It didn't age well

Rating: 6/10 (31 July 2012)

When I first saw "Mash" back in 1970 or thereabouts I was certain that it was a masterpiece of filmmaking.
Over the years, I've had occasion to see it several more times, and each time it's diminished a bit.
It's obvious that the movie only masquerades as being about "Korea", this is about Viet Nam. In that light it's interesting that the humor seemed much easier to accept while the war in Viet Nam was still playing in our living rooms every night. It was irreverent and "in-your-face", but a viable counterpoint to the horror of what was actually going on in S.E. Asia.
Since the war is - thankfully - long since over, the humor now seems simply mean-spirited and thoughtless.And Hawkeye and Trapper are simple smart-ass jerks.
There's little noteworthy outside of the antics of Hawkeye and Trapper. Radar is pleasant enough, Hotlips and Frank Burns are just uncomfortable to watch. The rest is simply wallpaper.
I guess my conclusion is that this was a movie for the moment. It doesn't hold up well now with 40 years of history under the bridge.