"And then there was..... Korea".

Rating: 9/10 (15 May 2011)

Reading the other reviews for this film, it appears that "MASH" elicits either a strong love it or hate it response. One doesn't consider war films to be a ripe venue for comedy, but this picture takes a sublime look at the absurdity of war and turns it completely on it's head. Rather a mean feat, as there are no battle scenes, and casualties of war are nameless and faceless, as military surgeons do their best to save lives while maintaining their own sanity under difficult conditions. That they do so with a touch of insanity is the hallmark of the film, and after forty years the picture hasn't diminished in it's ability to entertain.
As for the picture's funniest moments, take your pick - O'Houlihan (Loretta Swit) and Major Burns (Robert Duvall) getting it on for all the camp to hear; Waldowski's (John Schuck) black capsule experience; betting on O'Houlihan's 'real' hair color; or gassing the Major in Kojura - all are artfully set up and delivered with an effective punch line. Peronally, I would have preferred the football segment to be shorter in length, but it was a small price to pay for the vignettes offered earlier.
It's interesting that the picture was nominated for an Oscar, but lost out to "Patton", set during World War II, the more 'serious' war. When you come right down to it though, "MASH" isn't so much a war movie as it is a look at the human condition under stress, and Man's natural inclination to diffuse stress through humor. One can take exception to the tasteless jokes, the ribald situations, the demeaning of women in the military, and so on, but I don't think that was ever director Altman's point. Released during the height of the Viet Nam War, "MASH" is often described as a decidedly anti-war film, and so it may be, but it's effectiveness lies in the laying bare of mindless regulations and effete snobbery that can stifle discipline. For my money I'll share a foxhole with a Trapper or a Hawkeye any day, if it means that a Major Burns has to be in command.