Patton

Rating:
Summary: Patton: Portrait of a Hero
Review: A tradition has been built on this movie. Both of my sons run cross-country for their high school and before the big championship meet at the end of the season, the team watches the opening scene with George C. Scott giving his classic speech to the troops with the background of that huge flag behind him. And the movie just gets better from there. Near-perfect performances from Scott and Karl Malden with an equally strong supporting cast. Some of the historical details have been glossed over, but that's ok; it actually strengths the film overall. And who can forget the wonderful theme music?!

My grandfather served under Patton in Germany, and he brought home an intense admiration of his commanding general, which seems to be the tomes of this movie. Even while presenting some of Patton's faults, the viewer is left with an image of a larger-than-life American hero.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Backdrop to a Complex Man
Review: First of all, the movie Patton is one of my all time favorites. To say I have viewed this film dozens of times is an understatement. The new two-disc DVD version is simply spectacular. The brilliant color and clarity compared with the VHS tape is like night and day. So what is left to say about this classic winner of eight Academy Awards?Over the years, I have discovered that this movie, as great as it is, is only an introduction to the complexity of Gen George S. Patton Jr. The producers in conjunction with George C. Scott's memorable performance convey only a sample of the many sides of Patton. The film touches on Patton's multi-faceted personality with a fair degree of artistic license. Patton was well versed in history but was he, as the German officer assigned to study him concluded, an "anachronism?" Patton believed in reincarnation and also that his destiny was "to lead a lot of men in a desperate battle." But was he an eccentric? For the novice viewer who, like myself thirty years ago, is enjoying this movie for the first time, it should provide a thirst to learn more about this flamboyant military figure. The older biographies of Martin Blumenson and Ladislas Farago, the latter providing meat for the film, are good starting points. The later work by Carlo D'Este _A Genius for War_ supersedes the rest. The producers of the DVD anticipated this hunger and included an audio essay by Charles M Province (president of the George S Patton Historical Society and author of _The Unknown Patton_). Province's monologue, though factual, sounds adlibbed and unrehersed. It is obvious a prepared script would have benefited this essay.For the Patton afficionado the producer's license with chronology and settings in the film will be evident. For example, the scene where Patton untangles a gridlocked convoy occured in the town square of the city of Avranches, not in an open field as depicted in the film. It must be remembered that General of the Army Omar N. Bradley acted as chief advisor during the filming. Those well versed in this period will recognise there was no love lost between these two men and the Bradley bias must be taken into consideration. A second DVD disc goes behind the scenes of the making of Patton along with a sound track of the film's hauntingly beautiful musical score.Regardless, there is probably no better film biography of an American military figure to grace the big screen than Patton.Every scene is a gem. Even 1960s era American tanks serving both German and American forces (the former with incorrect paint scheme to boot) can be overlooked. Scott is magnificent (even though the real Patton had a much higher squeeky voice) as is Karl Malden as Omar Bradley. If you even remotely enjoyed this film on VHS, run, do not walk, to buy the DVD! A warning to the new generation of movie lovers, do not prejudge Patton on the film's portrayal. Read D'Este and the film will make a lovely backdrop.

Rating:
Summary: As Good As Any Film Biography
Review: "Patton", is massive by any measure. Number of Academy Awards won, 8, inclusive of best picture and best actor, the man chronicled, General George Patton, the World War that is documented in the film, the cinematic scope of 150 degrees the view takes in, or the sheer size of the numbers of persons and material that was put on the screen. Winning 8 Academy Awards while The United States was torn by the ongoing Vietnam War was no small feat for this film that documents one of the larger than life participants in that human conflict, one of the great warriors of the 20th Century, or of many other centuries depending on your view of the man. His was a towering personality and every event, every decision matched his ego, with the result that he was wildly successful, a man given to horrendous missteps, and either loved, feared, or hated. The bottom line was that if you were fighting you wanted Patton fighting for you, not against you.

One of the reasons this film was not narrowly defined as a war film was that it was about this one man. It is true there are classic war sequences as when he nearly yells, "Rommel you magnificent.........I read your book". But the film really is about a personality, and one that was rapidly falling out of favor when generals were no longer needed as warriors, when they were becoming diplomats, and in some cases planning a run for high political office as the war ended. Patton's ideas about continuing the war with the Russians may seem simplistic, but his attitude, one that was contemplated by other noted and respected men at the time, provides one of the greatest counter-factual discussions for historians, specifically what if we had not treated the Russians with the deference that we did, what if Churchill's party was not removed from office, what type of peace would then have emerged, and from it, what type of post WWII world?

Like the books that have profiled the man, the film is also comparatively massive at just a bit under three hours in length. With rare exception, contemporary films now hardly ever contemplate such a running time, for it means too few turns of the audience in a given theater. The fact is, that the films just are not as worthwhile, for when they are, people will happily sit through them and be oblivious as to there length. One only has to look at the newest installment of, "The Twin Towers", to see that a 3 hour film fills as many theaters as it is allowed to play in, and is breaking and making new records as the days pass. Hollywood geniuses take note, quality is still not only appreciated, it is recognized, the dumbing down of films is done in Hollywood by those that create the mediocre movies, it's not indicative of what film fans are desirous of seeing.

