Below is a review from DVD Talk by Preston Jones posted
July 6, 2005 when the DVD came out.
As
befits a soldier like few others, George C. Scott (in his Oscar-winning role)
delivers a performance like few others in his lengthy and illustrious career -
his interpretation of Patton is such that it's startling to watch actual
newsreel footage of Patton; Scott nailed not only the physicality but also seemingly
the psychology of this ageless warrior trapped in World War II but truly at
home in the conflicts of ancient Rome or Greece.
Working
from a screenplay by then-wunderkind Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North.
Franklin J. Schaffner's vivid biography of one of America's truly great
generals rarely, if ever, flags - Patton pulses with a life and
authenticity often missing from conventional Hollywood biopics. By tracing
Patton's efforts throughout his various World War II campaigns, Schaffner
manages to paint a portrait of both a man and his battles - it's a mammoth war
etched in miniature as seen through the poet-warrior eyes of Patton.
Scott
is surrounded by a terrific, if minor-key, cast including Karl Malden as Omar
Bradley, Patton's long-suffering compatriot and Karl Vogler as Patton's
nemesis, German general Erwin Rommel - but it's
Scott's show the entire way. He doesn't so much command attention as sears the
very screen with his presence. Volumes have been written about Scott's
performance as Patton but it still somehow doesn't do it justice - this is
world-class acting of a rare and magnificent scale. Patton the film
is every bit as enduring and compelling as the man.
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