Movies
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Best / Worst of the Decade
Wide Releases
Now In Theaters
49
2012
41
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
84
Avatar![]()
69
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
53
Blind Side
53
Book of Eli, The
55
Christmas Carol, A
57
Daybreakers
43
Dear John
27
Did You Hear About the Morgans?
55
Edge of Darkness
45
Extraordinary Measures
83
Fantastic Mr. Fox![]()
42
From Paris with Love
65
Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The
74
Invictus
57
It's Complicated
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Leap Year
33
Legion
42
Lovely Bones, The
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
34
Ninja Assassin
19
Old Dogs
xx
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
39
Planet 51
79
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
73
Princess & the Frog, The
64
Road, The
57
Sherlock Holmes
27
Spy Next Door, The
36
Tooth Fairy
44
Twilight Saga: New Moon, The
83
Up in the Air![]()
43
Valentine's Day
25
When in Rome
71
Where the Wild Things Are
xx
WolfMan, The
63
Youth in Revolt
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
46
44 Inch Chest
83
Ajami![]()
73
Amreeka
xx
Barefoot to Timbuktu
19
Bitch Slap
24
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
76
Broken Embraces
64
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
84
Cove, The![]()
84
Crazy Heart![]()
21
Crazy on the Outside
48
Creation
xx
Daddy Long Legs
81
Damned United, The![]()
68
Departures
62
District 13: Ultimatum
85
Education, An![]()
71
Eyes Wide Open
24
Falling Awake
81
Fish Tank![]()
56
For My Father
xx
From Mexico with Love
43
Frozen
68
Girl on the Train, The
52
Killing Kasztner
74
Last Station, The
43
Little Traitor, The
51
Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, The
73
Me and Orson Welles
76
Messenger, The
57
Missing Person, The
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
xx
My Name is Khan
49
Nine
63
North Face
59
October Country
67
Off and Running
52
Paranoids, The
49
Pop Star on Ice
49
Private Lives of Pippa Lee, The
xx
Promised Lands (Re-release)
69
Red Riding Trilogy, The
29
Saint John of Las Vegas
69
September Issue, The
36
Serious Moonlight
63
Shinjuku Incident, The
77
Single Man, A
xx
Still Bill
76
Terribly Happy
74
That Evening Sun
19
To Save a Life
68
Town Called Panic, A
59
Until the Light Takes Us
57
Videocracy
65
Waiting for Armageddon
82
White Ribbon![]()
43
Women in Trouble
xx
Word is Out
64
Young Victoria, The
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Patton

Universal acclaim
Based on 9 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 11 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama | War
Written by:
Ladislas Farago (book Patton: Ordeal and Triumph)
Omar N. Bradley (book A Soldier's Story)
Francis Ford Coppola
Edmund H. North
Directed by: Franklin J. Schaffner
Release Date:
Theatrical: February 18, 1970
DVD: November 6, 2001
Running Time: 170 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG
Starring George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Stephen Young, Michael Strong, Carey Loftin, Morgan Paull, and Karl Michael Vogler
This Academy Award-winning biography of American General George S. Patton chronicles the general's wartime activities and accomplishments, beginning with his entry into the North African campaign and ending with his removal from command after his outspoken criticism of US post-war military strategy.
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
The movie holds up far better than its detractors guessed - splendidly, in fact - not only thanks to Scott's spellbinding acting, but to the epic imagery, Coppola's (and Edmund North's) highly intelligent script and Schaffner's lucid, perfectly controlled direction.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
Patton remains to this day one of Hollywood's most compelling biographical war pictures.
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
Still mesmerizes on the strength of George C. Scott's chew-your-behind performance. [5 Nov. 1999, p.6E]
Variety Staff (Not credited)
War is hell, and Patton is one hell of a war picture, perhaps one of the most remarkable of its type ever made.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Vincent Canby
A huge, initially ambivalent but finally adoring, Pop portrait of one of the most brilliant and outrageous American military figures of the last one hundred years.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Staff (Not credited)
Patton is a war movie of unusual depth and a landmark in screen biographies.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Not a war film so much as the story of a personality who has found the right role to play. Scott's theatricality is electrifying.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Dave Kehr
Patton's personality--conveyed with pointed theatrical flair by George C. Scott--is registered in rich tones of grandeur and megalomania, genius and petty sadism.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Staff (Not credited)
George C. Scott's Oscar-winning portrait of the megalomaniacal warrior general is still the glue holding together this blunt study of war as the ultimate human (and dehumanizing) game.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Enzo P. gave it a7:
Patton is based on General Patton toughness, cruelness and leadership. George C. Scott the man who plays Patton is astonishing, he gives a performance of a lifetime, not shocked he won the oscar for best actor. Also Karl Malden plays really good great acting throughout the movie. But the problem about the film is that when you make a really long film it has to be highly entertaining or you will just get bored and fall asleep.So that is what really backfired throughout this movie. That is why I did not like it as much as the critics. The only time I thought it was highly entertaining was in the last six minutes. In the first hour I would of gave it a five. Then in the next hour I would of gave it a six. Then finally in the last hour I decided to give this film a seven.
Rick J gave it a9:
I saw this for the first time this weekend. Excellent movie with top notch acting. It definitely makes me want to research more into the North Africa campaign during WW II.
Mithyus gave it a10:
The myth of Patton is brilliantly presented, and while it develops controversal ideals, those are shown in the most human of the ways.
Riren gave it a10:
A movie that is guaranteed to grow less popular as the years pass and all things war become less acceptable - a positive notion for society, but an unfortunate one for film. Scott delivers the performance of a lifetime, fully embracing the geniune and outrageous character of General George S. Patton. Much like GANDHI, PATTON focuses very little of the childhood or development phases of its title character, instead thrusting us towards a truly memorable and perplexing human. This story is very thoughtful and driven by dialogue, without much in the way of baseness or bloody action; indeed there is more screentime devoted to the fatigue and damage done by war than to battle. Again like GANDHI, this film avoids criticizing its focal character, and tries to make its audience sympathize with whatever flaws or shortcomings it reveals about him. Really, the only difference between these two biopics (which are quite possibly the two best biographical films in the English language) is their main character's compulsion towards an end; Gandhi driven for peace, and Patton lusting for war. Do not expect PATTON to flinch; to its final scenes, it will not concede that the insensitivity and battle-pride of its main character are wrong. The best it will do is thankfully suggest that people such as Patton are a rare and increasingly unnecessary breed. The score is moving, the settings feel startlingly authentic (especially in contrast to contemporary film's green screen fetish), and the direction is unwaveringly thoughtful. This is a war movie for people who think, and thinking people need to see this movie.
Doug T. gave it a10:
One of the finest actor's portrayal of a historical personality committed to film since Maria Falconetti in "The Passion of Joan of Arc." Similar to "Lawrence of Arabia", and at least that good.
J. Ryan G. gave it a7:
We have to be careful with movies that follow their lead character like a puppy dog. Either we must learn about human nature by seeing the internal workings of the character, or we must learn from his perspective about the world around him. Here we do more of the second than the first, though there is not always a healthy balance. It is interesting to see a rather frank and modern look at the way a political figure (in this case, of the military variety) operates with, against, and under the pressuring phenomenon of public approval. George C. Scott is ordinarily brilliant and intense, but see "The Hospital" for a slightly better sampling of his talent.
Jayson gave it a0:
Even more boring than The Longest Day. It made me feel like the first passengers of the demented ship from Horizon. I wanted to tear my eyes out for my own protection.