George C. Scott was a remarkable actor, and while not defined by any single film or stage performance, "Patton", was certainly a role that generally followed closely with a discussion of this actor's career. It sounds like the worst cliché, but when on screen, the man becomes Patton, as I suppose most performances that are truly special, and are still in demand 33 years after they are made all are.

I recently watched, "A Bridge Too Far", another filmmaking epic that was more of an ensemble film as opposed to a star vehicle like, "Patton". It was made in 1977, seven years after, "Patton", and by comparison the film looked terrible. The DVD I watched was re-mastered via THX, and the picture and sound that resulted were excellent, and makes the same treatment for films like, "A Bridge Too Far", imperative. Any film that people still are willing to pay for and watch that is in its fourth decade of existence benefits enormously from improving the picture and the sound via THX and other technologies. "Patton", takes advantage of this technology, and other studios should take note, and make the investment in other films that have firmly established themselves as classics.

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest war films/ film biographies ever made
Review: PATTON opens with George C Scott's famed six minute monologue as General George S Patton addressing troops. This segment alone is enough to convince viewers that Scott deserved his Oscar- even if he himself didn't want it. He gives a superlative performance as the hard-assed and fearless General who is the only US General truly feared by the Nazis: Ironic considering Patton had his nose shot off by the Germans. The man thinks nothing of shooting fatigued pack horses and dumping them into a river because they no longer serve their purpose to him. But although he is referred to by his men as "old blood-and-guts" ("Our blood, his guts") Patton still manages to hide an almost fatherly love towards them (the scene where Patton tends a wounded soldier in hospital and then reverts to his hard-nose self and begins beating up on the poor guy for being a coward. And later in fearless mode to one of his superiors "I shaved very close this morning, in preparation of getting smacked by you".
The battle sequences are well staged. In fact not a single frame of PATTON's 2 1/2 hours that doesn't detract the viewer's interest. If high school history had been this interesting, maybe I would have passed.
My only complaints with the movie: What's with the stupid intermission two-thirds of the way through the film? And second, it seems Jerry Goldsmith later recycled a portion of his score for the POLICE ACADEMY movies. Now if that isn't an insult to cinema history, then what is?

Rating:
Summary: SPECTACLE
Review: This is a great spectacle. Information, acting, cinemotagraphy... Perfect for all ages and a must for all intelligent people.

Rating:
Summary: A Soldier's Story
Review: PATTON is one of the best historical dramas about World War II ever made. George C. Scott in the title role delivers one of the most memorable performances in the history of film. The opening speech to the troops under his command is (almost) worth the price of the DVD alone without needing anything else. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, the film traces the millitary genius through his many campaigns across Africa and Europe, Scott is pitch peerfect throughout the 171 minute film Co-written by Francis Ford Coppola (who 2 years after this brought us THE GODFATHER), with an amazing score from Jerry Goldsmith, and a great supporting cast led by Karl Malden, Patton gets better with each viewing. For anyone who has never seen the movie, it's a MUST SEE.

The DVD is avaiable 2 ways First, there is a two disc set (the version I own), then, it's also available as a single disc (sans many extras). I think the set is worth a look over the single DVD. The set includes THX sound, a theatrical trailer, a great documentary on the making of the film, an audio essay on the historical life of Patton, and Goldsmith's isolated score. The set is the way to go here in my opinion, but either version of the film on DVD is Highly Recommended and makes a fine addition to anyone's film collectioin ***** Stars

Rating:
Summary: Marks Both the End, and A New Beginning of a Genre
Review: The year was 1970, a time for the motion picture indistry when epic war-glory films were dwindling in demand, and a younger generation of self-proclaimed social commentators was moving in fast. It seemed a breed of films was dying, but fortunately, "Patton," a poignant biography of the decorated General George S. Patton, gave the genre something to hang its hat on--and set the standard for epic war films, for those to come, and somehow for those in the past.
Contrary to the popular summary, this is not a glorification of General Patton, or of war itself; "Patton" is the insight of a man absorbed in a world of guts-n-glory, a world of conflict between himself, his duty, and the threat of being overun by ego and arrogance. George C. Scott's portrayal of the general will take the viewer's breath away with his brilliant and detailed performance; the brilliance and accuracy of the directing and screenwriting go without saying when one sees the power of the film for the first time. There is no better way to end a genre than to summarize it all with one film; "Patton."

Rating:
Summary: A great film
Review: This cinematic character study benefitted from the perfect casting of George C. Scott in the title role. There has seldom been a more remarkable marriage of an actor with a role. For most people, George C. Scott is George S. Patton, and George S. Patton is George C. Scott. The result is a great film. AFI ranks it at number 89 on their list of the top 100 American films, but that is a gross injustice. The film deserves to be in the top 50, at least.

