It's impossible to think of anyone but Scott as the tempestuous leader, and Patton remains one of the best war movies of all time.
Video:
"Patton" looks very good in 1080p (AVC/MPEG-4 codec@23mbps) and is presented in 2.20:1 widescreen. For a catalog title filmed on location there's bound to be some atmospheric graininess, but here it's fairly minimal. As with most HD releases, the checkpoints for clarity are interior close-ups, and "Patton" passes muster with a high level of detail under such circumstances and sufficient black levels. Though much of the film is olive drab or dessert dull, there's still a sense of colors being appropriately saturated as well. Some frames are a little washed out, but for the most part even the exteriors jump to live visually. Case in point? A Moroccan military parade outdoors that looks especially grand in Hi-Def. Now, there was a single point in the film where I noticed a vertical line of pixellation, but that moment was so brief that it didn't change the way I felt about the overall picture.
Audio:
The featured audio is an English DTS HD 5.1 Master Lossless, which does a good job of handling the explosions and rumblings of tanks and spreads the sound across the speakers fairly well. In air-raid scenes especially the room fills with chaotic sound, but you can still pick out specific elements--it's not just a jumble. Additional options are an English Dolby Digital 5.0 Surround and Spanish and French Mono. Subtitles are in English (CC), Mandarin, and Cantonese.
Extras:
As with "The Longest Day," another recent Fox release, "Patton" is a two-disc set that presents the film in HD on a 50-gig disc and the bonus features on a standard definition second disc. Coppola's introduction is a surprising combination of subdued bitterness and honest reflection, and that tone carries over onto the full-length commentary as well. If you've heard Coppola before, you know he's not exactly an exuberant fellow to listen to. He's methodical and matter-of-fact in his presentation and delivery, and covers a number of bases while never straying too far from the irony that he was fired from a film that used mostly his script in order to win a screenwriting Oscar. There's a lot here about location filming and a lot about the research that he did--which is one of the pleasant bonuses you get when the screenwriter and director are one and the same. It's a low-energy but info-packed commentary.
Disc two features a TV show on "History Through the Lens: Patton-A Rebel Revisited," which uses the occasion of the film to take another look at the famous WWII general. It's a substantial feature that combines clips of the film with plenty of vintage newsreel footage of the man himself. "The Making of Patton" is a more straightforward documentary that covers some of the same ground but is still fascinating. Finally, while all attention was on Patton and the army he took to the Battle of the Bulge, there was a corps of soldiers he left behind with a different task. "Patton's Ghost Corps" tells a tale that has almost as much bitterness as Coppola's obvious resentment. The men make no bones about voicing their distrust and disdain for some of the things that Patton did, while also obviously still respecting their leader's accomplishments. Was he too reckless with human life? You'll have to decide for yourself after watching this film and this engaging feature, which shows real veterans reminiscing.
I'm no fan of still galleries, usually, but this one is accompanied by an audio essay on the real Gen. Patton, and that makes all the difference in the world. It turns what's usually a throwaway feature or bit of ephemera into yet another legitimate bonus feature. Rounding out the extras is the original theatrical trailer, which, for a mega-Academy Award-winner, is always fun to see.
Bottom Line:
Here's another catalog title that looks surprisingly good in Hi-Def, and a film that's so wonderful it will probably end up in quite a few home video collections. Scott really deserved that Best Actor award, and director Franklin J. Schaffner managed to maintain the balance between the man and the legend that screenwriter Coppola had carefully crafted.
"Patton" looks very good in 1080p (AVC/MPEG-4 codec@23mbps) and is presented in 2.20:1 widescreen. For a catalog title filmed on location there's bound to be some atmospheric graininess, but here it's fairly minimal. As with most HD releases, the checkpoints for clarity are interior close-ups, and "Patton" passes muster with a high level of detail under such circumstances and sufficient black levels. Though much of the film is olive drab or dessert dull, there's still a sense of colors being appropriately saturated as well. Some frames are a little washed out, but for the most part even the exteriors jump to live visually. Case in point? A Moroccan military parade outdoors that looks especially grand in Hi-Def. Now, there was a single point in the film where I noticed a vertical line of pixellation, but that moment was so brief that it didn't change the way I felt about the overall picture.
Audio:
The featured audio is an English DTS HD 5.1 Master Lossless, which does a good job of handling the explosions and rumblings of tanks and spreads the sound across the speakers fairly well. In air-raid scenes especially the room fills with chaotic sound, but you can still pick out specific elements--it's not just a jumble. Additional options are an English Dolby Digital 5.0 Surround and Spanish and French Mono. Subtitles are in English (CC), Mandarin, and Cantonese.
Extras:
As with "The Longest Day," another recent Fox release, "Patton" is a two-disc set that presents the film in HD on a 50-gig disc and the bonus features on a standard definition second disc. Coppola's introduction is a surprising combination of subdued bitterness and honest reflection, and that tone carries over onto the full-length commentary as well. If you've heard Coppola before, you know he's not exactly an exuberant fellow to listen to. He's methodical and matter-of-fact in his presentation and delivery, and covers a number of bases while never straying too far from the irony that he was fired from a film that used mostly his script in order to win a screenwriting Oscar. There's a lot here about location filming and a lot about the research that he did--which is one of the pleasant bonuses you get when the screenwriter and director are one and the same. It's a low-energy but info-packed commentary.
Disc two features a TV show on "History Through the Lens: Patton-A Rebel Revisited," which uses the occasion of the film to take another look at the famous WWII general. It's a substantial feature that combines clips of the film with plenty of vintage newsreel footage of the man himself. "The Making of Patton" is a more straightforward documentary that covers some of the same ground but is still fascinating. Finally, while all attention was on Patton and the army he took to the Battle of the Bulge, there was a corps of soldiers he left behind with a different task. "Patton's Ghost Corps" tells a tale that has almost as much bitterness as Coppola's obvious resentment. The men make no bones about voicing their distrust and disdain for some of the things that Patton did, while also obviously still respecting their leader's accomplishments. Was he too reckless with human life? You'll have to decide for yourself after watching this film and this engaging feature, which shows real veterans reminiscing.
I'm no fan of still galleries, usually, but this one is accompanied by an audio essay on the real Gen. Patton, and that makes all the difference in the world. It turns what's usually a throwaway feature or bit of ephemera into yet another legitimate bonus feature. Rounding out the extras is the original theatrical trailer, which, for a mega-Academy Award-winner, is always fun to see.
Bottom Line:
Here's another catalog title that looks surprisingly good in Hi-Def, and a film that's so wonderful it will probably end up in quite a few home video collections. Scott really deserved that Best Actor award, and director Franklin J. Schaffner managed to maintain the balance between the man and the legend that screenwriter Coppola had carefully crafted.
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[release]23264[/release]