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Greatest Film of all time and greatest Male-performance of all time?

posted 15 years ago by naveen-gta
32 replies | jump to latest

Do you agree??

James Berardinelli named Patton as "The Greatest Film of all-time" and also the "the greatest Male Acting Performance ever bar-none".
[See the top100 list here: http://www.reelviews.net/top100/toc.html]

So my question is do you think the movie is underrated. I mean many people know this movie and is included in the all-time greatest lists frequently but underrated in the sense- that it isnt a top 5-ish movie like I mean along with the top names like The Godfather and all the other movies that are on the top 10?

Also do you think George Scott's performance is underrated? It is in the public's mind as a great performance also included at #82 in Premier Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances and is also infamous for his refusal to accept the Oscar. But generally when someone is asked "THE greatest acting performance" DeNiro's Raging Bull and Al Pacino in Godfather comes into mind. Not many ppl will think of George C. Scott as George Patton. So in that sense is it underrated in your view?

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] kmac2055 14 years ago

Pacino in the Godfather 2 is the greatest performance in the history of movies. Scott is second, a close second.

[–] jpc8024 13 years ago

Top performances in movie history:
George C. Scott-George S. Patton
Al Pacino-Micheal Corleone
Jamie Foxx-Ray Charles
Humphrey Bogart-Rick
Harrison Ford-Dr. Richard Kimble
Ian Mckellen-Gandalf the Grey
Robert De Niro-Jake LaMotta
Liam Neeson-Oskar Schindler
Dustin Hoffman-Raymond Babbit

[–] kdk2002 13 years ago

Nice list.

I would add Marlon Brando (Godfather 1) and Ben Kingsley (Gandhi).

[–] yesanything 8 years ago

I pick Scott in Patton over Pacino in GF2

~~the coins in the jar are for charity,~~
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[–] ms954 15 years ago

I replied to another post here today.
Agree completely with Berardinelli , having seen this film many,many times. And each time, I enjoy and respect it more than the last time.

Make no mistake, Scott is Patton personified. Just remarkable, the performance of a lifetime and of an era. The movie itself is up there in the top 5 too, at least.

[–] yesanything 8 years ago

I just finished watching it for the umpteenth time and was in absolute awe at the cinematography and direction (as well as acting and dialogue of course) but that cinematography - perhaps a few films equal but none I can think of superior

~~the coins in the jar are for charity,~~
~~the coins in the tray are for sharing~~

[–] thepartydjz 8 years ago

The previous poster above hit it on the nail for me, I consider it to be the best film ever. George C. Scott as Patton definitely in the top 5 of all time in my opinion, it seems he was made to play the role.

My Top 50 Films http://www.imdb.com/list/ls033211402/

[–] Hancock_the_Superb 15 years ago

It's on the list, but Lawrence of Arabia takes both prizes in my view.

"Earth first! Make Mars our bitch!"

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] rrb 15 years ago

"Greatest Film of all time and greatest Male-performance of all time? Do you agree??"

Mmmmmmm.....no.

[–] Taanpan 14 years ago

Agreed, just gave it 1/10. not that I think it is a 1/10, but the overall score needs to be lowered. the amount of anachronisms is just pathetic, it is very important in a war and history movie. the performance of the actors is good, but that's just not enough.

[–] Cult_of_Kibner 10 years ago

Horsesh*t. You should rate the movie honestly.

[–] mathknapp 14 years ago

I'll chime in.

On the acting performance, it was a great one. Certainly worthy of consideration as among the best male performances ever (don't think I'll ever see anything to top Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice though). Not sure why Pacino in the Godfather is the chief competition. A good performance there, but I feel like other actors could have done equally well in that production.

The movie? Greatest of all time? No. Not a chance. It is very good. Worthy of its Best Picture Oscar. But I don't even think it stands out among comparable films. If I take the broad genre of "historical epic" and consider Patton against other such films that won or were considered for the Oscar, I'd say:

Better than Patton: Lawrence of Arabia, Schindler's List, Dances With Wolves, Amadeus

Comparable to Patton: Braveheart, Platoon, Gandhi

Worse than Patton: Apocalypse Now, The Last Emporer

In my opinion, Patton is certainly a good movie, but it doesn't stand out to me as anywhere near the best of the best.

[–] irishpisano 14 years ago

greatest movie?
no

greatest male performance?
no

my picks are:

greatest male performance:
it's a tie.... Al Pacino in Merchant of Venice (2004) and Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

greatest picture:
also a tie: The Godfather or The Fountain

Your art is the prettiest art of all the art.

[–] steve-g 14 years ago

Among what might be called the great and grand performances, I find O'Toole's Lawrence to be more moving, and as convincing.

Lawrence of Arabia (which I saw again recently) is the only movie I ever finished seeing and was just in total awe of the lead actor's skills. Just marveling at it, and saying to myself, how could he do that? And saying to myself, he was so good.

Taking nothing away from George C. Scott, here, my vote goes to O'Toole.

[As an aside, Brando, when he took the trouble to act, which was most of the time, surpassed anyone in his ability to just toss off convincing portrayals. Even a such masterfully understated one as he gave as a Southern Sheriff (!!!) in The Chase, which I just saw. In another "lesser" role, Marc Antony . . . Not even mentioning his "major" roles. ]

Then there's always James Dean, in Giant . . . Alec Guiness in Kwai . . .

My vote is for O'Toole, greatest performance by an actor.

[And what about Lon Cheney's Quasimodo, I just remembered that one . . . ]

[–] yusomad 14 years ago

Not a chance Patton is the greatest movie ever. It is a great movie, but it is no where near the greatest ever. Scott's performance was brilliant, but the movie had serious issues, the most glaring of which was pacing. The disproportionate amount of time spent in North Africa compared to how Europe was kind of glossed over by news reals an montage cannot go unnoticed.

[–] jon-larsen 14 years ago

It's not greatest film of all time nor is it the greatest male performance of all time, but it's great!!

My picks are:

Greatest film of all time: It's A Wonderful Life

Greatest male performance:

James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life

[–] MadTom 14 years ago

It's not greatest film of all time nor is it the greatest male performance of all time, but it's great!!

My picks are:

Greatest film of all time: It's A Wonderful Life

Greatest male performance:

James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life

Two entirely different movie genres. It's mixing apples and oranges.

However, now that you've brought it up, it's ironic that Jimmy Stewart, playing a small town banker who sat out World War II as 4-F in IAWL, had much more in common with George S. Patton than George C. Scott did. Jimmy Stewart was a combat commander in the ETO in WWII, spent decades in the military (mostly in the Air Force Reserve) and made general officer. Scott spent WWII in the Marine Corps Honor Guard at Arlington Cemetery, burying the dead.

[–] Marx_Bros_Fan86 14 years ago

I applaud him for being unconventional, but I don't agree. I think you could make the argument that George C. Scott's Patton was the best performance in the war film genre, but even he has his contenders in that narrower category. Bruno Ganz's Hitler in Downfall is just as good if not better.

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