Blu-ray

James Dean only completed three movies before his untimely death, but what films they were. Biblical allegory East of Eden (1953) ranks among director Elia Kazan's best work, Rebel Without a Cause (1955) is a subversive masterpiece, and Giant (1956) is every bit as epic as its title indicates.

Picture: All three of the films are based on 4K scans of the original camera negatives that were then restored and colour corrected at Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging. As you might expect, the results are as good as anybody could realistically hope for.

Both East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause are presented at 2.55:1 and both do an excellent job of replicating the subtleties of the films' colour palettes and feature very natural-looking grain texture.

Giant's AVC encode is framed at 1.66:1 and while colour reproduction is very good, it looks a little softer and lacks detail in comparison to the other two. But, as this is down to the number of optical dissolves in the film and the need to use dupes rather than the original negatives for certain scenes, it's difficult to see anyway it could be improved upon.
Picture rating: 4/5

Audio: East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause feature DTS-HD MA versions of the 5.1 remixes created for their DVD releases. Both are sympathetic to the source material and – thankfully – don't try too hard to push cues and effects into the surrounds. On the other hand, Giant opts for a DTS-HD MA dual-mono mix that sounds entirely true to the original audio elements.
Audio rating: 3.5/5

Extras: Each of the three films is accompanied by the same plethora of extras that appeared on the old Special Edition DVD releases. In the case of East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause they have all been transferred over to the Blu-ray disc, while the majority of Giant's are relegated to a bonus DVD due to the film's length.

Two further DVDs contain the documentaries James Dean: Forever Young (84 minutes) and James Dean: Sense Memories (51 minutes). Also included in the DVD-height box are a 40-page commemorative booklet, three poster reproductions, five reproduction studio memos and 12 behind-the-scenes photos.
Extras rating: 5/5

We say: Beautifully restored and loaded with extras, this is a terrific boxset that thoroughly deserves a place in your collection

James Dean: Ultimate Collector’s Edition, Warner Home Video, All-region BD/R2 DVD, £35 Approx
HCC VERDICT: 4.5/5