Rating: 
Summary: GOTTA HAND IT TO ALTMAN, GRUDGINGLY
Review: At the same time, Robert Altman's "M*A"S*H" came out. It, too found an audience, and truth be told many who enjoyed "Patton" enjoyed "M*A*S*H". It was just plain funny, and the anti-military theme was subtle. Altman walked a brilliant tightrope between a pro-American and unpatriotic premise. There is no doubt that Altman intended it as an anti-Vietnam movie. It was written by former Communist Ring Lardner, Jr. Lardner had been Blacklisted, and this fact featured prominently in the politics of the film's aura. It was based on a sexy paperback novel about surgeons in Korea. The film was set in Korea, yet made every possible attempt to convey the image that it was actually Vietnam. Many of the movie's set pieces were deliberately Vietnamese in nature and costume, for that very purpose. To the extent that it was unpatriotic, it subtly described "regular Army" officers as unyielding, intolerant Christians, utterly blinded by stupid jingoism. The draftees, however, are funny and attractive as they drink and love their way through a bevy of good-looking nurses, all while saving lives in the style of comic Galahads. Altman showed genius as a filmmaker. The movie avoided real controversy because it was just so darn good.
"M*A*S*H" spurred a television show that ran for years. In the 1970s it played for its time and audience. Re-runs, however, strain its credibility beyond Altman's original themes. Two doctors played the "bad guy." The first was a complete buffoon. Frank Burns was prominently identified as a Republican. He is given zero good qualities. He is ugly, a bad doctor, a coward, a racist and all-around mean SOB who cheats on his wife with Major Margaret Hoolihan, who at least is given some character. She is half-Vixen, half-Fascist, naturally Republican, a patriotic American in the "worst way," who worships the idols of war. Over the years the writers gave Margaret a little development. Very little. Burns was replaced by Major Charles Emerson Winchester, a Boston Brahmin, naturally a Republican whose father "knows Truman. He doesn't like him, but he knows him." Winchester, like Hoolihan, is allowed a touch of humanity when the liberal writers felt charitable, but generally was available for all possible bashing. Two hero-doctors anchor the show by showing their intelligence, medical skills and tolerance as direct contrasts to the war effort. The CIA is lampooned, and a military effort that in reality featured MacArthur's Inchon campaign, perhaps the most brilliant invasion in history, is also played as foolish. In the end, the TV show and the film avoid being really and actually unpatriotic because they do feature an emphasis on the basic goodness of the American spirit under stress, but you will not catch me tuned in to those old re-runs(...)
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant black comedy
Review: If you are only familiar with the TV version of M.A.S.H. you will find the film very different, but very funny. Donald Sutherland (Hawkeye) and Elliot Gould (Trapper) are both brilliant as the crazy surgeons trying to keep sane among the chaos of war. The tone of the film is wilder than in the TV series, of the original movie cast only Gargy Burghoff (Radar) went on to star in the Tv version. These days I find I prefer Donald Sutherland's Hawkeye, Alan Alda's unrelenting niceness gets on my nerves a bit. In the film version there are two other surgeons who share Trapper and Hawkeye's anarchic activities, Duke Forrest and Spearchucker Jones (you will recall there was a halfhearted attempt to make Spearchucker a regular character in the early TV episodes, but he soon faded from view). I love the bit in the movie when Duke, a southerner is told they are going to be sharing their accomodation with a black surgeon and he remarks plaintively "It's bad enough having to share with you two Yankees". Uptight army nurse Margaret Houlihan is subjected to much rougher treatment than she gets on TV, as in the scene where her all is exposed when the doctors cause the shower to collapse while she's using it, in order to settle an argument over whether she is a natural blonde or not. Then there's the grand climatic football match, where some very dirty tactics are brought into play to make sure the M.A.S.H. team win. Dirtier, edgier and more cynical than the TV series, this is a very different M.A.S.H., but in some ways it's even better.
