Far superior to the series

Rating: 9/10 (26 June 2003)

Having been bought up watching the television series for many years, it was not until I was in my twenties that I finally saw the original M*A*S*H. How my eyes were opened.
The film introduced the characters as they were intended to be. Witty, sharp, cunning, clever and able to fully realise that as conscripts into the war their role was to do their job, take their pleasures where they can; drinking, cards, the nurses, a trip to Japan, and continue to do what they do best, operate with the upmost regard for human life. They do not want to be out there in Korea but must make do as best they can.

There is no comparison to the television series. The TV show was a pale, insipid, flawed imitation of a brilliant, witty, deft and original critique of life for a conscripted surgeon in the Korean war.