--- title: "M*A*S*H: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/m-a-s-h/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/m-a-s-h" critics_score: 71 critics_reviews: 10 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # M*A*S*H (1970): what the critics said Critics' score 71 from 10 reviews: 7 positive, 2 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics respond warmly to M*A*S*H, praising the way its hospital comedy makes laughter a desperate response to war. Praise centres on Altman’s direction, particularly the overlapping dialogue, loose ensemble storytelling and shifts between bawdy jokes and graphic surgery. The underplayed performances by Gould and Sutherland also draw approval. For its strongest supporters, the cruelty belongs to the setting: the surgeons’ practical jokes and cynicism become ways of coping with the operating room. The disagreement is substantial, however, and concerns whom the comedy humiliates. The AV Club and Slant Magazine question the film’s treatment of women and its insufficient distance from the male characters’ bullying, though both find things to admire in its filmmaking. Variety finds the mixture uneven but credits the cast with rescuing it. Time Out is the clearest dissenter, finding easy targets and a cynical tone that feels hollow beside Altman’s later, more humane work. ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 1970. Ebert finds the film funny because it is desperate, set in a gory surgical hospital where surgeons cope with war through heartless practical jokes and cynicism. He praises the direction's timing and tone, the underplayed performances by Gould and Sutherland, and how the gore and cruelty serve the story's logic. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mash-1970) ## The Hollywood Reporter — John Mahoney Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 25 January 2018. The critic calls it the finest American comedy since Some Like It Hot, crediting Altman's superior direction, Lardner's script, and the improvisational delivery of a talented ensemble cast for its fresh, spontaneous quality amid gory surgery scenes and bawdy humor. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/mash-review-1970-movie-1078385/) ## The New Yorker — Pauline Kael Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 17 January 1970. Kael calls it a marvellously unstable comedy that is tough, funny, and sophisticated in its burlesque of military attitudes while also being a tale of chivalry. She singles out its generous and romantic qualities, low-keyed American humor, and status as the best American war comedy since sound films. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1970/01/24/blessed-profanity) ## Empire — Alan Morrison Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic highlights the film's unexpected box-office success and its role in empowering directors in 1970s Hollywood, crediting Altman's innovative overlapping dialogue, zoom shots, and ensemble storytelling. It praises how the lewd comedy and graphic surgery scenes capture war's insanity while delivering a political anti-authority message. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/msh-review/) ## The AV Club — Mike D'Angelo Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 15 April 2016. The critic acknowledges the film's misogyny and bullying but defends its value through the raw, shocking surgery sequences and gallows humor that capture the war's absurdity, while noting the protagonists receive too much admiration without enough critical distance. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/war-is-hell-and-the-doctors-aren-t-much-nicer-in-robert-1798246229) ## The New York Times — Roger Greenspun Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 26 January 1970. Greenspun notes that the film is the first major American movie to openly ridicule real belief in God while blending humor with unprecedented operating-room gore. He highlights its admission of the cruelty in its comedy and its overall provocative mix of elements. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1970/01/26/archives/mash-film-blends-atheism-gore-humor.html) ## Slant Magazine — Eric Henderson Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 15 September 2009. The review finds the film slightly below its lofty reputation, lauding Altman's overlapping dialogue and loose structure as a blueprint for his later work but faulting its ritualized degradation of women and lack of distance from the male characters' chauvinism. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/mash/) ## Variety — Rick Rating **. 21 January 1970. The review finds the result an uneven brew with excesses that may provoke controversy, though it could succeed commercially with careful handling. It praises the low-keyed cast led by Gould, Sutherland, and Skerritt for their believable, bitingly funny performances that rescue the film. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1970/film/reviews/mash-1200422034/) ## Time Out — GA Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 6 March 2015. The film gave Altman a major career boost after he turned a rejected script into a hit, showcasing his signature style of overlapping dialogue, eccentric characters and vignette structure in a Korean War setting standing in for Vietnam. It is frantic and clever but its easy targets and cynical tone feel hollow next to the director's later, more humanist work. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/mash) ## Collider — Andrew Taylor Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 16 September 2022. The critic praises Altman's direction as still brilliant in this darker anti-war sex comedy, while noting its dated attitudes and cruelty toward certain characters. [Read the review](https://collider.com/mash-robert-altman-direction-good/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/m-a-s-h.md