Rating: 
Summary: My take on this film
Review: It didn't strike me as that funny. None of the actors were comedians 'cept for Roger Bowen (Henry Blake). The massively interwoven stories-plotline bothers me more than it delights. Donald Sutherland has been totally outclassed and outperformed by Alan Alda (Hawk on tv MASH). I find it dated, a little wrongheaded in it's anti-USmilitary views (but hey it was the late 1960's), and better than any movie since after the year 1984. I do not think this film was as improvised as one poster here thinks.
Rating:
Summary: M*A*S*H - intelligent satire in a benchmark DVD release
Review: M*A*S*H is one of the zaniest and most intelligent satires ever produced by Hollywood. This is a war movie in which only two shots are fired -- as signals in a football game. It is a masterpiece of wider appeal -- even to veterans -- than is suggested by its setting in Korean War military hospitals, or by its director's explicit aim of promoting liberal opposition to the Vietnam war during the '60s and '70s.The 2002 two-disk M*A*S*H special edition from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in many ways is a benchmark for DVD releases of cult movies. Picture and sound quality are high. The special feature content is entertaining and insightful. This content includes extensive retrospective comment by director Robert Altman, producer Ingo Preminger, former studio boss Richard Zanuck, scriptwriter Ring Lardner Jr, actors including Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Sally Kellerman, Tom Skerritt, John Schuck and Gary Burghoff, and medical veterans of the Korean War. We see the 30th anniversary M*A*S*H reunion at Fox, and presentation of a studio life achievement award to Altman. The special content gives fascinating insights into the driving half-mad genius that so often makes a great director, and of egos and bigheartedness in movie making.
Almost everyone, from the scriptwriter to the studio executives and the actors, lined up against the director at some time. Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould once even tried to get Altman fired, fearing that he would damage their careers. In the M*A*S*H special edition features they eat their words and graciously pay tribute to Altman. Former studio boss Richard Zanuck says that until Altman came along other directors were afraid of the screenplay or didn't like it. 'Altman came in, and seemed unruly enough to be able to understand this subject matter.' M*A*S*H was made on a shoestring budget with Fox's Century Ranch standing in for Korea. It emerged from chaotic creative tension as an enormous artistic and financial success. Altman accepted a salary of only $75,000. His son Mike is reputed to have made more money from writing the lyric to the keynote ballad, 'Suicide Is Painless', with Johnny Mandel. Altman kept costs down by casting the movie with mostly unknown and out-of-work actors. 14 of the movie's 30 speaking roles were played by actors making their screen debut. Shooting finished three days ahead of schedule in 1969, and almost half a million dollars under budget. M*A*S*H went on to earn more than $80 million at the box office, a Palme d'Or at Cannes and an Oscar (for the heavily reworked script of formerly blacklisted scriptwriter Ring Lardner Jr), and to inspire a long-running popular TV series. This is a rare thing: a five star classic movie in a five star DVD release.
Rating: 
Summary: Second Release on DVD?
Review: Normaly I would give this movie a 5 stars. I mean it is that good. The movie is outstanding. Here is the reason I am giving this only 3 stars: I am puzzled of why 20th Century Fox is re-releasing this movie as a single disc DVD. They should have released the single disc first, then the Five Star Collection edition. Hey 20th Century Fox, why????????
