Customer Reviews

Patton [VHS]

5 star:		(277)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

"Patton" offers one of the great marriages of actor and role with George C. Scott's riveting portrayal of the notorious American tank commander. As a film biography "Patton" forgoes the rise of the celebrated general and merely hints at his ironic death because of injuries suffered in a traffic accident, focuses entirely on his military career commanding troops in North Africa, Sicily and France during World War II. The strength of the script by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North, as well as of Scott's performance, is that the paradoxes of Patton are completely embraced. Not even Patton's loyal cadre of staff officers can keep him from shooting off his mouth every time there are reporters around, but then neither German Field Marshall Rommel or English Field Marshall Montgomery can beat him on the battlefield. Karl Malden's performance as General Omar Bradley is just as solid as Scott's, presenting a man whose personality is the complete antithesis of Patton. Viewers find themselves identifying with the German captain who is the intelligence expert on Patton and arguably the only person in the film who really understands or respects the American general. But the more I watch "Patton," the more I am very impressed with the battle sequences of director Franklin J. Schaffner ("Planet of the Apes," "Pappillon"), which were staged live and full-scale without special effects of miniatures. Schaffner provides not just the large spectacle of a desert tank battle, but smaller and equally memorable moments, such as a soldier falling dead in the snow. "Patton" deserved its Oscars.

In terms of extra features on this DVD, the second disc features the 1997 50-minute retrospective documentary, "The Making of Patton: A Tribute to Franklin J. Schaffner." Recent interviews with the cinematographer, composer, etc., are blended with audio interviews of Schaffner and Scott from 1970, newsreel footage of Patton, along with clips and publicity stills from the film make a fitting tribute to the late director. The audio commentary on the first disc is really more of a lecture on Patton by Charles M. Province, the author of the book "The Unknown Patton" and founder/president of the General George S. Patton, Jr. Historical Society. Province more than adequately fills in what the movie leaves out about Patton's life. On the second disc Jerry Goldsmith's Oscar nominated musical score is presented in stereo, including alternate takes and a series of radio spots. You certainly have to appreciate what Fox has put together here: This is a "Special Edition" DVD priced as a regular DVD, a real treat for those of us who remember being mesmerized by George C. Scott giving that profanity laced opening speech standing in front of that giant American flag.

The Fox "Cinema Classic Collection" edition of PATTON offers a far superior picture transfer than the previous THX edition. The new image looks to be from actual 65mm elements and is far less grainy than the old transfer, which looks to have been from 35mm dupes. However, sometimes colors are a little unstable in new image, with often pinkish hues and reddish flesh tones, but most of the time the picture looks fine. The soundtrack seems the same as the old edition, which was just fine. All of the extras from the previous edition have been retained, and the new commentary by screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola is interesting.

When this movie was released, it was almost immediately recognized as one of the finest, most accurate and most sensational biographies ever filmed. The unique integration in "Patton" of such fine acting, such a wonderful script, and the filming itself combined to make this a gorgeous film to watch, be entertained with, and also learn from in terms of its historical value as an absolutely superb depiction of a most controversial man and his times. All that said, this is a movie best enjoyed with the kind of visual clarity, terrific cinematography, and matchless Technicolor it offers by way of DVD technology.

George C. Scott gives the performance of a lifetime as the ego-drive, brilliant, and iconoclastic Patton, marvel of the U.S Army, a man the Germans are convinced is far and away the single best General the Allies have, and they watch him convinced he is the only logical centerpiece for American plans for the impending invasion of Europe. Of course, they didn't understand the politics of the day, or the degree to which Patton was his own worst enemy. Yet the progress of the story on the screen convinces the viewer of the accuracy of the German command's judgments of him; he is at once bold, brilliant, and innovative, willing to improvise as he goes along to seize the opportunity of a given moment, attempting to grab hold of the ever-present chaos of the situation to transform it into an asset he can employ to gain advantage and win the engagement.

