Old, but certainly ready to fight
George C. Scott played General Patton like his life depended on it. Not familiar with the story? General Patton was a headstrong, tough American, who pushed troops to the limit and demanded far more than they could deliver. Stuck up, egotistical, these words described the man. Embedded into World War II, determined to end the German movement through Europe and free capture countries, Patton knew what needed to be done. Knowing all the solutions to war, even reading Rommel’s book on war (which won him many tank battles), Patton’s only flaw in his lifetime was treating war like a game. Never one for authority, even from the President, he commanded his troops to fight until they won, no matter the cost. His weakness for success only rivaled his drive to beat General Montgomery of the British forces to defeating the German army. Throughout the war, he pressed his men on until ultimately the U.S. government couldn’t take anymore of his political debacle of pretty much pissing off the British army and its leaders. Stopped in his prime, Patton did what he did for the good of America and to finally end the conflict of World War II. Though portrayed in many lights as stubborn, mean, warmongering, Patton certainly proves that he is what many also consider one of the greatest military geniuses of the twentieth century.
George C. Scott, for the lack of a better phrase, embodied George Patton. He took on his character, probably added a few more notches of intensity and gave one hell of a performance as the General. His role on screen certainly never became uneven. He never once stepped down from this geniuses shoes, didn’t budge for anything or anyone. He brought this real-life character to life and made everyone who saw this film be damn proud to be an American. No one else in this film mattered and it’s probably ironic because no one else mattered when General George Patton was in command. Excellent role for George C. Scott, so much so that he won an Academy Award in 1970 for it (which he didn’t accept).
Only Franklin Schaffner could truly put such an epic movie together though. The movie itself portrays Patton as someone just peaking at the end of his career. It doesn’t go into how he got where he was or his origin, it shows how he basically was ousted from his post due to politics. Schaffner captured Scott’s Patton in the best and worst of light. His accomplishments to get him the three-star general ranking isn’t needed on screen. The real passion, which Schaffner captures, is how passionate Patton was towards war and how much he suffered getting pushed out of his life’s work. As sick as it sounds, Patton adored and desired warfare, only because he was nearly perfect at it.
Only equal to Schaffner’s eye for cinematic flow is the brilliant screenplay that Francis Ford Coppola put together. In the early 70’s, Coppola could write like the wind blows. The man knew his story elements, knew how to bring a character to life and proved that over and over again not only in Patton, but also in the Godfather and Apocolypse Now. Coppola, who was very young during the production of this film, wrote the greatest tragedy that I’ve had the pleasure of viewing. He truly built this greater-than-life character up so high that you could understand how tragic is was when Patton’s end finally arrived. Much like the great classic historical figures of years past, Patton rose to greatness, but was ultimately betrayed because he couldn’t change who he was. All great historical figures of this type usually met their demise due to their own undoing and unchanging natures. Coppola’s Patton was no different.
If you have never experienced this film, this is truly a chance to see one of the best movies of the twentieth century. Patton truly is an immortal film, just as immortal as the man it was named after.
Yellow-belly cowards will love Blu-ray
For 20th Century Fox to clean this glorious film up and present it in high-definition, is amazing. It looks beautiful, probably better than it ever has, and it sounds just as beautiful. From the first speech to the last bit of bombing, you won’t be disappointed with the DTS HD 5.1 Loseloss audio. Visually, audibly, it’s just as good as the film itself (if not better in some respects).
As for the special features on Patton, here’s what you get:
– Introduction by Francis Ford Coppola (first disc, it’s excellent)
– Commentary by Francis Ford Coppola (again, very good)
– History Through the Lens: Patton – A Rebel Revisited Documentary
– Patton’s Ghost Corps Documentary
– The Making of Patton Documentary
– Behind the Scenes Still Gallery with an Audio Essay (pretty damn cool)
– Production Still Gallery with Jerry Goldsmith’s Musical Score
– Theatrical Trailer
For a film this old, it is amazing they could pull together so many great special features. I’m happy to see that 20th Century Fox respectively treated this correctly. Not that they usually don’t, most studios just transfer their movies onto Blu-ray without giving much love. This one was happily loved.
Attennnnn-TION!
With so much attention to detail in the special features, so much love put into the transfer of this great film from the original version to Blu-ray, you can’t pass this up for your movie library. As Coppola put it in the introductio, there’s a good balance of conservative and liberal views from this gentleman (Patton), it will satisfy everyone.
Fall in line for Patton!