much different than TV series

Rating: 2/10 (31 January 2007)

The best way to evaluate "Mash" is to compare it to the TV series. While the names are mostly the same, otherwise the two are quite different. On many levels the movie works better. On first glance, the TV series is more entertaining and seems to have the edge. The movie is choppy and has a badly edited look. The anti war sentiment is more hinted at than the series, in which war is heavily lambasted. The movie also deals more with the Korean War. Historically, the movie shows much more accuracy. While the TV series specialized in old wartime stories all combined in one setting, the movie was much more real, with no set agenda or divine intelligence wrapping up all the troubles of the world. The movie deals with an ongoing struggle of the characters with no end in sight. The mud and gloom is well depicted, and has more accuracy. For example, during the Korean War, medical information was not as well coordinated between cultures. The modern day Discovery Planet viewer would have more knowledge of poisonous Asian snakes than the best trained American Mash surgeon. This was before the information age. The movie indicates this, while the TV series would have the surgeons miraculously draw inspiration from colorful local characters, probably the least honest ones, to arrive at a cure for the most poisonous of snakes. The movie also dealt better with the characters. Hot Lips, for instance, was a much more believable character in the movie, and much more likable. She had more of a naive innocent acceptance of the American dream common to that era, and Sally Kellerman was a much more attractive character in all respects. The TV Hot Lips was probably the woman most men would vote for as the "woman men would care about least if she died" award. She was hateful and mean spirited beyond all compassion, particularly to those weaker and lower on the totem pole than her. The movie Hot Lips was not nearly so harsh. All the characters were more drawn to the middle than in the series. The series drew its humor from stereotyping the characters, until they introduced their most complex character, Dr. Winchester, to the show. While this would be considered low brow cheap humor, it did make th show much funnier than the movie. Another note is that the movie should be with parental guidance for one reason alone. In one landmark scene, a man with a beautiful voice sings "Suicide is Painless". While this is meant as an ironic statement, it should be made clear to more naive viewers that suicide statistically creates more troubles, since about half of the attempts are botched and cause scars or crippling. The lone exception would be in cases such as war when a botched attempt may keep a person from being forced to walk in a land mine field, but this wasn't the case with the doctors. The anti war sentiments were more Viet Nam in the series, more Korea in the movie. And in both cases, it is a timeless sentiment. The movie never really gives the viewer the feel of death and dismemberment, of amputations and bodily ruin. There is a lack of emotion and expression which doesn't help to make the case for the movie. Most of the characters look alike, and it makes it hard to distinguish what they are feeling. On this level, the movie doesn't make it. A huge flaw is the preachy anti Christian attitude. The character of Burns is depicted as praying for people diligently, then hypocritically hurting people. I've known dozens of people who pray diligently and read the bible diligently, and none of them have ever been hypocrites. One hundred percent of them are caring people who bend over backwards to help others. This characterization is a sick stereotype that doesn't even exist in real life. Makes you wonder about the wackos who invented the character. Don't expect great entertainment or laughs. It isn't a thrilling or exciting movie, and may even put you to sleep. But it has merits.