7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war.
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman, Robert DuvallDrama | 100% |
War | 55% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1
German: DTS 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (Original)
English, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Cantonese, Danish, Finnish, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Swedish, Thai
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
I’m going to do something terribly cruel. Ready? Okay, here we go. Think of the M*A*S*H theme song. Hum it out loud. Picture the helicopters if need be. Got it? Good. Now, feel free to flood my inbox with all-caps curses when you inevitably can’t get the song out of your head. Since receiving the title for review purposes I’ve had the same problem—whistling the tune in the shower, singing “Suicide is Painless” over and over again, and generally driving my wife up the wall. Director Robert Altman’s then 14 year-old son penned the infectious—and I mean infectious— tune and, ironically, ended up making far more money on royalties from the song than his father made directing the film for Twentieth Century Fox. But that seems par for the course for Robert Altman, whose relationship with the traditional moviemaking system was always marked by box office disappointment and mutual distrust. It was hard for studios to get a handle on the noted cinematic maverick, and for the director’s biting opinion of Hollywood, just check out 1992’s The Player. Altman’s I’ll-do-it-my-way reputation began early. After years of churning out commercial and industrial films, the auteur got his big screen break in 1970 with M*A*S*H, a controversial anti-war comedy that would rattle the conservative industry and establish many of Altman’s directorial trademarks.
Our motley crew of military misfits...
M*A*S*H touches down on Blu-ray with a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that looks fairly
good for a nearly 40 year-old catalog title. Purists will be glad to know that the original grain
structure of the film is intact—there's no hastily applied digital noise reduction here—and apart
from a few specks and flecks here and there, the print is in excellent condition. Of course,
compared to today's standards, the film looks incredibly soft and somewhat unresolved—
especially so during
Altman's characteristic long zooms. Altman notes during his commentary track that fog and
diffusion filters were often used on the lenses to keep the film from looking too crisp, so the
softness is either intentional or the result of slightly off focus-pulling, and not any deficiency in
the transfer. There's not much fine detail to be found here in faces or clothing textures, but after
seeing the film for so many years in standard definition, the upgrade in resolution is still
apparent. M*A*S*H has never been super-saturated, and color-wise, the transfer is spot
on, sporting an appropriate Army palette of olive drab and dusty khaki, with the occasional spurts
of bright red blood to liven things up. The image also perks up considerably during the football
game, with red and blue uniforms popping nicely off the screen. Black levels are appropriately
ratcheted through much of the film, preserving details in all but the darkest of shadows and
providing contrast that's not too hot and not too cold, i.e., just right. This isn't the most striking
catalog restoration I've seen—in reality, it doesn't seem like much has been done at all—but
M*A*S*H certainly looks better than ever.
Do note that the 2.40:1 OAR has been cropped down to 2.35:1 here, but the only
time you'll really notice is during the initial title card, where the 'M' and 'H' of M*A*S*H
are partially out of frame.
As an audio experience, M*A*S*H definitely shows its age. The film is given a solid DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround track on Blu-ray, but the newly lossless sound can't quite mint a new sonic experience out of dated source materials. Altman's trademark overlapping dialogue has an occasionally muffled and boxy quality, and some of the ADR work is noticeably less than subtle. While the original mono track (which is also included) has been expanded to a 5.1 mix, for all intents and purposes it could be stereo, as there's very limited use of the rear channels. You'll hear some music pumped into the surround speakers from time to time, but I only counted two discrete effects—both the droning of jets panning ever so slightly from one channel to another. The front- heavy presentation can get a little cluttered with the chatter of voices, but this was Altman's intent, and serves as a way to keep audiences actively listening and processing what's going on. Dynamically, the film sounds a bit fuller than in previous incarnations, and even offers up one or two instances of very modest subwoofer use. There's not much to get excited about here, but this DTS-HD MA track does its best considering it's working with original sources that have less-than- pristine fidelity.
Commentary by Director Robert Altman
As much as I like Altman, this track is a bit of a snoozer, with little anecdotes interspersed among
bouts of prolonged silence. I did find it interesting that Altman strongly disliked the
M*A*S*H television series, even going so far as to call it "racist" and the antithesis of
everything he was trying to do with the film. The documentaries included on the disc cover most
of the material here in a more lively fashion, so this one is solely for hardcore Altman
cineastes.