Such men as Patton (and MacArthur and others) are uniquely suited for war; they do not ordinarily fare well or survive with much public acclaim during less extreme and bloodcurdling times. The fact that Eisenhower, for example, succeeded so well as President is probably due more to the fact that he was less a battlefield commander and leader of "desperate men in combat" like Patton than he was a superb organizer and a natural politician. The movie "Patton" is an investment in both great entertainment and a colorful, dramatic, and educational video you can share with your sons and daughters to help them understand better the chaos, contradictions, and cruelties of war. Enjoy!

I have always loved the movie "Patton". It is a true classic and a treasure in cinema. I give 3 stars to this special edition because of the following reasons. I cannot understand why 20th Century Fox chose to add the Documentary "Ghost Corp" which seems to want to imply that Patton abandoned the XX Corp and particularly the 94th Infantry deliberately with no reason. Horrible incidences happen in war, this one happened because Patton was on his way north to fight a little annoyance called THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE!, also he was going to rescue the 101st Airborne surrounded by German Forces at Bastogne from being ANNIHILATED!. In the documentary "The making of Patton" there is a clip from Oliver Stone stating that the movie "Patton" was responsible for Nixon invading and bombing Cambodia, which, according to Oliver Stone, forced the Khmer Rouge to kill millions of Cambodians. He states that only two movies he knows of ever influenced history; "Patton" and of course his movie "JFK". Naturally his (Oliver Stone)'s movie was in a good way. "Patton" just caused destruction and death. My view of this is that 20th Century Fox wanted to be politically correct and shield itself from anyone anywhere at anytime thinking that they would glorify war. I have never ever heard of a single person thinking seriously that the movie "Patton" glorified war. Whoever thought that at Fox is an idiot and obviously does not think much of the audiences' intelligence that watched "Patton". Oliver Stone is simply pitiful. He wishes that he could make a movie that would live in people's hearts like "Patton" does. He will never touch that greatness, his films will never obtain that level of affection in people's hearts. People don't love "Patton" because it is a war picture. We love it because it is great, it resonates in our hearts and it gave us an image of a complex man and the great men around him who sacrificed, bled, and accomplished heroic deeds. It is positive and gives us hope, unlike the depressing, hopeless, and disposable garbage that Oliver Stone puts out.

"Patton" is one of the best and most honored war films of all time. (8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, 1970.) I first saw this magnificent movie in the summer of 1970, and have since then viewed it countless numbers of time on videocassette. It remains to this day one of my one of my all-time favorite films of any genre! It faithfully tells the story of General George S. Patton, one of the most colorful and controversial military leaders in American history. Patton is imbued with superb acting, an excellent screenplay, reasonably good historical accuracy, and some of the most authentic and stirring battle scenes I've ever seen in a movie.

Based upon General of the Army Omar N. Bradley's memoirs "A Soldier's Story," and the book "Patton: Ordeal and Triumph" by Ladislas Farago, this film chronicles Patton's military career from early 1943, when he assumed command of the U.S. Army II Corps, to his relief from command of the Third Army in late 1945. Many of the most important events in Patton's checkered career are covered in some detail: his resurrection of II Corps after its disastrous defeat by the Germans at Kasserine Pass in the North African desert; II Corps' subsequent victory, under his leadership, over units of Rommel's Afrika Corps at El Qatar; Patton's command of the U.S. Seventh Army during the Sicily campaign, and his slapping of an army private suffering from battle fatigue; his relief from command, and his attempts to extricate himself from possibly being sent home in disgrace; and, his leadership of the Third Army, where he led the Allied drive across France and into Germany in one of the most successful campaigns in U.S. military history.

Patton's penchant for "putting his foot in his mouth" proved his ultimate undoing. As World War II ended, and the victorious allies began to reward their successful generals with promotions and honors, Patton was relieved - yet again - from a military command for his ill advised remarks, and for his failure to adhere to U.S. government de-Nazification policies.

