One of the best World War II movies I have seen

Rating: 8/10 (10 February 2006)

"Patton" is easily one of the best World War II movies I have seen. Scott's portrayal of the General is authentic and sensitive. Patton's character is complex - it is not that of a war-monger, as might be easily construed by flippant viewers. His attitude to War was very abstract, in his own words - "... no other human endeavour can match it" in scale. Scott's recitation of a poem (probably one of Patton's own) at the site of a battle between the Romans and the Carthaginians is most touching.
One word of criticism, however. The film gives an impression that the Americans won the second world war all by themselves, that the other allies (Britain, notably) were worthless. This is hardly what History seems to indicate. Any serious book on the history of World War II (an excellent study is "Hitler's Field Marshals and their Battles", Samuel W. Mitcham) would tell you that Rommel's Afrika Corps were a heavily depleted army when Patton defeated them in Tunisia - it had no supplies and ammunition, and it was down to a tenth of its original strength in terms of men and tanks (all due to Hitler's blunders). A little too much might have been made of Patton's victory. The same goes for the D-Day landing, where Hitler refused to provide Rommel with even half the resources he asked for (Rommel went to the extent of blaming Hitler for this defeat and actively plotting against him, for which he was later forced to commit suicide). On this account, critics might be tempted to write of this otherwise superb film as a piece of American propaganda.