MovieChat Forums > Patton (1970) Discussion > Why "Dimension 150" ?

Why "Dimension 150" ?

posted 8 years ago by rsgre
7 replies | jump to latest

Happened to catch this again on PBS last night, have to admit it is a very handsome production, with a great cast, especially Scott & Malden, but many others as well. The only strange part is it's very serious attempt to convince the audience that Patton was some kind of super warrior reincarnated from the past, with a direct connection to God,and powers of predestination (made another post here concerning that). I always wondered why they chose to use the Dimension 150, which has noticeable distortion in certain scenes (especially in the "pan down" in Patton's prayer scene), when they already had "Todd-AO" which had been perfected. (Compare this visually to "The Sound of Music"- no distortion at all.). It was never used again either, perhaps it worked alright in it's original theater projection system, but not as well when converted to other formats. Anybody know..?

RSGRE

[–] roreyking 8 years ago

it's very serious attempt to convince the audience that Patton was some kind of super warrior reincarnated from the past, with a direct connection to God,and powers of predestination

LOL!!! Are you off-base! The film's only "serious attempt" is to present the figure of Patton to the viewer. What you're complaining about was Patton's view of himself, not the writers' view of him.

[–] rsgre 8 years ago

Thanks roreyking, but what about the "weather prayer scene" ? The way it is done is not presented as sheer luck but as an outright miracle. Maybe the film makers truly believed his mythical qualities.

RSGRE

[–] roreyking 8 years ago

Come on. Have you never heard the weather predicted as one thing, and it turns out to be something else? Are you saying you really believe the next day's weather would've been bad had it not been for the weather prayer? LOL! Sounds like you're the one looking for miracles.

[–] rsgre 8 years ago

Answered my own question by googling it. It was the final progression of Todd-AO but short lived. Only this film and "The Bible...in the Beginning" used it. It did involve a large curved screen in it's original theater projection. That explains the distortion apparent when it was converted to normal 35mm. This format is no longer used at all.
I still say the film takes the supposed mystical powers of the general very seriously, and Scott's performance only reinforces it even more, along with Goldsmith's music score.

RSGRE

[–] roreyking 8 years ago

Say it as much as you want. You can't refute my arguments, and your POV is baseless.

BTW - what "mystical powers" are you talking about?

[–] rsgre 8 years ago

How about even the ending ? As he walks his dog he talks about the glories of the ancient Roman conquerors, when they returned home from the wars. The way it is done,especially with Scott;s dead serious narration, it seems to imply very strongly that he was "there".

RSGRE

[–] information_police 8 years ago

You think the weather prayer scene was supposed to show that Patton had supernatural powers? Patton, himself, gave credit to the chaplain who wrote the prayer!