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Giant

Play trailer Poster for Giant G Released Nov 24, 1956 3h 21m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 50 Reviews 87% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
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.
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Giant

Giant

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Critics Consensus

Giant earns its imposing name with a towering narrative supported by striking cinematography, big ideas, and powerful work from a trio of legendary Hollywood leads.

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Critics Reviews

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Adam Nayman The Ringer The contrast between Hudson's stolid, genteel acting style and Dean's more electric approach gives Giant the energy it needs to propel its massive, decades-spanning narrative... Mar 27, 2020 Full Review James Powers The Hollywood Reporter Including a fine performance from Elizabeth Taylor, great acting from Rock Hudson and a piercing portrayal from James Dean. Giant stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the great ones. Oct 10, 2018 Full Review Guardian Giant, in spite of its length, seldom seems long -- its story is too eventful, its effects too picturesque, and its director too skilful for that even over so long an expanse of time. It may not be a great film but it is certainly an awesome one. Mar 21, 2018 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews The only thing giant about it is its length of over 200 minutes. Rated: C Sep 17, 2024 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy This ambitious adaptation of the Edna Ferber novel is often touched by greatness, yet it's ultimately too scattershot to satisfactorily maintain its bloated 200-minute running time. Rated: 3/4 Feb 13, 2023 Full Review John Beaufort Christian Science Monitor Overlong as Giant may be, one cannot but admire the authority and skill with which George Stevens, the coproducer-director, masters the narrative rolling stock in his tremendous train of events... this is film making of a very high order. Aug 16, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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JoParkerBear P A flawed favorite of mine. One of the few epics I actually love. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/28/25 Full Review Luke S Excellent - Taylor and her character are especially excellent. Hudson delivers a great performance. Dean is interesting and loathsome. The storylines are very interesting - money/poverty, white/Hispanic, women/men - there is a lot it digs into. And a bit depressing that we have not come further by 2025 since 1955. The brown-face on actors playing Mexican was shocking to see - though this also informs on the times. A movie that seemingly is pro-equality still used light skinned actors with brown makeup. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/08/25 Full Review Audience Member This film was beautiful. The writing was impeccable and the acting (especially James Deans) was magnificent. I really want to watch more films like this one, I’m so glad it was restored. Now I need a Criterion release so I can never not be able to watch this. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/10/24 Full Review Rob911 B I was surprised that it was so long. It didn't seem so. A captivating, if predictable screenplay, but what acting from Liz Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean. Watched for the first time in 2023, but released 6 years after I was born and I can relate to how my parents must have appreciated it at the time. Very different, pipped to the Oscars by " Around the World in 80 days", a forgettable film if ever there was one. It is for whom it was made, an appreciative audience, and thus a classic of it's time, and perhaps beyond. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/30/23 Full Review Jack S Although Giant is certainly of an epic cinematic scale, it's over length sometimes seems as endless as those vast cinematographic vistas of Texas displayed onscreen! There's some challenging ideas in the multi-generational story, but it's unfortunately a long, dull slog along the way. As for the cast, Taylor is superb, Hudson is as good as he's ever been (so-so), but let's face it, Dean's work here just doesn't live up to the promise of his previous bravura efforts. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 06/29/23 Full Review Sean A Bit of a boring melodrama. This film may have benefited by making James Dean's character more interesting. Why not have him conduct a love affair with Elizabeth Taylor? Meh. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 05/11/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

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George Stevens

Director

Elizabeth Taylor

Leslie Lynnton Benedict

Rock Hudson

Jordan "Bick" Benedict

James Dean

Jett Rink

Carroll Baker

Luz Benedict II

Jane Withers

Vashti Snythe

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Giant

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Movie Info

Synopsis 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.
Director
George Stevens
Producer
Henry Ginsberg, George Stevens
Screenwriter
Edna Ferber, Fred Guiol, Ivan Moffat
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co
Warner Brothers/Seven Arts, Polyphony Digital
Rating
G
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 24, 1956, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA)
$183.9K
Runtime
3h 21m
Sound Mix
Mono
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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