Customer Reviews

Patton [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a great CD for collectors. This is the ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK to the film. These arrangements are the ones that were ACTUALLY USED in the film, NOT the ones that were on the album with the speeches. So, if you are looking for the opening and closing speeches, you won't find them here.
Why?
Because there are actually THREE different versions of the score for this FANTASTIC film.
There was another version conducted by Jerry Goldsmith in 1997.
And.... there was ANOTHER one that was recorded in 1970. THAT is the one with the speeches. As far as I know, it has NEVER been released on CD. Hopefully, at some point, someone will see fit to release that version. Personally, I feel those are the best arrangements of the music used in the film. Or, better yet, make a special edition using all 3 versions.
So, you should be HAPPY to have THIS version as well.
By the way, I believe this info is in the liner notes of this CD.

This is the film version, and it is inferior to the original album release. Often times, soundtrack releases differed from their film versions because composers could tweak passages here and there and get a relaxex, dedicated recording, away from the harsh deadlines of film making. The result was often glorious, as was the case for Jerry Goldsmith's Patton.

Add the famous George C. Scott speeches as prologue and epilogue and you have a classic. But only on vinyl. The vinyl version has better audio quality and is a better performance. It is a shame we are stuck with this dubbed version, which ironically is available on the Patton DVD as well.

This cd includes Frank DeVol's score for the Robert Aldrich classic, "Flight of the Phoenix"; an exciting score for an equally exciting movie. Goldsmith's justifiably famous score for Patton features the original recordings, including the haunting "echoplexed" trumpets. Also, the previous reviewer's one-star rating is rather inexplicable considering this is FILM SCORE release. Why would soundbites from the film be included? Bizarre. All-in-all a great package and a limited edition (only 3,000 copies). Get yours while you can - you won't be disappointed!

If this is what is available to you, by all means get it. The film score is as intense as it gets. However, if you're a music lover and not a collector, the score is available in the older 2 disc version of the DVD. You have to do a little hunting, but it is used as the background for one of the special features. They even have about a dozen different samples of the echoing trumpets.

As for the speeches, alas, I shall have to console myself with the four vinyl copies I've managed to acquire:-)

This album does not have Patton's opening speech or the closing "All Glory is Fleeting" speech. It misses the two most important segments of the original soundtrack.

While I can appreciate that this release is a very competent recreation of the musical content of the original vinyl, I too was totally dismayed at the absence of Patton's speeches(as delivered by George C Scott) which are virtually inseparable from the music for anyone who owned the original vinyl release.All of which subsequently leaves this release a rather hollow experience.