna Ferber's "sprawling epics" that cover several generations, including Giant. However, while watching TCM recently, they were showing some promo or other that included images of several stars, and one was Elizabeth Taylor wearing a cowboy hat from Giant. She looked so stunningly beautiful I decided right then that I'd have to get Giant when it is released on Blu just to see one of the all-time great beauties at her loveliest.

I agree the cover art is strange in that Dean is most definitely in 3rd place in terms of importance in the film. I am leaning toward the French box set. As it is a Dean set, the cover art will at least be appropriate for the set.

 

[warnerbro]

The story goes that George Stevens filmed Giant in 1.33:1 because he wanted empahsis on the sky. The theatres matted it on their own to 1.66:1 or wider. It would be nice if Warner Bros.' bluray held that 1.33:1 and let us zoom on our own if want.