It includes widescreen battlefield violence, with shooting and explosions. I have seen that movie patton and the historical accuracy is outstanding, there was a big war on and lots of people fought in it, other than well hollywood never lets facts or the truth get in the way of a good story. However, despite the film s box office success, millions of dollars in viewings, and academy award nominations, flaws exist that make it one of the most inaccurate portrayals of a historical event in filmmaking history. Although it was the most expensive movie ever filmed up to then, critics considered it to be an average film at best and a poor film at worst. Star and director mel gibson himself notes that the film is a historical.
Parents need to know that patton is an epic war movie, and a biopic about general george s. The film is regarded as one of the greatest of all time and that is for good reason. What has been termed the speech in this film is completely accurate. A multiple oscar winner, an aweinspiring cinematic portrayal of scottish freedom fighter william wallace and his greatest accomplishments. A random list of inaccuracies does not help a reader understand the movie. How accurate was the movie patton in portraying general. The movie patton was accurate in presenting omar bradleys portrayal of patton in a movie for which he served as senior military advisor and for which he also received a writers credit for his contributions to the script.
Plus the handson participation of omar bradley is a huge plus. Ordeal and triumph by ladislas farago and omar bradleys. The battle of the bulge was primarily a tank battle, and historians find the tanks in the movie laughably inaccurate. Yet unlike brando, whose snub caught the academy by surprise, scott had actually been saying he wouldnt. The german army as a military force on the western front is a whipped army, a confident allied supreme commander dwight d. Patton is not a war film so much as the story of a personality who has found the right role to play. It then follows his part in the invasion of sicily.
Pattona rebel revisited, an excellent 90minute documentary that thoroughly compares the film to the facts of pattons career, arriving at the conclusion supported by pattons own descendents that the film is a remarkably accurate depiction of pattons largerthanlife persona. The movie begins with pattons career during the north africa campaign and his battle with rommel, the desert fox. Scott assumes command of and instills some muchneeded discipline in the american forces. To place the inaccuracies in context of the movie would require third party sources that provide the analysis and commentary necessary. Patton is shown having read a book, the tank in attack, by his adversary, erwin rommel. He had a larger than life personality and was, at times, as controversial as he was successful. The legendary generals renowned biographer reveals the true story of how the iconic movie was made. Patton is a film that contains a great deal of historical accuracy and great representation of the character of patton, but is also guilty of omitting many historical details as well. It was supposed to be like, sort of, you know, the longest day. With patton claiming communications to be garbled and him racing montgomery to messina. Schindlers list, the pianist, patton, and red thin line.
Today, i take a look at the historical accuracy in the 1970 war movie classic, patton. Patton is a 1970 american epic biographical war film about u. Dramatic in its nature, pearl harbor is certainly meant to be an artistic retelling of the events of the pearl harbor attack. The historical accuracy problems with patton come mostly from what is left out of the movie rather than wrong facts. An obsessive military history junkie who believed fervently in a. When the two jeeps arrive at the kasserine pass to survey the results of the battle, the second jeep comes to stop just short of running over a dead soldier. Scott also famously rejected his best actor oscar for the 1970 film patton.
Ask virtually any american born after world war ii what immediately comes to mind when the name patton is mentioned and chances are they will conjure. Im the cynical historian, your source for analytical history on youtube. North, who based their screenplay on the biography patton. Patton jr men, all this stuff youve heard about america not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Patton, at the criterion theater, is not a glorification of the world war ii hero. In addition to being unlike the real tiger and sherman tanks used in battle, the newer korean warera tanks employed arent even the appropriate color.
How accurate was the movie patton in portraying general patton. As patton he always stands up in his jeep, loves making speeches, grandstands, plunges into the action to personally goad his men, even directs traffic. Schaffner from a script by francis ford coppola and edmund h. Although the film used realistic explosions, pearl harbor historians were underwhelmed with the historical accuracy. Lawrence of arabia is maybe the best historical film ever made but patton isnt far behind. Patton 1970 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. This includes a scene of camel mounted soldiers at attention lined up side by side. And the script was very controversial when i wrote it, because they thought it was so stylized.
