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.

This is the Korean War from the perspective of the wacky characters of the 4077 MASH unit. They are a mobile hospital in a draft army in a muddy war.

This is Robert Altman's first big screen success. It has all his style that will become his hallmarks in the years to come. It has the documentary style with multiple characters speaking at once. It has the rambling improvised feel. It definitely benefited from its time in history. Released at the height of the Vietnam war, this portrayal of the Korean War must have been down right eerie.

The actors are top rate. Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould are terrific leads. Sally Kellerman's Hot Lips has the iconic naked shower scene. It's odd to see Robert Duvall as Maj. Frank Burns, but he leaves early in the movie anyways. It's a solid movie that changes the landscape of movie making.

I agree with the reviewer who talked about what this film represents. I don't rate it as low because the subject matter of Korea was an abomination at the time. For God's sake, we just got out of World War II. Here we have an interesting situation that would have been done so much better. An Army surgical hospital near the front lines. I wonder how many films have had this as their foundation. Now we take that provocative setting and put group of cynical, hard drinking, womanizing men who sort of terrorize the entire place. They have their foils, people they don't like. One is the self righteous Robert Duvall (Frank Burns) who is merely obnoxious. What do they do? They harass him and assault him until he breaks. I know this is supposed to be humorous and that in war, bad things happen, but this is really sadistic. Sutherland and Gould are a couple of cases of arrested development. Granted, they aren't happy with their situations, but somehow they take over the camp and play cruel tricks on people.