Patton Parent Guide
This carefully crafted production with sweeping vistas and impressive battle scenes is sure to be lauded for its cinematic achievements for a long time yet to come.
Parent Movie Review
At the beginning of this movie, General George S. Patton (played by George C. Scott) stands in front of a large American flag delivering a rousing pep talk to his troops. His brash, sometimes graphic, exhortation to show no mercy to the enemy is liberally laced with profanities. This address (containing quotes from speeches Patton really delivered) acts as an introduction to the man whose life is about to be examined for the next three hours. This indelible first impression also helps to color the filmmakers’ carefully constructed portrait of the controversial World War II leader.
Privy to this personality preview, the audience will not be surprised when Patton is chosen to go to North Africa to shape-up the soldiers after the Americans suffers a crushing (and embarrassing) defeat during a German attack. Under his no-guff grasp, and thanks to his insatiable reading about military history and stratagem, his army is successful at pushing back the German forces.
However, having his praises sung far and wide only adds fuel to Patton’s already burning ambitions to be one of the greatest military leaders of this war. (A believer in reincarnation, he is convinced he has had a champion role in all the great battles of mankind.) Consequentially his pride is wounded when he is asked to play second fiddle to the leader of the British Army, General Bernard Law Montgomery (Michael Bates) during the invasion of Sicily. Ignoring orders, Patton’s ego has him pushing his soldiers to outperform the English, regardless of what that may cost in human lives.
That carnage is depicted with large-scale attacks, air raids, tank shelling and gunfire exchanges. Left in the wake of what Patton seems to relish as a game are the wounded and dead, whose bodies are strewn across the battleground sporting various bloody injuries and the occasional dismemberment. The losses don’t seem to bother the General. Instead his drive to conquer appears to mount as quickly as the piles of corpses.
While his arrogant manner and risk-taking behavior offends the top brass and fellow officer Omar Bradley (Karl Malden), Patton doesn’t find himself in the doghouse until he slaps and berates an emotionally suffering serviceman (Tim Considine) he meets in a military hospital. When the media reports this callous treatment, Patton is leashed and muzzled by White House officials.
Calling on a higher Christian power to ensure he doesn’t lose what he deems to be his divine destiny, a superficially repentant Patton tries to get another commission. Despite continuous verbal blunders (where his true feelings escape his lips) the country’s desperation for a man of his fearlessness and determination eventually allows the paroled General to have another chance to leave his mark on history.
Ironically, the making of this epic film did the same thing. While other important military figures may find their legacies languishing in dusty tomes, the success of the movie (recipient of seven Academy Awards) has given Patton’s story an immortality he could only have dreamed of.
Releasing in 1970, against a political backdrop of anti-war sentiment due to the Vietnam War, likely contributed to the lack of sympathy audiences felt toward the loud-mouthed, opinionated and self-important title character. Still, whether he is remembered as a war hero or warmonger, this carefully crafted production with sweeping vistas and impressive battle scenes is sure to be lauded for its cinematic achievements for a long time yet to come.
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. Starring George C. Scott, Karl Malden. Running time: 172 minutes. Theatrical release December 31, 1969. Updated July 17, 2017
Patton
Rating & Content Info
Why is Patton rated PG? Patton is rated PG by the MPAA
Violence: War battles are constantly depicted with air raids, explosions, tank fire, gunshots, stabbings and hand-to-hand combat. Soldiers are seen being shot, run over by machinery and caught on fire. Many corpses are depicted. Bloody injuries and occasional missing body parts are shown. Local people loot clothing and other possessions from the dead. An angry commander slaps a soldier and threatens to shoot him. Horses are shot and their bodies dumped in a river. A man narrowly escapes being hit by a run-away cart.
Sexual Content: A picture of a pin-up girl is shown. Soldiers engaging in sexual activities are mildly insinuated. Shirtless men are seen washing.
Language: Pervasive mild and moderate profanities, as well as terms of Christian Deity. Ethno-cultural slurs and demeaning names are used.
Alcohol / Drug Use: Alcohol is consumed at social events and dinners. A character constantly smokes cigars.
Other: A character makes references to his belief in Christianity and reincarnation.
Page last updated July 17, 2017
Patton Parents' Guide
In 1956, Francis Ford Coppola was tasked with writing a screenplay about the life of George S. Patton. But the project was later shelved and didn’t go into production until the late sixties. (Writer Edmund H. North was hired to polish Coppola’s script.) How did the delayed release of this movie (which was begun as the Americans were fighting the Korean War), that postponed its theatrical début until the height of the Vietnam War, effect the way is was received by the viewers? How might the politics of the times have influenced the way the writers constructed their scripts?
Francis Ford Coppola based his script on two biographies: Patton: Ordeal and Triumph by Ladislas Farago and Omar Bradley‘s memoir A Soldier’s Story. (Omar Bradley is depicted in the movie by Karl Malden.)
To learn more about George S. Patton, click here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_S._Patton
The movie won seven Academy Awards, including: Best Picture, Directing, Actor, Writing, Film Editing, Art Direction and Sound. George C. Scott, however, declined his Oscar for Best Actor. See why here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/obituaries/455563.stm
To learn more about the film Patton, click here:
Home Video
The most recent home video release of Patton movie is November 5, 2012. Here are some details…
Release Date: 6 November 2012
Patton releases to home video on Blu-ray, in a re-mastered version. This winner of seven Academy Awards comes packaged with the following bonus extras:
- Introduction by Francis Ford Coppola
- Commentary by Francis Ford Coppola
- History Through the Lens: Patton - A Rebel Revisited Documentary
- Patton’s Ghost Corps Documentary
- The Making of Patton Documentary
- Production Still Gallery Accompanied by Jerry Goldsmith’s Complete Musical Score
- Original Theatrical Trailer
Related home video titles:
Ladislas Farago, the a military historian and journalist on whose work the screenplay for Patton is based, also penned another war history book, The Broken Seal, that was used to write the script for Tora! Tora! Tora! . Another classic movie set in World War II is The Bridge on the River Kwai.