The Vietnam War provoked strong feelings. In 1970, the opposition
was quite vocal and antiwar films took on a more significant meaning.
That year, Mike Nichol's seriocomic Catch-22 was released; set
during World War II, the film characterized war as insanity. Also in
1970, more conservative Hollywood contingents offered Tora! Tora!
Tora! and Patton. Ironically, in the midst of a national
upheaval against the Vietnam conflict, Patton would go on to
win the Oscar for best picture. Director Robert Altman made the other
and smaller antiwar film released that year, set during the Korean
"Police Action." The film was not expected to do as well as
Catch-22, but perhaps irreverence was more appealing than
insanity, for it was a sM*A*S*H.
This film deviates from
conventional story telling. Rather than a linear storyline,
M*A*S*H is a state of being. The 4077th Mobile Army Surgical
Hospital is a few miles from the front and receives the wounded most
at risk. The surgeons put in brutal hours in bloody operating rooms,
trying to save as many of the steady flow of maimed and injured as
possible. The carnage should drive any normal person quite mad, and
each must find a way to cope. Major Frank Burns (Robert Duvall)
relies on faith, but is, in fact, a sanctimonious hypocrite. Major
"Hot Lips" Houlihan (Sally Kellerman) is regular Army; she
seeks comfort in military regimentation. That makes each a prime
target for the rest of the personnel, for it seems that when off-duty,
most of the surgeons and nurses maintain their sanity with parties,
pranks, and drink. (The most memorable practical joke may be the
shower prank in which our heroes settle a bet concerning whether or
not Major Houlihan is an authentic blond.) The titular leaders of the
mayhem - and the best surgeons - are Trapper John McIntyre (Elliott
Gould) and Hawkeye Pierce (Donald Sutherland). Hawkeye's story is as
close to a unifying theme as one gets here; the film opens with his
arrival and ends with his departure.
In between, Altman
constructs a series of unconnected vignettes that he realized in the
editing room needed some kind of unifying continuity, so the running
gag of unintentionally funny loudspeaker announcements was added in
postproduction. This structure does have its disadvantages. Major
Houlihan's story arc evolves from her being an object of ridicule to
one of acceptance, but that transition is implied - based essentially
on her becoming Captain "Duke" Forrest's (Tom Skerritt)
lover. More importantly, Altman's black comedy perfectly reflects the
antiestablishment climate and the rebellious nature of the time. The
doctors' contempt for authority is a less than subtle antiwar
statement. The movie also marks a filmmaking milestone for
improvisation and collaboration. Screenwriter Ring Lardner Jr. was
appalled when he discovered that the director and the performers used
his work as a broad outline and that most of the dialog had been ad-
libbed. 
The film would, of course, inspire a long running
television series (in which Gary Burghoff reprises his role of
Corporal Radar O'Reilly). At the risk of offending the series' fans,
the television version pales in comparison to the original. The film
is funnier, cruder, and more irreverent. There's a wonderful scene in
which Altman recreates Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper"
during a "going away" party for Captain "Painless"
Waldowski, D.D.S. (John Schuck). That never would have made it past
the CBS censors. (And the scene is another wonderful example of the
stupidity of pan & scan - Altman uses the entire widescreen frame
to compose his tableau.)
Video: How Does The Disc
Look?
The theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is presented in
anamorphic video. The film has undergone considerable restoration (see
the Supplement Section), but the results aren't as impressive as
North By Northwest or Lawrence of Arabia. The film
remains quite dark and soft, although the dark nature of the images
was intended. Within the supplements, I learned that Altman had
stacked filters on the camera lens to subdue color and darken the
scenes shot at the 4077th; only the football sequence was shot without
those filters and is better balanced. My recollection of the original
film is that it's grainier than the DVD; I can't help but wonder if a
video filter was applied to suppress film grain and that the filtering
may have reduced much of the small object detail.
On the other
hand, edge halos have been suppressed as well, so we're left with a
film-like impression - dark and soft, but film-like. That the film was
intended to appear as if your display's brightness and contrast had
been turned down is further confirmed by the more normal looking
modern footage shot for the featurettes. The film's color saturation
is fine, with no visible color noise (although I did spot some minor
color smearing in a few scenes). I was not aware of compression
artifacts like mosquito noise or blocking. 
Audio: How Does
the Disc Sound?
