There must have been a mix up...

Rating: 9/10 (1 December 2014)

What I can't believe is just how a 'television series' (8.5) could be rated higher than the original movie (7.7)? Granted the TV show was quite entertaining but when the two are compared side-by-side, the original film leaves the TV series in the dust, after all wasn't the film the impetus for the series? This film was obviously ahead of its time and I think something is lost when some people watch it today.
It is an antiwar black comedy that deals with the absurdity of war and its horrific consequences, much the same as "Catch-22". In fact Hawkeye and Trapper John, being officers themselves, sardonically reflect the sentiment against the "regular army clown" hierarchy which most enlisted men embrace. In fact, when this movie was being made the Vietnam war was in full swing, a compelling argument for ending a war which was, arguably, the wrong war for the wrong reason, i.e., political, not humanitarian.
I've read some of the commentary from the message boards and can't believe how offended some folks are at this movie, hey, it's just a movie, lighten up, nothing personal. Women aren't being treated like objects, especially when you consider the time-frame for this movie was the Korean war (early 1950's), so there wasn't even a women's liberation movement as yet, anyway it takes two to Tango, and in the interim if a "regular army clown" gets his/her comeuppance, it's just sauce for the goose and eventually they do come around most willingly.
I personally think this film is cinematic masterpiece and a genuine timeless classic full of satire, and will endure through the ages. Altman should have won Best Director and Film but there was some pretty stiff competition there, than to speculate on something that was controversial and parodied as well. After all Korea was that generation's Viet Nam: blunders, errors and a total waste of time, money and life.