The Complete Interactive Guide to M*A*S*H
Do you like drinking games? If so, this interactive guide could be easily adapted for inebriation
purposes. Basically, when you turn this feature on, an avatar of each character appears
whenever he/she is on screen, and little icons pop up every time someone takes a drink, flirts,
mentions religion, or resorts to violence. There are icons for "suicide, spirits, sanctity,
shenanigans, fisticuffs, court-martials," and of course, an "Altman mumble meter" which appears
anytime there's overlapping dialogue. The tallies get pretty high, so if you're seriously thinking
about making a competition out of this, I'd stick to beer over liquor unless you want to be passed
out by the film's mid-mark.
AMC Backstory: M*A*S*H (SD, 24:27)
This episode of AMC's Backstory chronicles the creation of M*A*S*H, from its
origins as a
little-read, semi-autobiographical novel, through it's turbulent shoot, marked by disagreements
between Altman and his leading men, and finally examining the profound effect that the film had
on both audiences and the moviemaking business. The program features interviews with Robert
Altman, producer Richard Zanuck, film critic Richard Schickle, and many members of the cast.
Ultimately, though, Backstory proves to be redundant, as the special features that follow
are much more in-depth documentaries that cover all the material here and then
some.
Enlisted: The Story of M*A*S*H (SD, 40:53)
While the previous AMC program only scratches the surface of the film's production,
Enlisted digs deeper, with interviews from just about everyone involved, plenty of
interesting anecdotes, and even some archival, behind-the-scenes footage of Altman on set. This
documentary is quite exhaustive, and M*A*S*H fans will find it invaluable.
M*A*S*H: History Through the Lens (SD, 44:08)
While the first quarter of this documentary recycles many of the same interviews from the
previous two segments, it differentiates itself by later focusing on MASH units during the actual
Korean War. History Through the Lens allows several real-life medics, including nurse
Mary
Quinn, surgical technician Eugene Hesse, and surgeons John Howard and Otto Apel—who claims
he was once in surgery for 80 strait hours—to tell their stories and compare the film and
subsequent TV series to their own experiences in the war. You might want to fast-forward
through the first fifteen minutes or so, but once the piece gets going it proves to be an
informative history lesson.
Remembering M*A*S*H: 30th Anniversary Cast & Crew Reunion (SD,
30:02)
In July of 2000, Fox Movie Channel honored Robert Altman with a special legacy award and also
reunited many of the cast and crew members from M*A*S*H for a 30th anniversary
screening of the film. Jack Lemmon and a creepy, over-tanned Harry Belafonte extend their
congratulations to the director via prerecorded video, and then Altman himself takes the stage to
say a few words. "I'm overwhelmed," he says, "and I like being 'whelmed.'" After the screening,
film critic Andy Klein interviews a panel of eight cast and crew members, who discuss the
experience of working on the movie. If you've sat through the previous documentaries you won't
learn much new here, and by this point you may be suffering from redundant information
overload. Still, more is more when it comes to special features, and this reunion is worth
watching if only for the well spoken and always entertaining Robert Altman.
Still Gallery (1080p, 5:44)
While I would have preferred a self-directed version over the video that plays here with one or
two seconds devoted to each photo, this is still an impressive gallery, with lots of great on-set
photography.
Theatrical Trailer (SD, 3:06)
Portuguese Trailer (SD, 3:01)
M*A*S*H is a great anti-war film and a stellar comedy to boot, but I have to admit to being one of the few people who have a preferential soft spot for Mike Nichols' Catch-22, which was also released in 1970. Still, it's great to finally have M*A*S*H on Blu-ray, where it looks and sounds great, even if the dated source materials make it less than objectively impressive today. If you're thinking to upgrade from the DVD, I wouldn't hesitate, but do note that most of the special features are the same. On the other hand, if you're one of those few holdouts who have yet to see the film, click the Amazon link above and have your debit card at the ready. M*A*S*H deserves a spot in any discerning Blu-ray collection. Highly Recommended.
1940
Final Cut | 40th Anniversary Edition
1979
1967
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1987
1998
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1957
Limited Edition to 3000
1969
1971
Reissue
1978
2006
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1957
1972-1983