I am a fan of both General Patton and the movie that captured a portion of his duty in WWII. It exposes Patton's incredible strengths and vulnerabilities. George C. Scott gives one of his best performances. It leaves the viewer with the impression that Patton unnecessarily risked GI lives to "make a bigger splash" with his peers and the media. Statistics show that his aggressive "hold 'em by the nose and kick 'em in the ass" strategy actually resulted in lower casualties. Watched in conjunction with "The Big Red One" and "Saving Private Ryan" gives one an initial sense of the horror and sacrifice in the European Theatre. As a mini-biography, as an introduction to WWII, as a lesson in leadership under tremendous adversity or just for pure inspiration, Patton is one of the great films of my lifetime.