With nearly 8 million copies of his killing series killing lincoln, killing jesus, killing kennedy, killing patton, killing reagan, and killing the rising sun sold, theres no denying that bill oreilly has a knack for getting folks to read. I just watched the 1970s movie patton with george c scott and i was wondering how accurate that part in the sicilian campaign was. Patton a rebel revisited, an excellent 90minute documentary that thoroughly compares the film to the facts of patton s career, arriving at the conclusion supported by patton s own descendents that the film is a remarkably accurate depiction of patton s largerthanlife persona. One of the most recognizable opening scenes in modern cinema occurs in the academy awardwinning film about general george s. Bgeneral george s patton was one of the uss top brass during the second world war, serving in north africa and on the western front. In the movie, patton got in a lot of trouble for slapping a soldier that he. What are some of the worst examples of historical errors. Certain facts are there like his name, that he was male, had two legs and was a general officer in wwii. It was a big hit in its day and won seven academy awards, including best picture.
The film is regarded as one of the greatest of all time and that is fo. Braveheart the 10 historical inaccuracies you need to. This war movie is probably one of the most inaccurate films ive ever seen although it can be partly excused considering it was made in 1965. According to its website, it was founded in 1670 and ran many trading posts across canada. I always envisioned these older movies as being stilted, dull affairs, but those two films clearly demonstrated how wrong i was. Unlike most movies, patton wasnt shot on 35mm film, but on 65mm which, for projection, is printed either to 70mm film at its film gate size or to 35mm through a reducing lens on the printer. The film opens with scotts rendering of pattons speech to. I make episodes on historical subjects that are meant to be insightful and provocat. Patton succeeds as a biography of george patton during the war, but fails to address greater issues involved with the war such as women and ethnic diversity in the military. Its also an extremely historically inaccurate film, but that doesnt devalue it as a cinematic achievement. The book panzer greift an was however never finished by rommel. They received a confidential letter from president eisenhower, patton s superior during the war, who knew when to hold patton back and when to unleash him.
The most important point is that the movie gets patton s personality down pat. Some are very accurate all around for the use of actual historical research for the movie. Patton was one of the first movies to show me what narrowminded bonehead i was. Patton is a fairly accurate depiction of patton s career in world war ii based on bradlys interpretation of his interaction with patton. Destes massive and thoroughly researched biography serves. The 2001 film pearl harbor was met with a mixed reception at the time of its release. Scott, karl malden, michael bates and karl michael vogler. The movie patton was accurate in presenting omar bradleys portrayal of patton in a movie for which he served as senior military advisor and for which he also. But a great deal of his persona was presented from a most unflattering light mainly due to the book written that the movie. Ladies and gents, i give you battle of the bulge1965 lets start with the obvious errors. Engaged in battle against germanys field marshal rommel. Eisenhower proclaimed at a press conference in paris on march 27, 1945. Scott depicted him in the blockbuster movie patton.
The makers of this film tried to provide an accurate portrayal of general patton, consulting historical texts and interviewing people who served with him. The endless historical errors made in the pearl harbor movie. The secret history of the end of an empire 2007 and red heat. Hudsons bay company, too, is a legitimate franchise. Using fictional main characters, pearl harbor 2001 depicts the dramatic japanese attack on the united states that triggered the nations entry into world war ii. At the end of the scene, the same jeep drives away, going forward as if to run over that body, but the body has vanished. Patton comes from the academy awardwinning film patton 1970. In spite of this there are some hollywood moments to enhance the plot.
The use of two acclaimed books makes patton above average in historical accuracy. Patton 18851945 was a great american general who led armies to victory in north africa, sicily, france, and germany during world war ii. This movie makes use of the real wwii jeeps the mb, gpw. The film also lacks the hilly and wooded terrain of the real battle. Most of what was to be in the tank in attack can be found in the book the rommel papers, which is made from notes and diary entries by field marshal rommel during the africa campaign.
Each movie emphasized on different things within the war, and some are more historically accurate than others. This website covers the historical accuracy of five movies. It was released in 1970 when protest against the vietnam war still raged at home and abroad, and many critics and moviegoers struggled to reconcile current events with the movie s glorification of gen. History in film patton jonathan bells history 329 blog. The 1995 movie, braveheart, is a cinematic masterpiece. It was an oration the real patton delivered countless times to units of his 3d army before the invasion of france in june 1944.
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