Patton

The Rebel Warrior

War Drama History
172 min     7.5     1970     USA

Overview

"Patton" tells the tale of General George S. Patton, famous tank commander of World War II. The film begins with patton's career in North Africa and progresses through the invasion of Germany and the fall of the Third Reich. Side plots also speak of Patton's numerous faults such his temper and habit towards insubordination.

Reviews

John Chard wrote:
I love it. God help me I do love it so. I love it more than my life. Patton is directed by Franklin J Schaffner and is adapted to screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North from Ladislas Farago's "Patton: Ordeal and Triumph" and Omar N. Bradley's "A Soldier's Story". It stars George C Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates, Edward Binns, John Doucette, Stephen Young, Michael Strong and Cary Loftin. Music is by Jerry Goldsmith and cinematography by Fred J. Koenekamp. Pic is a part biography of George S. Patton Jr. which follows his exploits in WWII until his retirement from service. Released at the time of the Vietnam War, there's a certain bravado in the makers choosing this period to release a biopic about one of America's most famous - and controversial - military characters. Led by a tour de force performance by Scott as Patton, Shaffner and his team rightly portray the man as full of flag waving bluster, gigantic egotism and majestic tenderness. The complexity of the man in Scott's hands is what drives the film to greater heights. Schaffner's (Planet of the Apes) shows a smart eye for battle scene construction (shot in 70 millimetre - Dimension 150), this puts us viewers right in amongst the horrors of warfare. The supporting cast do sterling work in the face of Scott's barnstorming show, which when all told as a film leaves us with a war biography of great depth and one that rightly is held up as a marker for such genre ventures. 9/10

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