M*A*S*H (1970)
84%RT Audience Score: 83%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Bold, timely, subversive, and above all funny, M*A*S*H remains a high point in Robert Altman’s distinguished filmography
M*A*S*H is the kind of movie that makes you laugh so hard you forget you’re watching a movie about war. It’s like if your grandpa told you a dirty joke and you couldn’t help but laugh even though you know you shouldn’t. Sure, it’s offensive and outdated, but it’s also a classic that paved the way for other anti-war comedies. Plus, who doesn’t love a good prankster humor?
Production Company(ies)
Participant Willi Hill Killer Content
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
TV-PG
Year of Release
1970
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:1h 56m
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Language(s):
-
Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 30, 1970 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 7, 2004
Genre(s)
Comedy/War
Keyword(s)
starring Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Sally Kellerman, Tom Skerritt, Robert Duvall, Jo Ann Pflug, directed by Robert Altman, written by Ring Lardner Jr., comedy, war, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Myles Standish, John Mahoney, Alan Morrison, Gene Siskel, Eric Henderson, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Eddie Harrison, Roger Moore, Harvey G Cox, Richard Propes, MPAA rating R, produced by Otto Preminger, Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, Korean Conflict, surgery, Hawkeye Pierce, Trapper John McIntyre, Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan, Duke Forrest, Major Frank Burns, Lt Dish, 20th Century Fox, Mono, Stereo, Scope (2.35:1)
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Elliott Gould – “Trapper” John McIntyre
Sally Kellerman – Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan
Tom Skerritt – Duke Forrest
Robert Duvall – Major Frank Burns
Jo Ann Pflug – Lt. Dish
Director(s)
Robert Altman
Writer(s)
Ring Lardner Jr.
Producer(s)
Otto Preminger
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (56) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (47) | Rotten (9)
It is ribald, cruel, sick, sacrilegious, offensive and enormously funny, continuously and wildly hilarious.
March 27, 2020
Myles Standish
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
TOP CRITIC
The finest American comedy since Some Like It Hot, the Mr. Roberts of the Korean War, The Graduate of 1970, and the film that has been expected from director Robert Altman for some short time.
January 25, 2018
John Mahoney
Hollywood Reporter
TOP CRITIC
As a savage comedy about man’s rebellion in the face of death it has rarely been bettered.
March 3, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
Alan Morrison
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
For me, M*A*S*H contains as much depression as humor.
January 18, 2013 | Rating: 4/4
Gene Siskel
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
A good dint lower than its reputation, more so if you look at it not as one of the seminal 1970s films but instead as the first chapter from the finest filmmaking career spent examining the American mystique.
September 15, 2009 | Rating: 2/4
Eric Henderson
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
This is still watchable for the verve of the ensemble acting and dovetailing direction, but some of the crassness leaves a sour aftertaste.
June 27, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Altman’s original movie revels in misogyny, racism, prankster humour and very outdated attitudes; it really should not be watchable in 2021, but it is…
December 9, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Eddie Harrison
film-authority.com
Really showing its age. I’d go so far as to call it “obsolescent” now.
June 6, 2021 | Rating: 2/4
Roger Moore
Movie Nation
When it comes to absurdist, black-humor antiwar films, M.A.S.H. falls way, way behind Catch-22.
January 7, 2021
Harvey G. Cox
Tempo (National Council of Churches)
One of my comfortable films because it reminds me in the most subtle of ways that when I am in the midst of the battle there is always a way to survive.
September 16, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4.0
Richard Propes
TheIndependentCritic.com
A wholly unique comedy, oriented in a most unlikely setting.
August 30, 2020 | Rating: 8/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
A good (but not great) comedy about the calculated idiocies of war precisely because it is a human and ultimately humane movie.
January 15, 2020
Michael Ross
Los Angeles Free Press…
Plot
The 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital is stuck in the middle of the Korean War. With little help from the circumstance in which they find themselves, they are forced to make their own fun. Fond of practical jokes and revenge, the doctors, nurses, administrators, and soldiers often find ways of making wartime life bearable. Nevertheless, the war goes on.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The ensemble acting in M*A*S*H is praised for its verve and dovetailing direction.
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