Like many modestly budgeted films of the
late sixties and early seventies, this movie's audio track suffers
from bandwidth limitations and dynamic range compression. Distortion
isn't overt, but the sound has a subtle messiness or slight harshness.
There are two English tracks, one in the original monaural and another
in a remixed stereo. The latter is a bit less claustrophobic, but
neither can be considered of outstanding fidelity. One of the
supplements addresses the restoration of the film; considering the
described condition of the audio stems, the results are quite
remarkable. The sound effects and the score may not have fared well,
but the spoken word is consistently clear throughout. This is very
helpful considering all the overlapping dialog heard in this movie (I
haven't heard so many people simultaneously talking onscreen since
Howard Hawk's classic The Thing From Another World).
The
monaural foreign language track is in French. The audio is supported
by English and French subtitles and English Closed Captions.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
This is a Fox
Five Star Collection release, and the supplements are generous. Disc
one contains the first featurette, Backstory M*A*S*H.
Originally produced for AMC, this documentary reveals the history of
the film from Richard Hooker's novel that inspired the concept to Ring
Lardner Jr.'s screenplay to Robert Altman's subversive and
surreptitious production. Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom
Skerritt, Sally Kellerman, and Robert Altman are interviewed and offer
their impressions of the shoot. At twenty-four minutes, this full
frame documentary is informative and relatively thorough.
The
1.85:1 theatrical trailer is also on disc one. It's shown in
anamorphic video and is far grainier than the film. The Stills
Gallery holds over forty color and black & white candid photos
from the shoot; you may spot a scene that had been filmed but never
made its way into the theatrical cut. You will also find on this disc
THX Optimode, which provides the test signals required to set
your system for this particular DVD. There are forty chapter stops
within the feature.
Last up on disc one is feature-length,
scene-specific commentary with Robert Altman. I saved his
commentary for last and I found that much had been covered by the
other supplements, as the featurettes are quite comprehensive. Mr.
Altman doesn't have a great deal left to say; consequently, there are
long gaps in his commentary. Nevertheless, he does manage to recall a
few anecdotes not duplicated elsewhere, and that makes the commentary
worthwhile.
On disc two we find four featurettes. The first is
Enlisted: The Story of M*A*S*H, which covers territory
similar to disc one's featurette, but in much greater depth. This
forty-one minute long, full frame documentary includes interviews with
Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman,
director Robert Altman, Gary Burghoff, Rene Auberjonois, Michael
Murphy, screenwriter Ring Lardner, Jr., producer Ingo Preminger, John
Schuck, former Fox studio executive Richard Zanuck, and more. I
particularly enjoyed their anecdotes and the detailed discussion of
the film's history.
M*A*S*H: Comedy Under Fire
takes a slightly more sociological approach. Scenes from the film and
comments from the principals are intercut with historical footage of
both Vietnam and Korea, and with interviews with people who
experienced the Korean Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals first hand. At
44 minutes, this is a thorough examination of M*A*S*H as
allegory.
Next is the Fox Movie Channel's 30-minute full screen
M*A*S*H Reunion at an award ceremony honoring Robert Altman
with Fox's first Legacy Award. After the ceremony and a screening of a
new, restored print of the movie, film critic Andy Klein (separated at
birth from Bruce Vilanch) moderates a panel of eight of the
principals. Much of their material is covered elsewhere on this disc
set, but there is also much that is new. (Had the short's editors made
an effort to include fresh panelists' recollections in order to avoid,
whenever possible, duplication?)
Finally, there's the Film
Restoration feature. Several text screens explain the processes
and challenges faced by the restorers of the film and its audio
elements. The text is followed by three split screen sequences in
which the viewer can compare before and after. Interesting and
informative.
There are a few Easter Eggs spread through
the discs. On each of the disc's Main Menus, selecting any of the
signs on the post supporting the loudspeaker will change the
background audio. And just to the right of the Optimode icon on the
Special Features Menu Page you'll find the silhouette of a Vietnam-era
helicopter; select it and you'll be treated to a Spanish language
2.35:1 trailer in anamorphic video that looks better than the more
easily found English trailer.
DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do
you get when you pop the disc in your PC?
No ROM extras
have been included.
Parting Thoughts
In the
unlikely event that you may never have seen the original film in its
intended form - not the censored, pan & scan version that may have
found its way to network television, or the less edgy television
series - give yourself a treat. This is a very different experience.
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