Product Description

Film depicts the aging General's autumn years as a controversial ex-Nazi defender and desk-bound World War II historian. Following the close of World War II, General George S. Patton is seriously injured in a car accident and not expected to survive. "The Last Days of Patton" tells the story of these last few months of the General's life and the Army Medical Corps efforts to save him. Intermixed with flashbacks, the film also shows Patton's earlier career as a fledging tank commander during the First World War. Scott reprises his feature-film role.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32692 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-11-13
• Formats: Color, NTSC
• Running time: 155 minutes

Customer Reviews

Flawed but worth seeing
The Last Days of Patton
George C. Scott

I'm recommending this movie because it brings closure to Patton's life. If you enjoyed the first movie, Patton, you owe it to yourself to see this one even if it is flawed. Though I was disappointed with this film, I wanted more at the end. I felt the flashbacks did not go deep enough into his early life. It was almost as if this film came from scenes cut from the first movie, which won eight Academy Awards, and the flashbacks were filmed later and spliced in. Because of this, The Last Days of Patton dragged at times. The producer and director should have put more time into the flashbacks. This might have remedied that problem. It's too bad that Patton died before he had a chance to retire and write his memoir. Since he was the type of man who spoke out about what he believed (which got him in trouble more than once even if he was right most of the time), his memoir would have been a great read. We can only imagine what the world would be like today if those in power had listened to him and gone on to defeat Russia. There would have been no Cold War, no Korea, no Vietnam and possibly no war with Islamic terrorists.

A tad too long
I downloaded this movie from Amazon for my husband who is a big Patton fan. I figured this movie would brighten him. I watched the movie this morning.

The acting is superb, as is expected from the cast, and the first hour is full of suspense and build-up. We see the tension between Eisenhower and Patton, we see Patton's respect for the German prisoners, and we learn about Patton's distaste for the Russians. But did Eisenhower want to hear that? No, he instead "transferred" him to a "paper Army" (Patton's words) where we see his depression start to mount.

The accident happens in the second hour, but the last 90 minutes drag and drag. The last 90 minutes we see Patton slowly fading in mind and body as he lays in his hospital bed. Gone are his wit and acuteness. All the viewer has now is the dialogue of the supporting actors, which is dull at best. The end finale then comes abruptly as he dies and the camera lights fade and zoom out from his bed.

As for production and connectivity, my download connection rated "poor" to "good" for most of the viewing, showing one to two bars under the "connection" meter. Four bars is best. Sometimes the movie froze while the connection reconnected. But the poor connection did not hamper my viewing of this downloaded movie. I paid for this download what I pay in town for a week-long movie rental, so I am satisfied.

Well, not really what one would like, but still...
I gave it five stars for the touching performance by George C. Scott, reprising his role as General Patton.

Alas, one can guess the source of this DVD. A VHS tape.
I already owned the original Fox VHS tape, which I will continue to keep.
Yet, in quality, both are equivalent, neither worse, nor better.
The only minus lies in the fact that the DVD sports an evident superimposed logo on one corner of the image.
But this is not disturbing, since it is halfway transparent.
Yet they could have done without it.

So, back to the contents of this made-for-TV movie.
First of all, it comes in its original full content version, running slightly over three hours long.
The acting is fair for this kind of movie.
Names such as Murray Hamilton, Eva Marie Saint and Daniel Benzali (in one of his earliest appearances), give
you an idea of the caliber of actors involved.

As the title states, this is a more or less faithful account of the last days of Patton, involving him as the
Military Governor of occupied Bavaria and his relations and conflicts with General Eisenhower, which encompasses
the first half of the movie, to the tragic car accident that caused him to break his neck and surviving it for
a while (the second part of the movie).

We are also introduced into some flashbacks on Patton's earlier military career and his struggles to transform
a static Army, into a rolling and moving Force.
We get to see some of his romantic life and finally, is ultimate battle with Death itself.

He died a hero and consequent to what he believed in.

It is a very touching and moving picture of a very controversial historic figure, but despite all his human
frailties this big hulk of a man demonstrates that one can keep his dignity even to the end.
He was a fighter, beloved and perhaps even hated by those who knew him personally, but at least he was one man
who helped move things along in a time where many were too scared to act.

He was a leader, he was a war philosopher, a classic hero, like those he worshiped from Ancient History, and
therefore he may be considered sitting in the Pantheon of these peers of his.

This movie is a worthy complement to "Patton".

If only 20th Century-Fox would care to pick it up again, restore its original filmed material, digitalize it
and transfer it cleanly on DVD, they would have the appreciation of many who did appreciate and love the work
done on the transfer of "Patton".

Only time will tell, but I am sure, one day, someone may wake up and smell the coffee...

In the meantime, I can recommend this as an interim to that next version.
As said, it is not worse, nor better than its VHS counterpart, but being this a DVD, brings a more durable platform
to it.

To me it is a worthy investment, if just as a historic documentation...