Important? Perhaps. A masterpiece? Not quite.

Rating: 7/10 (25 October 2008)

"M*A*S*H" is continually lauded as an important American film and I suppose that it has a valid claim to that title. However, I think that apart from historical significance the film is not particularly exceptional.
Robert Altman's direction is interesting but to be honest I just didn't appreciate some of his techniques very much. The frequent use of zoom wasn't very attractive and while the overlapping sound may have enforced realism I would rather have had clearer dialogue. Nevertheless, there is one particularly impressive scene: Painless's 'last supper', framed & shot in irreverent manner by Altman. That scene and the opening credits also feature "M*A*S*H"'s well-known theme song "Suicide is Painless".
The cast of then-unknowns is pretty authentic and do their jobs well. Donald Sutherland, Robert Duvall & Sally Kellerman, among others, populate the story with vivid characterizations. Nevertheless, the film is still a bit lacking in terms of character development, which isn't surprising given the breadth of the cast.
As for the story, I'm unclear as to how exactly this is to be construed as an anti-war film. It's certainly not pro-war but it seems to me to be too escapist to tackle any stance whatsoever. Yes, there are gruesome scenes in the operating room which are contrasted with the zany antics of the surgeons. However, these merely suggest the aim of maintaining sanity in an insane situation. The plot (what little of it there is) is as rambling and chaotic as the war itself, which doesn't help to make the filmmakers' points any clearer. There are indeed some memorable episodes but overall the story just seems to lack substance.
While I wouldn't say that the film lives up to its reputation I do consider it worth watching. Altman & company are successful more often than not and do indeed create some memorable moments. Unfortunately, those memorable moments are surrounded by other, not so memorable moments.