AnneCarlini.com Home
 
  Giveaways!
  Insider Gossip
  Monthly Hot Picks
  Book Reviews
  CD Reviews
  Concert Reviews
  DVD Reviews
  Game Reviews
  Movie Reviews
  Check Out The NEW Anne Carlini Productions!
  [NEW] Belouis Some (2024)
  [NEW] Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel (2024)
  [NEW] Mark Ruffalo (‘Poor Things’)
  [NEW] Paul Giamatti (‘The Holdovers’)
  [NEW] Crystal Gayle
  [NEW] Ellen Foley
  Gotham Knights [David Russo - Composer]
  The Home of WAXEN WARES Candles!
  Michigan Siding Company for ALL Your Outdoor Needs
  MTU Hypnosis for ALL your Day-To-Day Needs!
  COMMENTS FROM EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE READERS!


©2024 annecarlini.com
6 Degrees Entertainment

Giant: 4K UHD [Blu-ray]
(Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, et al / 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray+Digital / NR / (1956) 2022 / Warner Bros.)

Overview: Giant, the 1956 classic film starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean in his final role, will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray and Digital on June 21st, 2022 via Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean star in a sweeping saga of jealousy, racism and the clash of cultures set in the vast Texas oilfields. Wealthy rancher Bick Benedict (Hudson) and dirt-poor cowboy Jett Rink (Dean) both woo Leslie Lynnton (Taylor) 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.

4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Verdict: Warner Bros. is expanding their 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray catalog offerings this month with the release of the magnificent Giant in the expansive 4K Ultra HD video format this June 21st, 2022.

For my money, this Giant [4K Ultra HD + Digital] combo pack sharpness takes a fairly large step forward from others in their 4K Ultra HD catalog and even comes with HDR (High Dynamic Range) for the complete 4K Ultra HD experience, of course.

So, what we have is The Batman presented to us as a two-disc combo pack with a sheet for a Digital HD Copy. Other stand out points you should know are: Codec: HEVC / H.265, Resolution: Native 4K (2160p), HDR: HDR10 Aspect ratio: 1.66:1, and Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1.

Featuring Dolby Vision and HDR10 for brighter, deeper, and way more lifelike colors, as with most all 4K UHDs, everything that we watch features these qualities - but somehow, this film gloriously shines within them all.

Noticeably crisp with the overall clarity receiving an obvious boost here on this release, what is more is that it is enjoyably noticeable.

For as well as some new nuances to the somewhat drab palette courtesy of Dolby Vision we also get to witness sudden bright pops of color; such as one of the most memorable scenes, this one that takes place in the restaurant, where a color clash ensues and Rock Hudson has to step in to deal with it.

Indeed, the picture enjoys the fruits of the added resolution in terms of bringing out the aforementioned extremely fine facial and some of the yellow graded material - notably the glorious striking oil scene, which to my mind was Dean’s greatest ever scene (along with the birthday scene from East Of Eden, of course), and which he is most notably remembered for.

As for the audio, well we have a veritable smorgasbord of choice here: English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit), English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (320 kbps), French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps).

Overall, this is a very strong 4K HDR Blu-ray presentation, and, for the most part, the audio track remains fairly similar to its DTS-HD counterpart; with much of the action occupying the surrounds with outstanding directionality and placement where effects flawlessly pan between the sides and rears.

As for the movie itself, well, 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 65+ 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 theater 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 them together and Warner Bros. has a box office smash that drew folks, especially Dean-soaked teens, into theaters and drive-in’s 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 65+ years, and in this magnificent 4K UHD form nonetheless, 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.

Giant Ultra HD Blu-ray contains the following previously released special feature:

Commentary by George Stevens Jr., Screen Writer Ivan Moffat and Critic Stephen Farber.

The new 4K restoration was completed sourcing both the original camera negatives and protection RGB separation master positives for the best possible image, and color corrected in high dynamic range for the latest picture display technology.

The audio was sourced primarily from a 1995 protection copy of the Original Magnetic Mono soundtrack. The picture and audio restoration was completed by Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services: Motion Picture Imaging and Post Production Sound.

Ultra HD* showcases 4K resolution with High Dynamic Range (HDR) and a wider color spectrum, offering consumers brighter, deeper, more lifelike colors for a home entertainment viewing experience like never before.

Giant will be available on Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc for $24.99 ERP and includes an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc with the feature film in 4K with HDR and a Digital download of the film. Fans can also own Giant in 4K Ultra HD via purchase from select digital retailers beginning on June 21st, 2022.

George Stevens, Sr. won his second Oscar® for directing the sweeping family saga set in Texas during the days of the oil boom. Based on Edna Ferber’s controversial novel, the movie’s release in 1956 was a massive box office hit and garnered 10 Academy Award® nominations.

Considered by critics as ahead of its time, Giant is admired today for the breadth of its humanity more than its epic scale with its grand themes of generational conflict, racial tolerance, and social change. It exposed the marginalization and segregation of Mexican Americans for the first time on the big screen.

At the center of the film, Elizabeth Taylor, as Leslie Benedict, portrays a strong and progressive woman who acts to stem the patterns of injustice.

In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

www.wbd.com





...Archives