Viewing this again, I noticed an interesting fact: Dwight D. Eisenhower is never on the screen, despite the fact that in real life Ike and Patton were good friends, met frequently and occasionally stayed up all night talking things out. In the movie, Ike's thoughts are communicated by letter, or through Gen. Omar Bradley (Karl Malden) or Ike's chief of staff, Gen. Bedell Smith. This was a clever tactic, however. Since Ike and Douglas MacArthur were arguably the only two American generals who emerged from the war more famous than Patton, having Ike onscreen might have been distracting. There is one star in this show, and it is Patton.

This movie tells the story of how Patton, an authentic military genius--perhaps the only one to emerge from U.S. military during the war--was not utilized as well as he should have been, because he was a miserable politician. It makes you wonder, as did a previous reviewer, whether a man like Patton, a "pure warrior" as the Germans so correctly labeled him, could even be promoted very high in today's bureaucratic, politically correct army. As Patton himself wrote, "Men, even so called great men, are wonderfully weak and timid. They are too damned polite. War is very simple, direct, and ruthless. It takes a simple, direct, and ruthless man to wage war." If timid, weak, and polite men were a problem in WWII, and this film shows that they were, think how bad the problem is today. Thank God we're the only superpower left, and that we're so much stronger than all the other nations that we'll never again need a man of Patton's calibur.

On the technical side, this disc looks great. The movie was one of only two movies shot in Dimension 150, a camera that actually captured 150 degrees, an enormously wide angle, and even the edges are perfectly focused. The letterbox, widescreen format is the only acceptable version, and the larger the screen the better. The sound is a bit spotty, with dialogue difficult to hear without being blown out of the room by sound effects accompanying tanks and planes. Best to watch with the remote in hand. I noticed that the 5.1 soundtrack worked alot better on my system than the dolby surroundsound.

There is a second disk with the excellent Jerry Goldsmith sound track and a "making of" documentary. The documentary is very weak. We hear audio clips from George C. Scott and director Franklin J. Schaffner, but they are not interviewed onscreen. If it was going to be a tribute to Schaffner, as it purported to be, he should have had plenty of screen time, and they should have mentioned (and shown clips of) his other works, such as Planet of the Apes. Worst of all, we are treated to Oliver Stone's lunatic ravings about how "Patton" indirectly caused the Cambodian genocide. Good grief! If you have only 45 minutes of material, make a 45 minute documentary. It wouldn't surprise me if this is why future editions of this DVD have dropped the second disc altogether. There really wasn't enough material to justify it.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent in every way
Review: Movies of course are meant to entertain, not instruct, but this movie does actually come close to pulling off an accurate historical portrait of a man that some considered a detestable prima donna, and others a brilliant tactician and hero. It is easy to form impressions of Patton while watching this movie: A narcisstic Patton fixated on his image in the mirror while getting ready for his first battle with German forces; a sarcastic playful Patton who replies "Every Goddamn day" to the question of his daily Bible reading habits; A self-absorbed Patton who must have his beach landing in Sicily refilmed many times; an insecure Patton who must beat Montgomery to Messina to prove his manhood; Patton as a brilliant military historian and tactician; Patton's belief in reincarnation and in personal destiny; Patton's antagonisim with authority while expecting his troops to accept his unconditionally; a Patton unable to control his emotions in the slapping of the soldier; Patton's pride of his troops on the March to Bastogne; Patton's belief in the intervention of God in human affairs (the asking of a "weather prayer" to clear the skies in order to make an assault upon the German forces at Bastogne); Patton as a 16th century warrior caught up in modern times.

The cinematography and the acting in this movie are brilliant and it will no doubt endure as one of the best war movies of all time. One can probably say without doubt that Patton would find it difficult to function in the military of the 21st century, with its accountability to the press and its extreme emphasis on minimization of casualities. With a few exceptions, war is no longer glorified and troops are no longer viewed impersonally but as individuals. But courage is still viewed as a virtue, and this movie shows that Patton and those who served under him, had this in abundance.

Rating:
Summary: If only all bio-pics were this good.
Review: 'Patton: Lust for Glory' is a wonderful movie - a real warts and all job. It shows him as a Prima Donna: vain, arrogant, bullying; but also brilliant, brave, cultured. A very strange, complex man. Full credit should go to the men responsible for making the film such an artistic success: The director Franklin J Schaffner, the scriptwriter Francis Ford Coppala, and, of course, George C. Scott who starred as Patton. George C Scott was awarded a well-deserved Oscar for his performance. He turned it down, saying that life wasn't a race. What a superb gesture?

If only all bio-pics were this good. I only wish it had been more influential. We rarely get bio-pics as good as this any more. Gibson's lamentable take on the William Wallace story is a good example. Even Jordan's 'Michael Collins' was a missed opportunity. Here is a list of bio-pics I would like to see made, but only if they are as good as 'Patton': Giuseppe Garibaldi, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, Salvador Allende, Oliver Cromwell, John Lilburne, Leadbelly, Robert Johnson, Charles Mingus, Ho Chi Minh, Che Guevara, & loads of others. I guess I won't hold my breath.