The acting in Patton is superb throughout. George C. Scott certainly deserved the Best Actor Academy Award he won (but refused) for his portrayal of Patton. He dominates nearly every scene with his brilliant portrayal of "Old Blood and Guts." Scott's "Patton" is a man of masks. For example, in the opening scenes, we see Patton the stone-faced, profane, passionate warrior, a man bent on intimidating nearly everyone around him to his implacable will for victory. During his exile from command, Patton dons the mask of contrite penitent; and during his drive through France, Patton becomes a buddy to the common soldiers who made up Third Army.

Karl Malden portrays General Omar Bradley, and gives probably his best performance of any film in which I've seen him. He imbues Bradley's character with the great intellectual ability, down-to-earth "common soldier" demeanor, and no-nonsense approach in dealing with Patton (both as subordinate and superior) for which Bradley is noted by historians. Other performances of note include: Michael Bates as the vain, priggish Montgomery; Paul Stevens as Patton's sycophantic aide Charles Codman; and Edward Binns as the gruff, testy General Walter Bedell Smith.

Because of the gorgeous photography throughout the film, I highly recommend viewing Patton in widescreen format. The difference between widescreen and TV formatting, either on DVD or VHS, is astounding.

Patton is a movie which will hold the viewer spellbound start to finish, mainly due to the dramatic intensity of Scott's and Malden's performances, and the realistic battle scenes. This outstanding film is one to be savored by anyone who loves a sumptuously produced and well acted war movie.

I have to agree with the very few that have called Fox on its despicable job with the picture quality on Patton.

I give the film four stars (in case you were thinking i'm just being mean and unhelpful) and the Blu-ray one. In case you didn't red those others (and there should be MANY more critical reviews of this movie's quality), here it is in a nutshell.

You've been duped.

Oh no it isn't great picture quality. The remaster is AWFUL.

Have you heard of DNR, or Digital Noise Reduction? Film has grain. 70mm film has less noticeable grain due to its large negative size. The thing is, picture detail cannot be separated from the grain and the chemical reaction when the film is exposed.

Because people want to see things looking 'clear' and 'high-def' like HD video and digitally originated cg/3d movies, the studios are 'scrubbing' the pictures electronically to get rid of the grain. They also use a technique called 'edge enhancement' to artificially sharpen the picture by increasing areas of high contrast like edges. So what you get is a halo effect around the edges, and/or LOSS of fine details because when you erase the grain, you erase the high-frequency detail. Detail on chemical film is inseparable. Look at Karl Malden - where are the pores of his skin? HD, and certainly the original 70mm film, is capable of showing this. Now go and look at Patton again. Just atrocious. You've been robbed and don't even know it. Compare it to another 'war' movie, Blackhawk down. THAT's detail and picture quality. Yes Patton is older, but it was shot on 70mm and there should be plenty of detail so you can actually compare the two differently aged films.

Look at Jennifer Connelly's face in Hulk where you can see pores and fine hair, peachfuzz and so on. Then look at something like the Dark City BD, where it's been erased (even though she's younger there!). In Sweeney Todd, the worst thing is they only applied the DNR around the nose and cheeks/under the eyes. See how 'blurred' it looks! They didn't even put grain back over the top to match the rest of the picture - and the most ridiculous thing of all is that in Sweeney Todd Depp and Carter are SUPPOSED to look drawn and tired and lined! It's just ludicrous! And they DON'T do it to other characters! Look at Depp's face in the Pirates movies. THAT'S what you should be seeing, colour grading and tone aside.

I won't even start on how many filmmakers use coarser grain to make the tone/film literally more 'gritty'. On purpose.

DNR is the devil, to be melodramatic about it. I'm not buying Patton on BD until they 'fess up and 'unfix' the thing. HD and Blu-ray are supposed to let you see a film as ACCURATELY to the original as possible. Not this rubbish.

There are a plethora of reviews of the movie, but my review is mostly a comparison of the BD vs DVD version. I won't discuss its merits as movie.

I saw Patton as a child in a theatrical release. But since, I've seen it also on VHS tape, 2 DVD versions and finally BD, as different releases were made.

