We’ve seen enough robots, aliens and CGI bombs go off this summer. Why not kick off the fall season by throwing it back to the 1970s with M*A*S*H? On September 1st Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release this iconic dark comedy on Blu-ray.
The film was based on the 1968 novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors and focuses on a team of medical personnel stationed at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. The newest members of the group, Captain ‘Hawkeye’ Pierce (Donald Sutherland) and Captain ‘Duke’ Forrest (Tom Skerritt) are good at what they do, they just take care of business in an unconventional manner. Take some high pressure situations, blood and guts, and dissident humor, mix it all together and you get M*A*S*H.
Not only is this film responsible for inspiring the popular TV series, it nabbed the Grand Prix at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival, was nominated for five Academy Awards, and won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy). If that’s not enough to get you to drop the $34.99 for this BD, you also get an impressive selection of bonus material. There’s “The Complete Interactive Guide to M*A*S*H,” audio commentary by director Robert Altman, the theatrical trailer, “AMC Backstory -- M*A*S*H Enlisted: The Story of M*A*S*H Through the Lens,” “M*A*S*H Reunion,” a still gallery, BD-Live access, and it has BD bootstrap capabilities.
I’m a little young to be a M*A*S*H fan, but for someone who learned who Alan Alda is from an obsession with crossword puzzles, I’m pretty excited for this release. Whether you caught the film when it hit theaters, watched the television series, or are just looking to brush up on your cinema classics, this BD has the potential to give you a complete M*A*S*H experience. Also, it’s an uncomfortable time to make a satirical war film, so why not go for a classic?
