If you loved the TV show, you'll hate the movie.

Rating: 4/10 (25 May 2006)

I grew up watching the television show, so to me, Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, McLean Stevenson, and that group will always be MASH...I did decide to watch the movie, though--I figured that if the TV show was so good, the movie had to be REALLY good.
However, I was rather disappointed. I think some of it was the fact that I was used to certain actors playing the characters, but mostly I think it was because, while the movie had its moments, the characters just didn't come across with the likability that Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, and McLean Stevenson, et al., brought to the series, and I think that counts for a lot. If you don't care for the characters, you don't really care what they do or what happens to them, and that's how I felt about the movie.
In the series, Hawkeye, Trapper, Col. Blake, (and the rest) are lovable characters, with their own quirks and personalities. You get involved with them, and you get interested in their lives, wondering what they're going to do next; the movie doesn't really develop that, and you don't get involved. You never forget you're watching a movie. I kept waiting for someone to yell, "CUT!" There wasn't the natural flow there like there was in the TV show.
I ended up thinking, "Ok, I've finally seen the movie. Glad I didn't buy it. The series was better." I couldn't wait to watch the TV show just to feel like I was watching MASH again.