This movie is stellar in BD. It is closer to what I recall as a child in terms of detail available on a large CinemaScope style screen. The sound does not have 5.1 imaging, but its clear and crisp, with dynamic range to make the explosions boom into your living room, while still hearing the dialog among the characters. You'll hear more instruments in the musical soundtrack that are muffled by the lower resolution DVD and VHS sound tracks.

The quality of the transfer is so good, it compares favorably against the just released Star Trek 2009. Patton looks like it was filmed just yesterday.

Having seen several versions it was amazing to see details I've never seen before.

In the opening address of the troops against the American flag, you can see Patton sweat big beads under his neck as his speech progresses. The weave pattern on unit insignias are detailed on uniforms, the amputated limbs among dead soldiers in the opening post battle scene after Kasserine are more ghastly, appreciate the texture of desert sand and its transitions to land as it becomes mixed with gravel, appreciate different types of plants and cacti on the grounds, see a supposed "dead" body flinch as scorpions crawl on his skin, or read the details on prop newspapers read by Montgomery about Patton in Palermo.

In the scene were Patton meets his his new aide after Jensen is killed, you can make out the building's all wood interiors, including lacquer on doors, 1940 era electric light switches with external wiring snaking on the walls, see the notes on the sheet music during the wine-dine session as Patton plans the attack on Sicily, appreciate different clothing materials on all the characters such as woven cotton belts, leather in holsters, cotton ammo cases and bandoleers, to the rust on the toilet seat bowls in the lavatory as Monty plans his Sicily attack.

Its more anachronistic to see 1960s era tanks substitute for 1940 era models, if you know the WWII period technology well. The jeeps used are the larger 1950s version versus the smaller, and lithe 1940s jeep. The vehicle paint strokes and uneven metal forging are so real I felt I was at the Aberdeen tank museum in Maryland, than seeing a movie. In the scene where a US column is blocked by a cart pulled by stubborn mules, you can easily make out paint over rust in the vehicle Patton is on just before shooting the mules.

The movie also comes with a DVD extras disk that contains the same material as the extras disk in the 2 disk DVD edition.

I can't remember exactly what prompted me to buy this DVD, but it its first five minutes left quite an impression. For those who have seen it, that is, of course, "The Speech". For medical reasons beyond my control, I was not able to stay in the Army (15 Oct 1997 -- 15 Jan 1998, MOS 11M [would-be]), but those first few minutes made me want to jump back in and kill every damned terrorist on this planet, because everything he said about the "Hun" could be said about fighting the "Arab" and the "Persian" equally.

The last line of the speech proper, the visualization of his troops' firesides 30 years from now, is quite possibly the most important line of the film. It gives a view, albeit only microscopic, of his command of history, and how he lived, ate, slept, and breathed the history of his profession, and was able to understand the propensity of the occasion as it was happening.

The only other two parts that compete with it also lift, for a few short moments, the veil of the past.

The first is the scene at what I would guess Patton and Bradley were at Zama (among the runins after Patton orders the driver off the beaten path), where the Roman Scipio Africanus beat the more famous Hannibal, in what was probably the most important battle for the Romans, republic or empire, where, even though I don't believe in reincarnation, his clearer-than-crystal view of the past makes it hard not to.

The second is the end scene as he walks out in the meadow with "Willie". The monologue is so picturesque that, were I to fall asleep during that scene, and I woke up later, I would probably be looking for my sword and fumbling around in my chair looking for the reins of a chariot.

Among the most well-done scenes were those done with Capt. Steiger, the Nazi officer assigned to research Patton. He, better than anyone except for Scott, conveyed the Patton "mystique" in this film. His best scenes were warning Col-General Jodl that Patton would attack Sicily (because the Athenians did in the Peloponnesian War, and the final scene in the command post, where Patton's picture is burned, and he is bid a fond farewell as the "Pure Warrior". If this latter scene actually happened somewhere in the doldrums of the Nazi regime, it is pure prophecy, because the absence of war ultimately did kill him inside, to the point that it was almost a good thing that he died when he did, so that his legend was cemented.

