So is M*A*S*H a "war movie" or an "anti-war movie?"  It's been called both, and I think they're right on both counts.  Robert Altman's 1970 masterpiece which spawned the spinoff TV series comes at you from both directions, dead serious and dead funny. All at the same time.

It follows the doctors of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH!) in Korea during the war.  Some of which were drafted and wind up there by fate, others are "regular army clowns" who seem to live for this stuff.

Now, if you've never seen the movie, but only seen the TV series, you need to take everything you think you know, and just throw it out the window.  About the only common traits the two have is the name, the location, and the characters' names.  And Radar.  He'd be the only actor that stuck around for the series.

There are lots of things which make MASH an incredible movie.  Not the least of which are the performances from a stellar ensemble cast.  Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould, Robert Duvall, Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman, and yes even the infamous Gary Burghoff.

MASH jumps between hilarious episodes, filmed with brilliant vision by Altman (my favorite is the "Last Supper" table) and the dead seriousness of their situation.

While watching this, you also realize how much of this you probably couldn't get away with in a movie today without having the riot act read to you. It's damn funny, but given the climate of today you don't really want to laugh in case someone sees you. 

One of the problems though, is a lot of the humor is so subtle and "dry" that its lost on a lot of folks.  There's a lot of things that if you're not paying close attention, you'll miss the point.  The style is a bit disjointed and irregular, and could also put a few people off.  Once you get used to the strange cuts and angles, and realize what's going on, you'll get the hang of it.

It's been called an "anti-war" movie, and I suspect that's for a few reasons, probably more to do with the period it was made (at the height of Vietnam) and the way it belittles Army life as a series of mishaps connected by madness.

Of course, in a way, all good war movies are "anti-war" to some degree.

That is all.

Technorati Tags: korean war, war movies, m*a*s*h, mash, 4077th, review

OK, so lets put on our imagination caps for a moment.  Imagine that Porky's or Stripes or Animal House had been made in '61, and for some reason it'd been set in Tokyo during the Korean War with a bunch of misfit Marines.  And lets say that they cast a bunch of nobody's and tried to wrap it in a meaningful war story.  And they hired a bunch of drunk college freshman to write the script.

Then you'd get 1961's Marines, Let's Go.  Gads.  As awful as the "war story" parts of this movie are, the entire "shore leave in Tokyo" bit is actually quite funny, if a bit juvenile.  Thankfully that takes up most of the film, because the beginning and ending sections where they're actually attempting to do some fighting are simply terrible.

And who wrote the dialog for Chatfield's Korean squeeze and her father, anyway? My God, that was actually painful to listen to.  It sounded like bad high school love poetry on acid or something.

Yes, there are plenty of Japanese stereotypes to satisfy all the PC-ers out there.  More than enough.  Actually they seem to extend this towards the Koreans, as I swore the Korean prisoner they capture at the end of the film was speaking Japanese.  Unforgivable from a continuity standpoint if true.   Pair this up with the condescending attitudes of the Marines towards the "natives" and you'll fully understand what I mean by "juvenile."

"Let's Go!" indeed.  Really I can't find fault with the performance of the Marines.  They pulled off what they were written as.  Most of the supporting cast though should go back to school, I think.  I was getting flashbacks to the beginning of "Strange Brew" where you hear Doug McKenzie behind the camera going, "Psst. Act! ACT!"

Technorati Tags: war movie reviews, marines let's go, 1961, korea, usmc, japan

Yet another addition to the "all time best classic war movies" list, 1954's The Bridges at Toko-Ri stands as a shining example of quite possibly the perfect war movie. Well, maybe that's stretching it, but man, this is really hard to beat.

The film starts on board the aircraft carrier Savo Island in the middle of the Korean war. These carrier deck scenes are just truly incredible, as a near documentary of early navy jet aviation. The Navy provided extensive support and access for this film, and the Grumman F9F Panthers nearly steal the show. Nearly.

One pilot, Lt. Harry Brubaker (William Holden) has to ditch due to mechanical trouble, and is rescued from the cold and choppy waters of the North Pacific by Mike (Mickey Rooney) and Nestor (Earl Holliman). It's from here that his descent starts.

Before the epic The Big Red One, director Samuel Fuller created another war picture, The Steel Helmet. "Helmet" was a film about the Korean War, made right smack in the middle of the war, and in it, he pulls no punches on a lot of subjects.

However, the execution leaves quite a bit to be desired. I did enjoy the film, but a lot of aspects of it just left me going, "Oh, brother!"