The first Robert Altman classic.

Rating: Null/10 (9 February 2000)

When I say the title "MASH" most people think of the t.v. show with Alan Alda. Yet, there was a time when there was only the movie, and the movie was just as successful as the hit t.v. show. I personally find the movie to be far more different and far more better than the CBS prime-time hit. Since this is a Robert Altman film, and Altman (before his NASHVILLE and PLAYER days) this was a little film that went on to be big. MASH takes place during the Korean War, Cpt. "Hawkeye" Pierce (Donald Sutherland) and "Duke" Forrest (Tom Skerritt) arrive at a hospital unit not too far away from the front lines of the Korean War. They are doctors who are to take care of the sick and wounded from the war. Sad to say, the wounded get "stitched" up and sent out on the lines again. So the only way for the doctors to keep their sanity, it to have fun at the base. They later get another partner in crime named "Trapper John" McIntyre (Elliott Gould) who turns out to be a aly of Hawkeye and Duke, and a enemy to bible quoteing Frank Burns (Robert Duvall) and "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Sally Kellerman).
MASH isn't really much of a major plot movie, it's more of a movie that has a very funny series of jokes. And this is quite controversial at the time, since the film was released during the Vietnam War. And the cleaver irony is that like Vietnam, this war was a "police" war against the Communist, and Altman uses many ironic similarites between the two wars. But for today's standards the film is quite funny! I was lucky to see this film on the big screen this past weekend. This is another film, as always, to see on the big screen first. With it's Panavision lense, the viewer does get the full aspect ratio of Altman's classic. But it's also fun to see on the big screen since one does get to see everything that they would have missed on t.v. But this was a funny movie! From the radio under the bunk at Hot Lips bed, to the trip to Tokyo, to the classic football game, this is a movie that is far more funnier than 70% of comedies that are released today. I just wish that screenwriters would watch this film and take some notes on how to make a funny and witty comedy. This film is a fun treat to see, to get a glimpse of Altman before he became Robert Altman. The greatest American directors have a successful film that put their foot in the studio doors, before their names were put on the maps. Speilberg had JAWS, Socrsese had MEAN STREETS, Lucas has AMERICAN GRAFFITTI, and Altman has MASH. It's no surprise that this film is on the American Film Institute's top 100 films of all time, it well deserves it. If you never seen MASH, do yourself a favor and rent this classic film, before you watch the t.v. show. It's obvious that the magic touch is gone without Altman at the helm. ***** (out of five)