While this film was worth the six stars we have bestowed on General Washington, it is not beyond reproach.

Part of the problem is Bradley's influence. I respect Bradley, and I loved his comment about Monty's proposed "dagger thrust" (Bradley likened it more to a "butter knife thrust"), but I don't think that Bradley's and Patton's friendship was always as amicable as is put forth in the show. Patton's and Ike's relationship was also a bit better than portrayed. There's also the glaring omission of any discussion about FDR before his death. More than any adverse relationship between Patton and Bradley, I think these scenes were just a matter of Bradley not fully understanding what Patton was about. As is said in the movie, Bradley does his job because he is trained to do it; Patton does his because he loves it (l'audace, l'audace, toujours l'audace!). That one was probably correct, and a good explanation.

The only thing that angered me about the movie was that, at times, Patton is portrayed as a micromanager or a figurehead. The most glaring display of this, is his return out of the doghouse, before he gets 3rd Army, and he is shown just riding around in a jeep, with a big grin on his face; he was much more than that.

Any who have had the honor of knowing a former 3rd Army soldier, or even one from II Corps or 7th Army, know that other soldiers will give their unit, whereas soldiers in those Armies or that Corps, when Patton commanded, will almost invariably say "I was with Patton." Not only that, on the way to a church service project one time, I was reading a summary of 20 decisive battles, and that morphed into a conversation where one of my friends said the same exact words...about his uncle. Patton's influence is one that will be felt long after we have gone the way of the dodo bird, and no general that just sits in a jeep can have that kind of effect.

The only glaring inaccuracy in the film is at the speech. No, the editing of the language was done for the general public; he generally would only cuss profusely in front of his troops. He was only a Lieutenant General (3 stars) at the time of "The Speech."

Other than these slight criticisms, it is a perfect movie. The music, especially the theme music, is also perfect. Again, six stars.

Patton is an all time favorite of mine. I have now owned five video incarnations of this movie, from Magnetic Video VHS to CBS/FOX VHS to widescreen laserdisc to the THX DVD 2 disc edition to this latest edition. Here is the bottom line comparing the two DVD editions: This new edition's color is slightly better than the previous THX edition. This edition shows a bit more of the bottom of the frame, but a bit less of the left side. This edition's sound is markedly better than the THX edition. However the THX edition has a MUCH sharper video transfer...the best examples are the details visible in the closeups of Patton's right arm saluting the camera and the medals on his uniform, all at the beginning of the movie. You can count the hairs on his hand and see many more medal details in the THX edition. So Fox has yet to put together the definitive video transfer, which will hopefully be corrected when they finally release this in (whichever) high definition format.

World War II produced a long array of military stars, i.e. MacArthur, Eisenhower, Bradley, Clark, Nimitz, Montgomery, Rommel, etc. But for sheer animal magnetism and bravado, none could overshadow Gen. George Patton.

What endeared Gen. Patton to his troops was his willingless to expose himself to the line of enemy fire, unlike other "office generals". That he pushed his troops almost beyond the limit of human endurance is without question. But that could be excused by his belief that aggressiveness in the battlefield saves more human lives in the long run and hastens the end of the war.

George Scott's portrayal of Gen. Patton was of monumental proportion, it was an actor in his element. From the general's gentle side and diplomatic tact when he was in his best behavior to his thunderous, manic explosion when he was at the height of his fury, Scott got it all! No one could have done a better job portraying the unpredictable, egoistical, brilliant general.

The realistic recreation of battle scenes and the accurate depiction of war characters, like Gen. Omar Bradley and others, make this film a must for historians and history buffs alike, and put this film in the list of best war movies ever made.

The only irony of it all is, Gen. George Patton, a true warrior in the tradition of the samurai, had to die in a "non-warrior" way - - - a paralyzed and pitiful figure in a hospital after a car accident when the war was practically over.