Patton (1970)
95%RT Audience Score: 93%
Awards & Nominations: Won 7 Oscars
24 wins & 8 nominations total
George C. Scott’s sympathetic, unflinching portrayal of the titular general in this sprawling epic is as definitive as any performance in the history of American biopics.
Patton is one of those movies that makes you want to stand up and salute, even if you’re just sitting on your couch in your pajamas. George C. Scott’s performance as the controversial military genius is nothing short of amazing, capturing both his violent tendencies and his vulnerable side. Sure, the movie may blur the lines between the man and the war around him, but who cares when you’re watching one of the greatest war movies ever made? And let’s be real, if Nixon loved it, it can’t be all bad…right?
Production Company(ies)
Twentieth Century Fox,
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Cabo de Gata, Almería, Andalucía, Spain
MPAA / Certificate
PG
Year of Release
1970
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby
-
Aspect ratio:2.20 : 1
-
Runtime:2h 51m
-
Language(s):English, German, French, Russian, Arabic, Italian
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 25, 1970 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 23, 2006
Genre(s)
War/Biography
Keyword(s)
starring George C Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates, Edward Binns, Larry Dobkin, John Doucette, directed by Franklin J Schaffner, written by Ladislas Farago, Omar N Bradley, Francis Ford Coppola, Edmund H North, War, Biography, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Wanda Hale, TIME Staff, Andrew Sarris, Variety Staff, Empire Staff, Dave Kehr, James Wegg, Anne Louise, Mike Massie, Larry Zolf, Michael Ross, Lloyd Steele, PG, 20th Century Fox, stereo, DTS, General George S Patton Jr., General Omar N Bradley, Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery, Maj Gen Walter Bedell Smith, Colonel Gaston Bell, Major General Lucian K Truscott
Worldwide gross: $61,749,765
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $529,475,711
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 266
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 57,739,990
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $12,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $102,894,457
Production budget ranking: 393
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $55,408,665
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $371,172,589
ROI to date (est.): 234%
ROI ranking: 562
Karl Malden – General Omar N. Bradley
Michael Bates – Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery
Edward Binns – Maj. Gen. Walter Bedell Smith
Larry Dobkin – Colonel Gaston Bell
John Doucette – Major General Lucian K. Truscott
Director(s)
Franklin J. Schaffner
Writer(s)
Ladislas Farago, Omar N. Bradley, Francis Ford Coppola, Edmund H. North
Producer(s)
Frank McCarthy
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 7 Oscars
24 wins & 8 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Picture Winners, Oscar Winners
All Critics (51) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (47) | Rotten (4)
I’d like to pin four stars on each shoulder of George C. Scott for his perspective characterization of the military genius, the controversial man.
February 22, 2015 | Rating: 4/4
Wanda Hale
New York Daily News
TOP CRITIC
The movie’s vision blurs the man and, incidentally, the just war around him.
February 22, 2015
TIME Staff
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
George C. Scott’s performance cannot be praised highly enough for capturing both the violence and the vulnerability of the Patton personality without degenerating either into vulgar caricature or cardboard sentimentality.
February 6, 2013
Andrew Sarris
Village Voice
TOP CRITIC
War is hell, and Patton is one hell of a war picture, perhaps one of the most remarkable of its type ever made.
February 19, 2008
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Scott is simply awesome as the one-of-a-kind General George Patton.
February 19, 2008 | Rating: 4/5
Empire Staff
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Nixon’s favorite movie, which proves he was blind to ambiguity as well as a few other things.
December 13, 2006
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Redemption through victory
May 5, 2022 | Rating: 3/5
James Wegg
JWR
Patton is one of the most brilliant one-man film shows ever produced.
February 10, 2022
Anne Louise
Contra Costa Times
One of the greatest war movies ever made.
August 30, 2020 | Rating: 10/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
If he were to return in a Hollywood guise, Patton would just have to come back as George C. Scott. For Scott is Patton incarnate in a superb acting performance that rescues the film from some of Schaffner’s more pedestrian directing devices.
January 27, 2020
Larry Zolf
Maclean’s Magazine
True, we learn to hate Patton’s guts, but we also learn to understand the pragmatic magnetism that caused his men to follow him anywhere.
January 15, 2020
Michael Ross
Los Angeles Free Press
Naturally… we see all sides of Patton, but are exposed only to the more shallow surfaces of the other characters.
January 14, 2020
Lloyd Steele
Los Angeles Free Press…
Plot
“Patton” tells the tale of General George S. Patton, famous tank commander of World War II. The film begins with Patton’s career in North Africa and progresses through the invasion of Europe and the fall of the Third Reich. Side plots also speak of Patton’s numerous faults such his temper and tendency toward insubordination, faults that would prevent him from becoming the lead American general in the Normandy Invasion as well as to his being relieved as Occupation Commander of Germany.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
George C. Scott’s performance as General George S. Patton Jr. is “as definitive as any performance in the history of American biopics,” according to the critics consensus on Fresh Kernels.
Franklin-J.-Schaffner.jpg
