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DVD Patton
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
A Great American General to Remember and Admire........
In this movie, Patton, George C. Scott gives a remarkable, monumental performance, with such great acting as WWII's General Patton. As an American, I needed to take some time out and reflect on how our military leaders in WWII, like Patton, fought and lead one of the most difficult, and almost impossible wars to victory, penetrating enemies lines and defeating the enemies on all fronts. With the belief, that yes, the U.S. will prevail and the enemy will surrender, and democracy will be the highest order.
Men like Generals Patton and Eisenhower have stood the test of time in history. These men are one of America's most respected. They were men of integrity and honor.
George C. Scott was one of hollywood's finest, talented, and impressionable actors during his film career. I cannot think of a movie in which he acted that I did not enjoy.
Sincerely,
Mr. Rodriguez
His Home was the Battlefield!
Unfurling from the famous scene showing Gen. George Smith Patton (1885-1945) delivering his rah-rah-troops sermon before the gigantic awe-inspiring American flag, this 1970 film is a wonderful character depiction of a complicated hero. Always true to his ideals, which include his self-confessed inability to keep his "big mouth shut," he incurred the wrath of his good buddy "Ike" and Omar Bradley, brilliantly played by Karl Malden (b. 1912).
Patton was also feared but ultimately revered by his soldiers, as well as arch-enemy Erwin Rommel, "The Desert Fox." Rommel, in fact, studied Patton's character and was fascinated that Patton wrote poetry and believed in reincarnation.
Unforgettable scenes include Patton ordering the driver of his Jeep to a graveyard in Tunisia. "There's no graveyard there, sir," said his driver. "There is," said Patton. "I fought there."
He believed that, in a former life, he was the great Carthaginian general Hannibal, and was saddened by Hannibal's brilliance and loss. As a child, Patton was well versed with bios of military heroes as far back as in the immortal Iliad.
Another memorable scene has the raspy-voiced Patton ordering the Chaplain to pray for good weather. Although a general can motivate his troops only so far, the weather must cooperate - it didn't, Patton confided to the Chaplain, and Napolean lost at Waterloo. Not surprisingly, Patton believed he was one of Napoleon's soldiers. Patton's order of prayer had the lucky coincidence of stopping a snowstorm in its tracks so Patton's Third Army could advance in victory.
In the midst of deadly battle where Patton views himself as utterly invincible, he remarks, "God, I love it here!" Every nuance of the noble, arrogant, elitist, insubordinately lovable general is brilliantly portrayed by George C. Scott (1927-1999). At age 43, Scott famously declined his Oscar award for best actor stating the Oscars were nothing but a "meat market." Patton, on the other hand, adored the accoutrements of power: his numerous medals and celebratory garments including polished helmet, ivory pistol and riding jodhpurs!
One of the greatest films ever made, with wonderfully little blood and gore, what would the real George Smith Patton think of the ridiculous war raging overseas today in Iraq? Or perhaps he is over there in another carnation. Whose?
A great actor portraying a great man
George C. Scott is magnificent as George S. Patton!
Although the movie has some inaccuracies- some of them showing Patton in a less than favourable light- Scott manages somehow to successfully raise the character above them and make us care for, admire and respect the old general, who was in fact a far superior soldier and a far superior man than those who tried- and those who still try- to belittle or criticize him.
George S. Patton said "It is the unconquerable soul of man, not the nature of the weapon he uses, that insures victory", and thanks in great part to Scott's portrayal, we see and feel Patton's soul, the soul of a true warrior, which was much needed them, and, I fear, we still do today. Although it is very likely that he would be treated as unfairly today as he was back then, if not more so.
This is a movie worth wachting for many reasons. It may not be precisely a History lesson, but it is certainly is good lesson on what it takes to be a soldier and what it takes to be a man.
Not only it is not, this movie has aged badly over the years. And I don't mean just its special effects, which were the best at the time but now look understandably dated. I mean the picture itself; the attitude it reflects.
Soldiers fall nicely in bloodless deaths. Grenades only kill when needed, enemies fire only when you keep your head down, dirt only stains your cheeks, and wounds mean only scratches and cuts, not gory carnage. There is no pain or terror; no one cries in agony, grief or desperation.
No one kills civilians, not even nazis, not even by accident. There's your standard scared kid or Brooklyn wiseguy among the grunts, to be sure, but every officer is a "Father-knows-best" square-jawed tough hombre. Germans always yell on the phone, whether in... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Bernhard Wicki - Darryl F. Zanuck - Andrew Marton DVD Release Date: Released the 23 May 2006 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This 1969 film has never lost its popularity or its unusual appeal as a star-driven Western that tinkers with the genre's conventions and comes up with something both terrifically entertaining and--typical of its period--a tad paranoid. Paul Newman plays the legendary outlaw Butch Cassidy as an eternal optimist and self-styled visionary, conjuring dreams of banks just ripe for the picking all over the world. Robert Redford is his more levelheaded partner, the sharpshooting Sundance Kid. The film, written by William Goldman (The Princess Bride) and directed by George Roy Hill (The Sting), basically begins as a freewheeling story about robbing trains but soon becomes a chase as a relentless posse--always seen at a great distance like some remote authority--forces Butch and... More Info about this DVD Director(s): George Roy Hill DVD Release Date: Released the 06 June 2006 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Six months after the Japanese destroyed the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, the Americans discovered the Japanese were planning to seize the Naval base at Midway Island--a perfect staging point for invading Hawaii or the mainland. Outnumbered four to one, the Americans won a surprise victory and shattered the backbone of the Japanese Imperial Navy. This 1976 film feels more like a history lesson than a drama, but World War II buffs will appreciate the attention to historical fact (especially the way in which fate and a few bad decisions turned the tide), as well as the generous use of actual battle footage. The all-star cast includes Robert Mitchum, James Coburn, and Cliff Robertson in cameos and a whole slew of familiar TV faces in supporting roles. Hal Holbrook is fun as an... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Jack Smight DVD Release Date: Released the 30 October 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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