Giant (1956) 1080p BluRay x265 HEVC AAC MULTI-SARTRE

George Stevens' sprawling adaptation of Edna Ferber's best-selling novel successfully walks a fine line between potboiler and serious drama for its 210-minute running time, making it one of the few epics of its era that continues to hold up as engrossing entertainment across the decades. Giant opens circa 1922 in Maryland, where wealthy Texas rancher Bick Benedict (Rock Hudson) shakes things up at home when he returns from a trip to the East Coast with a love interest, the refined Leslie Lynnton (Elizabeth Taylor). Bick and Leslie get married, but she clashes with his sister, Luz (Mercedes McCambridge), and wins the admiration of the ambitious young Jett Rink (James Dean). Bick and Jett form a tense rivalry that continues to surface as the years pass and fortunes change in this sweeping drama. Seen today, Giant seems the least dated of any of James Dean's three starring films, in part because it addresses issues that remain relevant more than 50 years later, and also because it has the best all-around acting and the best script of any of the three. Taken in broader terms, it's even better, with two of the best performances that Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson ever gave, and perhaps the second best of Hudson's whole career (after Seconds) -- the only unfortunate element at modern theatrical screenings is the tendency of younger viewers, who only know him in terms of the revelations late in his life of his being gay, to laugh and snicker at elements of Hudson's characterization; but his work is so good that the titters usually fade after the first 30 minutes or so.

Extras

• Introduction by George Stevens Jr. - Recorded in 1995.

• George Stevens: Filmmakers Who Knew Him - First released in 2001 on the DVD of A Place in the Sun, this documentary features revealing interviews with an impressive array of notables, including Warren Beatty, Frank Capra, Rouben Mamoulian, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Alan J. Pakula, Robert Wise and Fred Zinneman.

• Commentary with George Stevens, Jr., Screenwriter Ivan Moffat and Film Critic Stephen Farber: As with Shane, Stevens served as an uncredited production assistant on Giant. He and Moffat provide a wealth of insights, memories and trivia, although much of it is duplicated in the other extras. Farber acts as informal moderator, prompting Stevens and Moffat with questions. Even with three participants, however, it proves difficult to keep up a continuous commentary for over three hours. An alert listener will notice that some portions of the commentary in the last half hour are literally replays of earlier sections (e.g., Stevens' comments on Michael Todd and the Oscar results).