Powerful Oscar-winning performance by George C. Scott...

Rating: 8/10 (5 August 2001)

1st watched 8/5/2001 - 8 out of 10 (Dir-Franklin J. Schaffner): Powerful Oscar-winning performance by George C. Scott carries this film from a so-so war film to a well-done chronicle of the ultimate fighting man. The other performances in the film are not near as convincing, but they really don't need to be because this is a film about Patton from beginning to end. His perspective is always first rather than the war at hand. The complexity of this man only grazes the surface but Scott's near perfect performance shows some of the perculiaraties of a deeply religious man who uses God's name in vain without flinching. His belief in reincarnation also rubs against the Bible which he so confidently proclaims that he reads every day to a group of priests in one of his most telling scenes. For such a great man, his career ends without much fanfair but he will be remembered for a long time because of what he has done. The movie will also go down in history as one of the better historical biographies alongside Ghandi and others.