Product Details

• Actors: Patton, The Longest Day, Sand Pebbles
• Number of discs: 3
• Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: June 24, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0019N6VEQ
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #24,034 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Blu-ray War Classics Bundle (Patton / The Longest Day / Sand Pebbles) - (Amazon.com Exclusive) [Blu-ray]" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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

The Longest Day
After seeing Saving Private Ryan, this epic tale about the Normandy invasion will look sanitized. But in its re-creation of events leading to the epochal battle, the film is captivating and grand, and the parade of famous actors who cross the screen naturally give the already charged action even more of a boost. Three directors worked on it: Ken Annakin (Battle of the Bulge), Andrew Marton (Crack in the World), and Bernhard Wicki (this film being his only credit). --Tom Keogh

The Sand Pebbles
Following the success of The Sound of Music, director Robert Wise chose to film Robert McKenna's prize-winning 1962 novel, The Sand Pebbles--an ambitious choice for a director at the peak of his career. Shot in Taiwan and Hong Kong, the film combines historical sweep and intimate human drama in several parallel stories, all revolving around U.S. Navy machinist's mate Jake Holman (Steve McQueen). Holman is a skillful but fiercely independent sailor who joins the "sand pebble" crew of the U.S.S. San Pablo, a Navy gunboat patrolling the Yangtze River on the eve of the Chinese revolution in 1926. The San Pablo's inexperienced captain (Richard Crenna) obsessively defends the Navy's mission--however unnecessary or unwanted--to protect American missionaries and businessmen, blind to the more dangerous implications of American involvement with China's opposing political factions. Holman is a defiant voice of humanity in this clash between outmoded values and inevitable change; his final line of dialogue ("What the hell happened?") is a tragic summation of misguided policy, expressing the film's criticism of the Vietnam War. Rather than preach, however, Wise lets McKenna's potent drama emerge from finely-drawn relationships--between Holman and a young American teacher (19-year-old Candice Bergen, in her second film); between Holman and the Chinese "coolie" (Mako) whose heartbreaking fate transcends all issues of racial or political difference; and between crewmate "Frenchy" Burgoyne (Richard Attenborough) and the Chinese woman he's sworn to love and protect at all costs. Combined with the film's colorful supporting cast, adventurous scope, and climactic battle scenes, these personal dynamics bring substance and spirit to a complex story of good intentions gone awry. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars you have to be an idiot, June 4, 2009

By	aragorn10901 - See all my reviews

the movies are great but if you buy these 3 films separately from amazon it's 66.00 total so why would you pay 107 for the bundle.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE LONGEST DAY / PATTON, June 19, 2008

By	Paul Scott (CENTRAL COAST,, N.S.W. Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The other Reviewer on this page states that The Longest Day was only MONO when it came out

This is not the case '
It was released in CinemaScope and 4 Track magnetic Sound giving you
Stereo and Surrounds.
It was later Released in 70MM in 1970 ,blows up fro the CinemaScope prints.

PATTON was made in Dimension 150 70mm and 6 Track Magnetic Sound
The Sound on the Bluray release is excellent.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless War Movie Classics, December 12, 2008

By	A. Gordon (Plano, TX) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

The only thing I have to say is that all of these are great movies from the 60s. I really like "The Sand Pebbles" as I think it is one of Steve McQueens best movie. The sound and picture quality of these are remade better than the original as I have watched these movies many times.
If you like war flicks, this is the bundle for you.