Great man, great actor, great idea - wrong time period

Rating: 7/10 (29 May 2006)

I am a humongous nerd when it comes to World War II. I could babble on for days on just D-Day or the Great Patriotic War or many other things. I also have great respect for General George S. Patton. He is, by far, my favorite American general of all time. He wasn't the best, I'm sure there were better than him. But his personality and his style are so larger-than-life that Patton deserves a lot of attention.
I also like George C. Scott. He was the perfect man for the part, and was very true to it. Patton himself would have loved to see not only himself glorified but also Scott's portrayal of him, especially Scott's voice- a low, gruff manly voice, which was actually unlikes Patton's, a rather high-pitched voice which he detested, but Scott's voice is much more like Patton's character.
But my problem with the film is when the film was made- 1970. Had it been made ten years before or 20 years later it would have been far greater. But the fact that it was made in 1970 destroyed how great the movie could have been.
The reason? The fact that the message is anti-war. Some stories, such as Homer's "The Illiad" or Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" are meant to be anti-war. But with Patton it doesn't work. Patton LOVED war. He lived for war. War was his life. He feared dropping out of West Point because he wanted to be in the heat of battle. He was sad when both the World Wars ended because he was no longer in war. The 1920's and 30's were a terrible time for him because it was in peace. But since the movie Patton was made in 1970, the only way it was ever going to be a success was to have it have an anti-war message throughout the movie. Patton would have hated this.
If all the actors were alive today (especially George C. Scott), and they made it today, the film could be possibly one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, film ever made.