Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3499 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-11-06
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 170 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
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

Customer Reviews

Fox provides an Outstanding DVD Special Edition for "Patton"
"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.

Best DVD edition yet!
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.

Why the Sabotage?
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.