Rating:
Summary: "The game of life is hard to play, I'm gonna lose it anyway"
Review: Probably no cinematic comedy produced by Hollywood in the last half of the twentieth century is as irreverent, disdainful of authority, critical of war and its effects, and, incidentally, as funny as "M*A*S*H", that 1970 comedic masterpiece starring Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt, Gary Burghoff, and Sally Kellerman; written by Ring Lardner, Jr.; and directed by Robert Altman, in his directorial debut. "M*A*S*H" is actually a very difficult film to review for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, it's darned near impossible to provide an adequate synopsis for readers who've never seen the movie. Because, unlike most modern films that contain a linear story line, an easy-to-follow plot, and well developed characters that one can either root for or vilify with ease, "M*A*S*H" is a film that can only be described as a series of loosely joined comic vignettes, featuring a set of very true-to-life characters that are all BOTH very likeable and flawed. "M*A*S*H" is one of the best comedies ever made, and for good reason. It is genuinely funny. It is artistically produced; it contains great writing and acting; and it proclaims an important social message to viewers. Having said all that, "M*A*S*H" is very likely NOT a movie that will appeal to everyone's tastes - even now, 32 years after it was first released. How the movie was written and produced has a lot to do with that fact. As the story goes, the idea for producing a movie version "M*A*S*H" got its start when literary agent Ingo Preminger referred Dr. Richard Hooker's famous novel of the same name to 20th Century Fox executive Richard Zanuck. Zanuck enthusiastically supported the idea, hired Preminger as the movie's producer, and set out to find a screen writer and director. Ring Lardner Jr. (son of the famous 1930s sports writer) was brought in to write the script. Robert Altman was hired to direct. (As Altman tells it, he was about the "13th choice" of the studio to direct.) Shooting began during the summer of 1969. At the same time, the films "Patton" and "Tora! Tora! Tora!" were in production. Altman, eager to be successful in his first major film, decided to "hide out" on a back lot of the studio, where he would escape the watchful eyes of studio executives. As a result, Altman was able to apply many innovative techniques to the film. He wanted his actors to improvise as much as possible in each scene. He wired each actor with an individual microphone and encouraged them to talk over one another. He incorporated several bloody operating room scenes in the film. He tried to mask the fact that the film was supposed to be set during the Korean War. He wanted audiences to assume that this was a film about Vietnam, and he wanted them to understand his clear message about the monstrosity of war. (By the way, Altman's technique enraged Lardner, who thought Altman had basically thrown away the script. Lardner came perilously close to disassociating himself from the project, but in the end, accepted both the sole writing credit for the film... and the Oscar for Best Screenplay at the 1971 Academy Awards.). Because of Altman's innovative (some say crazy) filmmaking techniques, "M*A*S*H" succeeds as a brilliant film that achieves almost all of Altman's goals. The film is deeply imbued with a lifelike realism that allows viewers to "feel" what it was like in the fictional 4077th MASH. The actors speak like one would expect them to when confronted with the reality of war and the boredom of inactivity. Comedy scenes are uniformly uproariously funny, employing jokes and gags that range from subtle to coarse to borderline lewd. Interspersed with the comedy scenes are operating room sequences that are bloody to the point of horrific, but that bring home with full force the full brutality of war... so much so that, for a short time, the Defense Department banned the "M*A*S*H" from being shown in military theaters worldwide. I've read some reviews of "M*A*S*H" in which a criticism is leveled that the movie's characters are not well developed. I disagree with this judgment. I found I was readily able to identify with all the characters, whether they were likeable or not. Hawkeye, Duke, Trapper, Frank, Hot Lips, Henry, Radar, and all the others were completely believable, and fleshed out in detail... no small feat since the actors who played these parts were directed to perform their roles in such a highly improvisational manner. "M*A*S*H" is one of those rare films that gives viewers everything they could ask for from a great film: wonderfully realistic acting; a great script; brilliantly funny comedy; superb drama, important social commentary; and artful, innovative filmmaking techniques. "M*A*S*H" has steadfastly stood the test of time for thirty years, never becoming outdated or irrelevant. Whether you've never seen it, or, like me, you've seen it many times: RUN, don't walk, to your nearest video store and check it out!
