Patton starts off with the General in North Africa, fighting nazi field marshal Erwin Rommel, winning a decisive victory. Patton then takes to working his way through the island of Sicily, from Palermo to Messina, where again he is victorious.
Finally, Patton takes to fighting at Normandy, helping the French on his way to liberating Germany from nazi control.
Thus chronicles the high points of the career of, admittedly, one of the best generals in all of American history.
Updated 04-06-06
Every time we see General Patton he is either shouting, barking out orders, or doing both! This is the reality of the character, a man who was at times an asshole and a complete and utter son-of-a-bitch.
While Patton does have some very nice war footage, and the details of Patton's command are for the most part accurate, some details are misrepresented and/or just plain wrong, dramatized for Hollywood.
The best scene in the film is, perhaps, the opening scene where Patton addresses a crowd, telling them 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." The sets the tone of the character early; we know he is going to be an abrasive, hard-nosed by-the-book career army man. We should expect the worst, too.
The feel of the film is that we are actually in the war. Verily, there are some great battle scenes, but the true star of the film is George C. Scott, who gives an outstanding performance as the General. George C. Scott won the Best actor in a leading role Academy Award famously (or infamously) refusing to accept it because he felt that competition between actors was unfair, and that it was and is a "meat parade." Now, I know what I said before. I said that it was OK that he refused the Oscar "because he wasn't that good in the role anyway." Well, I was wrong. I admit it.
Scott was, and is, the soul of the picture. However, as good as his performance is, the picture is overly long and at times slow. There is something missing, however. Even though it was Technically a better film, I stand by my assertions that M*A*S*H was and is the best film of 1970.
Plot: 
This is a biography of General George S. Patton, telling his life from his battle vs. the desert fox in Africa to loosing his command in Germany. Historically accurate (for the most part) and well written.
Visual Effects:
Pretty good war shots, and the like.
Sound:
Again, average war sounds, etc, nothing that really stands out. The score was decent, but repetitive and almost annoying towards the end.
Character Development:
This is little to no Character development in Patton as the general doesn't change much at all. He stays pretty much the same from the time he entered the war until he was discharged from his post. His thoughts, idea and emotions all stayed the same. He just doesn't change. Maybe that is part of the character. Maybe not.
Atmosphere:
This is a movie that is very hard to get into. There is always shouting and cursing, but you can't really "feel" as though you are there with the General. There is no connection to the General as he was a hard man to get along with. But since this is a biography, we take what we get, like him or not.
Realism:
The events of this movie really did happen, but a few scenes were heavily dramatized making this a full-fledged Hollywoodized epic.
The only thing missing from the film is Patton staring at a picture of his mother while eating an apple pie under Old Glory. (Maybe right after his famous speech at the beginning?)
Warren’s Rating:
Note: I had to re-rate this picture accordingly upon a second viewing.
Movies it beat out for Best Picture:
Airport; Five Easy Pieces; Love Story; M*A*S*H
7.14/10 Is the movie worth your time to watch?
1-04-03
Re-rated 04-06-06
