Giant

2005 "Sometimes any man can be a giant . . ."
7.6| 3h21m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 25 September 2005 Released
Producted By: Warner Bros. Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Wealthy rancher Bick Benedict and dirt-poor cowboy Jett Rink both woo Leslie Lynnton, a beautiful young woman from Maryland who is new to Texas. She marries Benedict, but she is shocked by the racial bigotry of the White Texans against the local people of Mexican descent. Rink discovers oil on a small plot of land, and while he uses his vast, new wealth to buy all the land surrounding the Benedict ranch, the Benedict's disagreement over prejudice fuels conflict that runs across generations.

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Reviews

ThiefHott Too much of everything
Mjeteconer Just perfect...
Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!
Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.
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.
Anssi Vartiainen In 1920s, a wealthy Texan cattle rancher (Rock Hudson) travels to East Coast in order to buy a prize horse. There he meets a woman (Elizabeth Taylor), the daughter of his soon-to-be business partner, who he ends up marrying after a quick romance. The movie follows their lives down in Texas as the seasons change and the old ways begin to give ground to the new century.Giant is an epic. It covers years and years of time and deals with all the prominent themes and problems of those decades. Things like oil business, racial issues, societal status, responsibility of the rich to the poor, and so many others, make an appearance and are addressed in turn. Taylor's character is the voice of the new age, while Hudson's is the voice of the old and their interactions are the driving voice of the film.And it works. It is a very interesting film to follow if you know anything about that particular span of history. The film is over three hours long, and can thus cover a lot of ground and give each subject its due time. Though that can be a problem as well. It is a very slow film, with deliberate, calm pacing. Nothing much really happens most of the time, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that things happen very slowly. Personally I found the film to be perhaps a bit too slow and deliberate, but if old epics are your thing, you'll definitely get what you're looking for.Giant is to be applauded for its vision. It set out to tell a family saga in its full glory and in that regard it definitely delivers. From modern point of view it can a bit tedious, but I cannot in good faith condemn it for that.
Terence Frederick I watched this movie, as it was the last movie of James Dean. The last movie before the unfortunate death (accident) of the fine artist. A fine actor who bagged two Oscar nominations after his demise. In this film, James's voice was dubbed by his friend in number of scenes after his death. The movie is huge in length spans three hours long and an era of over 30 years from the main character's (Jordon Benedict) love to Maryland farm's daughter, his rivalry with a cowboy on his return to Texas (homeland), story of his children and grandchildren. The movie convincingly covers two generation of Benedict's family.The direction is top class. First to direct a three-hour long movie is Herculean. The Oscar has recognized and awarded the director for this work. The guild and photo-play members also had their awards for the movie. The movie is adapted from a novel with the same name. The characterization were screen-played deeply with lot of ideas that makes the viewers remember the dirty-minds on racism in that period of time in Texas. For one instance, both the lead characters Rink and Bick are prejudiced against the Mexicans, but Rink is too poor at the start of the movie so he doesn't show it. Instead after becoming a businessman he displays in much cruel way. William C. Mellor's photography was exquisite in every way throughout the two generations in the story.In my opinion, Giant must be considered along with epics like Lawrence of Arabia, Gone with the wind, Benhur etc that made it to the top 250 in IMDb. There were few minor flaws that I could not fail to notice, which included Liz Taylor's acting that dragged the movie. She could've done way better to one of the characters in the movie that carried racial tolerance(Leslie). The next flaw is by the make-up department esp. when the characters got old they don't convince the audience. It could be true that the movie is too old to comment mistakes on makeovers, so am not treating it as one.My final verdict : If you're a fan of old movies that this is one to watch as it is pacey (not too slow). Children can view this as it is free from ratings.
popcorninhell Ah James Dean. Before Heath Ledger, Brandon Lee and River Phoenix became hagiographical symbols of what could have been, James Dean reined supreme as king of his own morbid death cult. Adorning the walls of many a young women's bedrooms since his tragic death in 1955, James Dean is still immortalized today despite that fact that he only been in three movies before his fatal car crash.Yet out of those three films, Dean garnered two posthumous Academy Award nominations for Elia Kazan's East of Eden (1955) and George Steven's Giant (1956). This in addition to gaining heartthrob status in the stupefying Rebel Without a Cause (1955) a film about a troubled teenager arriving in a new suburban town. Before Giant, Rebel Without a Cause was the only James Dean flick I had seen. I honestly thought his work in that film was over-the-top to the point of parody. I understand without Rebel we wouldn't have teen movies along the lines of John Hughes but do you really expect me to swallow Dean's conniption fits in front of his parents? Giant sees the capable actor putting much more depth into his character Jett. The film starts with Bick Benedict (Rock Hudson) and Leslie (Elizabeth Taylor) falling in love and marrying each other. Jett is in love with Luz (Mercedes McCambridge) Bick's sister and fellow stakeholder in the Benedict family fortune. After Luz's tragic death, Jett is bequeathed land which becomes profitable through oil. As the extended family matures and becomes embittered by rivalry, both Jett and Bick become richer through oil and cattle ranching respectively.The movie spans generations with the closing scenes taking place with Bick and Leslie in their 60's. The rivalry between Bick and Jett remains the focus for the first part of the film while the second part is dominated by Bick's frustration toward his three children played by Carroll Baker, Fran Bennett and Dennis Hooper who go their separate paths instead of becoming ranchers. Hooper desires to become a doctor while Baker would like a small modest place with her high school sweetheart. The young Fran Bennett who lights up the screen seems to be the only one interested in life on the ranch but things get complicated when it's revealed her character is dating the much older Jett.They all don't want to be ranchers like generations before them which highlight another theme in the film; the changing attitudes and customs of younger generations. Bick is forced to accept the changing attitudes of his family and society sometimes unwillingly but nevertheless looks to provide everything he can to his family. At the beginning of the movie, Bick treats the Mexicans who work on his ranch with indifference and inflexibility to the chagrin of the more socially enlightened Leslie. By the end of the film Hooper's character falls in love with a Mexican girl whom he later marries.Jett on the other hand becomes consumed with animosity towards the Benedicts after the death of his beloved Luz. All of his actions serve not to destroy them necessarily but to show them he's better than they are. A perfect example of this is when he confronts Bick to allow oil exploration to help the war effort (WWII). While they're technically working together at this point in the film, Jett looks to lord his patriotism and later his wealth over the Benedicts heads. His plans to live better however are undone by his alcoholism and greed.Throughout this review I have made little mention of the film from a technical point of view. That's because the film is for the most part technically flawless; as is the story. George Stevens adapted Edna Ferber's novel brilliantly and the set direction is rich, elaborate and gorgeous to look at. I can see how this sprawling epic can be Texas's unofficial official film. They're obsessed with big things down there so it only makes sense the movie of their choice is called Giant.Yet it's the films size, or rather length that can be too much for some viewers. 3 hours and 20 minutes plus an intermission is a daunting proposition to generations of filmgoers used to 90 minute movies. I was put in the embarrassing position of having to watch half the movie twice because I didn't realize the DVD I was watching was two sided and accidentally watched the second half first. Derp. If I had to choose one sweeping epic film to sit down and make a day of it, I'm sorry to say it wouldn't be Giant.Still Giant is a sight to see and one of Hollywood's greatest epics ever made. The acting on the part of Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, Dennis Hooper and Mercedes McCambridge is absolutely outstanding. Yet the real draw here is Dean who for better or for worse is the quintessential Hollywood "they died too young" stories. While East of Eden is still on the ever expanding Must See List, Giant remains in my mind the best example of Dean's method acting mastery.http://www.theyservepopcorninhell.blogspot.com