A critically acclaimed film that won a total of eight 1970 Academy Awards (Including Best Picture), Patton is a riveting portrait of one of the 20th century's greatest military geniuses. One of it's Oscars went to George Patton, the only Allied general truly feared by the Nazis. Charismatic and Flamboyant, Patton designed his own uniforms, sported ivory-handled six-shooters, and believed he was a warrior in past lives. He outmanuevered Rommel in Africa, and after D-Day led his troops in an unstoppable campaign across Europe. But he was rebellious as well insight and poignancy, his own volatile personailty was one enemy he could never defeat. One of the greatest screen biographies ever produced, this monumental film runs nearly three hours, won seven Academy Awards, and gave George C. Scott the greatest role of his career. It was released in 1970 when protest against the Vietnam War still raged at home and abroad, and many critics and moviegoers struggled to reconcile current events with the movie's glorification of Gen. George S. Patton as a crazy-brave genius of World War II.
How could a movie so huge in scope and so fascinated by its subject be considered an anti-war film? The simple truth is that it's not--Patton is less about World War II than about the rise and fall of a man whose life was literally defined by war, and who felt lost and lonely without the grand-scale pursuit of an enemy. George C. Scott embodies his role so fully, so convincingly, that we can't help but be drawn to and fascinated by Patton as a man who is simultaneously bound for hell and glory. The film's opening monologue alone is a masterful display of acting and character analysis, and everything that follows is sheer brilliance on the part of Scott and director Franklin J. Schaffner.
Filmed on an epic scale at literally dozens of European locations, Patton does not embrace war as a noble pursuit, nor does it deny the reality of war as a breeding ground for heroes. Through the awesome achievement of Scott's performance and the film's grand ambition, Patton shows all the complexities of a man who accepted his role in life and (like Scott) played it to the hilt. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: A short historical review Comment: First let me say that I loved the acting and George C. Scott provided one of the greatest acting performances in a film. However, this movie is flawed, fatally flawed, when it comes to the real Patton. Yes, much is true, but much is from the perspective of a man, that we now know since his death and the availability of his writings, hated Patton. That person was the technical consultant on this movie and his name is General Omar Bradley. Without wishing to get into arguments on whom was right or wrong in a given situation since they were both typical generals and therefore prim a donas, the one-sided perspective in this movie always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. For example, Bradley hated Montgomery as much as Patton and would speak it but we never see this in the movie since Bradley evidently thought it would make him look bad. If Patton disagreed with Bradley while under his command, he would suck it up. Bradley was known to complain to Eisenhower and Alexander. Bradley was simply wrong about Patton's actions on Sicily. Given the constraints Monty put him under, he did a remarkable job of trying to kill Germans as much as possible and limit their escape from the island. At the Bulge, both Eisenhower and Bradley were caught with their pants down big time and instead of harping on that, Patton was ready to go with a plan that helped turn the battle into a huge Allied victory. Patton was a meticulous planner who never sacrificed the lives of his troops for personal glory. He understood that the quicker the war ended, the less men would die. Customer Rating: Summary: Patton Great Movie done before PC Folks Got a hold of History Comment: One of the best war movies of all time, back in Blue Ray. Had it in the old DVD style but a must have in Blue Ray Customer Rating: Summary: Patton should have been watched in high resolution years ago. Comment: This is a good war movie with wide landscape view from one scene to another. I have enjoyed this movies in wide screen in theaters since I was a child. High resolution version just brings back all the good memory and saw all details audience deserves to see at home. Customer Rating: Summary: Great Movie. Bummer Pricing Comment: This is a great classic movie. However, one week after I ordered, Amazon dropped the price $4.00 or about 33%. Bummer. Customer Rating: Summary: one of best movies ever made Comment: terrific cinematograpy. superb acting. academy award winning performance by george c. scott. story line, with a little artistic license, for the most part is historically accurate.