Genre Grandeur – M*A*S*H (1970) – Encore Review

For this month’s next review for Genre Grandeur – Medical Dramas here’s a review of M*A*S*H (1970) by Me.

Thanks again to Patty of CaftanWoman.com for choosing this month’s genre.

Next month’s genre has been chosen by Todd of The Forgotten Filmz Podcast and we will be reviewing our favorite 80’s teen films

Please get me your submissions by the 25th of Sep by sending them to teentodd@movierob.net

Try to think out of the box! Great choice Todd!

Let’s see what I thought of this movie:

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“[lining up during football game] All right, Bub, your f*ckin’ head is coming right off.

[the first use of the word “f*ck” in a major motion picture]

Number of Times Seen – between 5-10 times (cable in the 80’s and 90’s, video, 4 Aug 2008, 25 May 2017 and 27 Aug 2020)

Link to original review – Here

Brief Synopsis – A misfit group of surgical doctors and nurses working close to the front during the Korean War try to liven up their situation by playing pranks on one another in order to try and forget the horrors of war.

My Take on it – When patty suggested the topic for this month’s genre, this was the very first film that came to mind.

I have always loved this movie (and the TV show it spawned) and it gives us a superb depiction of surgeons on the front line and how they deal with the horrors of war on a daily basis.

The film is extremely poignant in its message and they find hilarious ways to tone things down a bit even if the message still stays clear.

The film introduces us to some great characters and finds clever ways to develop their personalities over the course of the movie.

It’s quite easy to fall in love with these characters despite the fact that they each have some very strange and quirky personality traits.

The cats of this film is amazing with Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould an Tom Skerritt playing the 3 leads who each help make these characters so iconic and memorable.

The film was such a success that it helps bring forth one of the longest running comedy TV shows based on the same premise and characters.

The characters all have such exquisite chemistry together and that helps move things along really well because we can believe the kind of bond that they form along the way.

The dialogue is superbly written and we get to see how these characters deal with the situations that they get into while also finding ways to escape the horrors in order to not allow it all to consume them completely.

This movie came out during the height of the Vietnam War and even though the film depicts soldiers in Korea, it is a well known fact that they would trying to send a message about the current war.

The movie’s theme song of Suicide is Painless is extremely poignant and allows us to see the dichotomy of war and the lives of these men and women working to save as many lives as they can.

This film was deservingly nominated for 5 Oscars including Best Picture and Director, yet it only managed to win an award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Bottom Line – Hilarious film that manages to be quite poignant the whole way through. The characters are developed really well and it’s so easy to fall in love with all of them in spite of their various quirks and strange personality traits. The cast is superb with Sutherland, Gould and Skerritt making these characters so memorable. The premise of this film helped spawn one of the longest runs of a TV show that continues the antics and adventures of these characters. The chemistry between these characters is superbly done and we get a clear idea as to why they all are able to hit it off so quickly. The dialogue is quite witty and they are able to show both the horrors of war and the way that those experiencing it could try and find ways to avoid letting it consume them. This film takes place in Korea, yet it was also a way to protest the current war in Vietnam when it was made. The film’s theme song Suicide is Painless is extremely poignant and works really well here. Deservingly nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture and Director. It did manage to win an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Highly Recommended.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – According to Robert Altman, this was the first R-rated movie to use the word “f*ck” in it, but he claimed that it wasn’t his idea. During second unit shooting for the football game that comes near the end of the film, John Schuck was told to say something “really nasty” to his opponent. Schuck came up with “All right, bub, your f*cking head is coming right off,” which made it into the film’s final cut. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy (9/10) (no change from original review)