5/5 Awesome series
  by Robert K. Garrou (Pikeville, NC)
I knew General Patton was a great battlefield commander. Despite his flaws, he was still the right man to do the job of smashing the Hitler-Nazi machine. This what the series, Patton 360, brings out. It clearly portrays the genius of a man driven to wreak havoc on the enemy. I never realized, until now, just how much of a struggle it was to win back France, and the obstacles that had to be overcome. I have no doubt that if Patton was given full sway, the war might well have shortened by almost a year. But judge for yourself. Watch or buy the series. Enjoy the clever and artful way computer graphics have been combined with historical footage to give a complete and exciting story of World War II's most controversial but successful general - and appreciate how America always seems to come with a man at the hour of her need or peril.

3/5 Somewhere in the middle
  by Peter T. Wolf (lake forest, ca United States)
Im between the two extremes of the previous reviewers. I disagree with the negative reviewer that the series did nothing to document Patton's tactical skill. On the contrary it did that quite well. Further, it documented the skills of his subordinate commanders which any student of WW2 WOULD be interested in. Also, it paid due respect to the skills of the German commanders. THIS the series did very well. Rommel and Kesselring are of course well celebrated in the espisodes. But outside of students of the subject, who knows that much about Manteuffel? Yet here he is given justified attention. So are the early battles against the Vichy French. Where I agree with the negative reviewer was the repetition of the simulated graphics and stock footage, although some of the footage IS rare. In short, the series could have been reduced in length and been more impactful.
3.5 stars.

4/5 Falls short of potential
  by Nick
I was waiting for Patton 360 to come out on DVD for a long time, but I must say that I was mildly disappointed. Frankly, there was way too much going on. Instead of focusing on one aspect at a time, like the ground campaign or naval help, the show tried to tell the story of everything and everybody all at once. I understand that the producers were trying to be complete, but I think they sacrificed the personal aspects of the war. I loved Dogfights and Battle 360 because I was literally on the edge of my seat during some of the battles, but Patton 360 failed to deliver suspense. Perhaps Dogfights and Battle 360 was more condusive to showing a mano-a-mano fight than Patton 360 because Patton 360 focused more on strategy and the overall campaign than individual fights.
However, I found Patton 360 to be very enlightening. Obviously, I just described how it wasn't very good as a movie experience, but in terms of historical documentation, Patton 360 is excellent. I agree that it showed Pattons prowess both as a tactician and as a leader, going in depth about how his troops would be arranged and how he would lead from the front. Other documentaries I have seen focused entirely on his personal life or on his impact on the war, but this series showed his tactical strategies, something which I haven't seen much of.
tl,dr: Not that great as a movie and dramatic experience, but awesome as a documentary, 3.5 stars.

5/5 Getting drawn into the battle
  by CGScammell (Southern Arizona)
I bought this video for my husband who is a big fan of Patton and could recite every one of his quotes. I ordered this on 22 November and received it today. Within 30 minutes my husband had the DVD in his player to watch it.

The combination of both archival news footage and computer graphics had me pulled into the battle as soon as I heard the tank rounds explode in the TV room.

This DVD set of three discs runs over seven hours long. The story, narration and scenery pull you into the battle. Tank rounds never stop exploding in the background as you go from scratchy video to CGI to talking heads and back to scratchy video as the battle goes on, as if in real time. And, like zooming in and out with Google Earth, you get to see aerial views of the battlefield as well as lateral shots and ground shots. Old-looking maps of the warfront show the US and Nazi armies moving toward each other in the Benelux area.

The transformation between film footage and CGI is continuous, as the CGI helps continue the battle scenes. You may see one scene of a tank getting hit. That very same tank then turns into a computer-enhanced graphic that turns around and fires a shot back. This is thrilling, exciting and scary all rolled into one!

Between battle scenes old veterans of this battle retell their version of the fight. This is classic History Channel quality. Even the narrator sounds so History Channelish.

My husband gives this production five stars, I give it four. My complaint is the background superimposition of what looks like an old compass dial coming at you while you are listening to a veteran retell his story, or a historian comment on the action. It's not noticable at first, but in most every archival footage there is that compass dial coming at you like shooting stars or snow aiming for the camera. What is that all about? My husband was so engrossed in the story he says it didn't bother him, but to me it was annoying. This did not take away from the subject matter, though: Patton was an amazing strategist.

Thus, from two history fans, 4+ stars. A great gift for any Patton fan.

5/5 FANTASTIC!
  by JOJO DANCER
I am a 45 year old world war two history buff. I have may dvd's on this subject. This production may be the best i have ever watched on this war. The narration, CGI, interviews of veterans, archive film and photographs from the war, the music and historical accuracy are all great. VERY EXCITING and stimulating to the senses.