Patton

. . . and it's not even about the war. There's no wall to wall action. In fact, World War II is merely the setting – a backdrop so to speak – and the battles are all downplayed in favor of giving the audience a glimpse into the brilliance (or insanity) of the historically significant character, Patton. From the script on up, everything plays out wonderfully to bring the famous general to life on screen, and after watching George C. Scott deliver his Oscar-worthy performance, I find it hard to believe there were a number of actors on the list above his name.

George C. Scott's performance of Patton is one I consider the greatest given of any war film. Patton is a champion for freedom while sometimes equally as much of a tyrant as the ones he's trying to put down, he's a monster and a hero, and neither he nor the filmmakers give a damn about political correctness. I found the character to be an overly harsh prick, myself, but in some strange way, very likeable and sympathetic, and when watching the movie again I don't look at the screen and say, `Hey, there's George C. Scott.' Instead it's, `Hey, there's Patton.' Not very many film characters have a personality strong enough to overtake the actor playing them. I appreciate that depth and that degree of realism, this attention to detail on the parts of Scott and Schaffner.

Schaffner surprised me by somehow managing to capture my interest on a subject matter I'd ordinarily write off as too silly (Planet of the Apes); two years later, he applied that same technical know how, craft, and intelligent storytelling towards a film whose subject appeals to me from the get go, and once again I'm impressed. There are some great war films out today; however, Schaffner's take pursued the most unique perspective in all realms, and captured my imagination with such ease . . . I can't help but come back to it over other war films.

And I have to comment on the score, which is not only one of my favorite Goldsmith scores but also one of my favorite war-film scores. Jerry Goldsmith matched point for point the brilliance of Franklin Schaffner's vision, the depth of George C. Scott's performance, and somehow managed to captured the essence of both musically. A good music score is one that tells the story of the film in its own unique voice. Goldsmith's score has such a prominent voice in the experience of Patton, that to remove it would be the equivalent of removing Schaffner's direction or George C. Scott.

Lastly, how accurate is the film? Not a clue, and even if it is completely false, I don't care. I've never been about writing history papers based on cinema experiences. All I know for certain is that Patton is a very entertaining and well balanced movie that holds up very well thirty years later, and it's a film that can be admired for its craft.

Not much can be said of this movie that already hasn't been said. It captures the war, the man, and the conflict of the two. I thought the movie was very nicely tied together and I thought the reflections of Patton on the past was very necessary. Patton believed in reincarnation so in looking back at historical battles you can see how Patton developed his strategy. He was a student of great leaders and commanders and the movie developed that thought really well. The movie presented the characters, the actual war history, and the Germans extremely well and it is no wonder this movie received the awards it did. After watching this movie over and over again, I'm convinced that no one could have played Patton any better than George C. Scott. You can tell from the movie that he put everything he had into the character. My father-in-law was an officer under Patton in the 3rd. Army and has said over and again how realistic the movie is. I would recommend this movie to anyone looking for an excellent re-telling of WWII history.

This is a long but interesting character study of a real-life person: General George S. Patton, who also was a real "character." Gen. Patton was one of the most famous military men of World War II, a super gung-ho leader who admittedly had an intense passion for battle.

How much of this story is fact and how much is fiction, I don't know. Knowing Hollywood and knowing when this was made - during the heyday of the anti-war (Vietnam) movement - I have my suspicions, but for the sake of the review, I will assume all of this is true.Whatever political bias a filmmaker might have, Patton made for a good movie subject anyway and the story is interesting all the way, thanks to the acting of George C. Scott, who was astounding as Patton and gives one of the more memorable performances ever by an actor.

Not only is Scott's acting superb, the widescreen photography is also good. Thank goodness DVDs came out so films like this could be seen in the aspect in which they were filmed. I can't imagine viewing this on formatted-to-TV images. I think much of this movie was filmed in Spain.

I think the filmmakers also did a nice job of not overdoing the action scenes. When overdone, violence can get boring. The explosions and machine-gun fire was realistic, especially for a film that is now 36 years old.

Going back to what's true and what isn't, if it was then Patton was a poor excuse for a Christian, which he claims to be here. For one thing, Christians don't believe in re-incarnation at Patton claims he did in the film. There are other comments, too, which shed a poor light on his "religion," something Hollywood loves to point out.

Nonetheless, if you enjoy character studies, this is one of the best. Patton's opening 6-minute speech before this huge American flag is a famous scene in movie history. That, and the rest of his performance and this movie in general, is one you won't forget.

Oliver Stone has said this film glorifies war, i disagree, what it does is show a man {Patton} who gloried in war, the war is shown through his perspective,and to Patton war is glorious and he revels in it.The performance of George c scott as Patton is brilliant, it shows a complex and demanding character riddled with contradictions ,who believes he was born to be a leader of men,the supporting cast is very good particularly karl Malden who plays general Bradley a calm experienced soldier with no dreams of glory, the perfect foil to the maverick Patton, the combat scenes are well shot and are never more than is necessary to support the narrative,the film rises above being very good to excellence due to George c Scotts intuitive grasp of the character.

RELEASED IN 1970 and directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, "Patton" stars George C. Scott as the charismatic general during his WWII campaigns in North Africa and Sicily, as well as France & Germany following the Normandy invasion. After the invasion of Sicily, Patton was reprimanded for slapping a cowardly soldier suffering battle fatigue (in real life it was two soldiers on separate occasions in the course of eight days in August, 1943). The fiery general was removed from command for eleven months while his junior in age and rank, Omar Bradley (Karl Malden), was selected to command the First United States Army for the invasion of Normandy.

Meanwhile, Patton was assigned to London as a decoy to deceive the Germans in a sham operation called Fortitude. The ruse was successful because the German High Command respected Patton more than any other Allied commander and deemed him crucial to any plan to invade mainland Europe. Immediately following the successful invasion, he was put in command of the Third Army in the final Allied thrust against Germany where the headstrong general, once again, proved his mettle as his forces favored speed and aggressive offensive action.

Patton was an interesting character who maintained a flashy larger-than-life image in order to encourage his troops; and he didn't hesitate to get his hands dirty with them. While other officers tried to blend-in with the troops on the battlefield, Patton brazenly displayed his rank insignia. He was a romantic who valued bravery and tenacity above all. All this is effectively conveyed in this ambitious war flick. It's interesting to observe the North African and European theaters of the war from the standpoint of the Allied generals, mostly Patton and Bradley, rather than the typical perspective of the infantry.

THE FILM WAS WRITTEN by Francis Ford Coppola with additional material from Edmund H. North (based on the factual accounts of Ladislas Farago & Omar N. Bradley). It runs 172 minutes and was shot in Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Crete and England, with the opening speech filmed at Bob Hope Patriotic Hall in Los Angeles.

GRADE: A-