Rating:
Summary: Suicide is Painless
Review: The Five-Star Collection is Fox Studios' top-of-the-line releases. Movies like French Connection have already made the list, and now Fox debuts the greatest anti-war movie of all time, M*A*S*H. The basis for the long-running TV series (which also debuted recently on DVD), M*A*S*H introduces us to the antics of Hawkeye Pierce (Donald Sutherland), Trapper John (Elliot Gould), Hot Lips (Sally Kellerman), and Radar (Gary Burghoff). Altman's black comic masterpiece doesn't have a solid plot so much as a series of skits and sketches about life during the war. From golfing 5 miles from the front to suspension of marital promises to trying to figure out why people are dying all around, M*A*S*H handles the gruesomeness of stupidity of war in the only way possible - if you're not laughing, then you're going to be crying, so it's probably better to laugh. And what a way to bring this classic to DVD - the movie has never looked so good. For being 30 years old, it looks great after Fox's extensive restoration and is presented in its original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 with an anamorphic transfer. There's some grain here and there, but the colors are exceptionally vibrant, with great contrast on the blacks and whites especially. The sound mix is a decent DD 2.0, which is fine considering that the movie is mostly dialogue, but the lack of a more dynamic soundtrack was noticeable during the football game and any time there was music. There are enough extras to make up for it, though, including Altman's commentary track, three featurettes including A&E's "The Story of M*A*S*H" and a 30-year cast reunion that's both touching and funny. The lack of the DD 5.1 soundtrack doesn't sully the otherwise pristine quality of the rest of this 2-disc set. It's a must have - get it now. Now, trooper! Now!
Rating:
Summary: MASH is hot.... Altman is not.
Review: The movie is 5 stars. The restoration job was beautiful. The AMC special is great.
Now let's move on to Altman. Here lies the question, "Does one film make a director great?" Appearantly Altman thinks so. Look at a list of his movies. The only noteworthy one is MASH (which goes to show that even a bad director can get lucky sometimes).
What is really bad is that TCFHV decided to let Altman do the commentary on the film. He talks about how his film saved Fox, how if he would have known that Southerland & Gould would have wanted him fired he would have retired, how the 2 stars acted like prima donnas, how Fox tried to railroad him every step of the way, how he made the film under budget, and (most importantly) how he hated the television series and thought that it was racist. He builds himself up as if he was Hitchcock, while shooting everyone else down. Now I know where the Frank Burns character came from.
If you want to really enjoy this film, do NOT listen to the commentary. Altman should remember 2 things. 1) The television series of MASH ran a record 11 seasons, and 2) I have yet to see anyone breaking down doors to watch his other films.
Rating:
Summary: The missing link between "Dr. Strangelove" and "Porky's"
Review: The passage of time has had interesting effects on the legacy of Robert Altman's 1970 war satire. On the one hand, you could point to "M*A*S*H" as an irreverent black comedy with serious political/social undertones; culmination of a sub-genre launched in the 1960s with Stanley Kubrick's pointedly satirical "Dr. Strangelove", and continuing with the more abstract European anti-war films "King Of Hearts" and "How I Won The War". On the other hand, you could also say that "M*A*S*H", with its generous helping of bawdy frat-boy sex pranks and expletive-rich insult humor (something American audiences hadn't seen much in major studio releases up to that point in time) also could have helped pave the way for the likes of "Porky's", "Caddyshack" and the "American Pie" franchise, i.e. the general "dumbing down" of Hollywood. (I have to chuckle at some of the younger reviewers making comments to the effect of: "This movie is weird and boring-its not ANYTHING like the TV show..." I rest my case.) "M*A*S*H" is the first truly "Altmanesque" film that Altman made- a huge cast, overlapping (and frequently improvised) dialogue, busy set pieces and a patented mix of high and low comedy. Also notable for launching the careers of Bud Cort, Tom Skeritt, Sally Kellerman, Michael Murphy, and at least a half dozen more actors whose names are credited with the phrase "And introducing..." The single-disc 2004 DVD version released by Fox features a sparkling widescreen transfer, decent sound and director commentary. Altman's commentary track is sporadic but worthwhile for film buffs. Along with "Nashville" and "McCabe & Mrs. Miller", this is "must-see" Altman.
Rating:
Summary: A Five Star Movie!!! A Classic!!!
Review: This DVD is the ultimate version of this classic 1970 Robert Altman film!!! Disc one contains the WIDESCREEN version of the film with a second disc devoted to extras!!! A great package!!! AWESOME!!! Two thumbs up!!! A+
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