brilliant and innovative character study of a complicated warrior who believed in re-incarnation and the ultimate power of war and violence.

Rating: Null/10 (18 July 2004)

A tremendous achievement, largely due to the performance of George C. Scott. Considering when this film was made (1970), it could have easily been a heavy handed indictment of things that harmed flowers and other living things. Instead we get a brilliant and innovative character study of a complicated warrior who believed in re-incarnation and the ultimate power of war and violence. Patton was a man who read his bible religiously (no pun intended) yet gloried in using the enemy's living guts to grease the wheels of his tanks. This is definitely a 'warts and all" bio-pic. The Director, Franklin Schaffner, had a knack for making serious, no-frills movies (Pappillon, Boys from Brazil) with no superfluous romance or comic relief, and he was well chosen to take on this subject. This is a lean, mean film with no filler. Take a deep breath and prepare yourself for the opening scene. Make sure your standing at attention.