Patton (1970)

This film tells the story of General George S. Patton, tank commander and controversial military genius during his WWII career, including the invasion of Europe and the end of the Third Reich.

Half biopic and half war movie, Patton is a great film that is more interesting and entertaining than I remembered. Scott’s charismatic Oscar-winning performance is fantastic, even if he spends the majority of it calling everyone a bastard or a son of a bitch. In many ways, Patton the man feels like the opposite of Best Picture compatriot D.H. Lawrence of Lawrence of Arabia. Lawrence was a reluctant and self-conscious man that never wanted to be an icon. Patton conversely wants the heroic spotlight as often as possible (I mean seriously, he fires a revolver at a fighter jet and made Nicholson’s Joker firing at the Batwing look like a pansy) and believes through reincarnation that he has been a warrior through the ages. His arrogance rubs some people the wrong way and he finds himself in the wrong decade when he faces immense fallout after kicking a “coward” out of a military hospital, and Patton’s faults and rude awakening at the changing of the times are the soul of this great film, even if it feels more like a throwback to films of decades past than a film of it’s own time. Even so, I highly recommend you check it out… you bastard.

Patton.  I was very self-conscious on how to say it.  PaTTon, Pa'en (like cockney style), Paddon, I don't know.  It was hard for me.  I'm not going to lie, I also was sick of war movies.  I dislike Oliver! but at least that was a change from all the war movies.  Because of this, it took a while for us to get to this movie.  I simply needed a war break.  This was a very good movie that started with the iconic scene of George Patton standing in front of an American flag, calling people bastards and giving them a memorable pep talk.  So any time you see a pep talk in front of a flag (a humorous looney tunes episode comes to mind), you know where it comes from. Patton also disliked or mistrusted anyone who wasn't american.  He's not a man who enjoys diversity and that leads to his demise.  I'm not sure if I'll watch it again but it was definitely worth viewing once.  

The movie begins without showing the 20th Century Fox logo, or any other indication that the film is starting. At military bases across the U.S., theater owners reported that soldiers in the audience would often stand up and snap to attention when they heard the movie's opening line ("Ten-hut!"), assuming it to be a real call to attention. 

Patton: Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.