h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'd love for a M*A*S*H film. It'd be so cool because you can do so much more than they did in the last one with time moving on and special effects and stuff.

But M*A*S*H was all about dialogue and the relationships between the characters. Things going bang was a side issue in the film and TV series, the ability to do such things better these days would *still* be a side issue. So what's the point of a remake

Itd be good. If you can get a good balance between the bangs and the diolouge then it'd be better. But the film was good. I didn't know about the film until 4months ago anyway. Its one of those things that noone remembers.

>>I didn't know about the film until 4months ago anyway.

Ah-ha! A most insightful comment.

The older generations would remember an Oscar winning film, which was followed a couple of years later by a TV show that just never seemed to go away. And who the hell is this Alan Alda character anyway

He works quite well for a program with no definate ending to each series but he wouldn't do as well in a film.

i was brought up watching M*A*S*H*, and as a child thought it was funny. as an adult, i now get all the gags i didn't as a child. with there being no definate ending to a series, i think that was intentional. M*A*S*H* was never about glamourising war, and the lack of a story arc reflects that. war just keeps on going and going.

the character of hawkeye in the original movie was totally different to the hawkeye of the tv series. the movie's hawkeye didn't want to be there, had no respect for military authority(ok, same as tv hawkeye), but did not worry about other people's feelings eg the scene where they rig hotlips' shower tent to collapse on itself just so the guys could see if she was a natural blonde. the tv show hawkeye was a more sympathetic character for the viewer. he cared, not only for the korean people, but also for the other M*A*S*H* staff. even frank burns, hotlips and charles emerson winchesterIII, to whom he was a self admitted arch nemisis. i was watching an episode from the tail end of series5 on paramount the other day, where charles has been taking amphetamines to keep up with the level of meatball surgery that is going on. when he collapses, hawkeye and bj are the ones that drop everything to get him through his cold turkey and come down. i don't doubt that the movie hawkeye would have gone straight to the c.o to get charles removed from the 4077th.

but, no matter what anyone says, M*A*S*H* will always have that special place in my heart. and hawkeye will always be alan alda.

*nostalga moment*

xx

oh yes, i forgot. when the original movie was released(during the vietnam war), the military banned all service personnel from seeing it, as it was a thinly disguised allegory for the current situation(M*A*S*H* being set in the korean 'police action'). the lack of respect for the military machine was the main reason behind this.

before M*A*S*H*, alan alda was a respected theatre actor, having appeared on broadway in many plays and melodramas. he also acted in several movies before he was offered the role of hawkeye, the most notable of which was the mephisto waltz. an underrated horror yarn involving witchcraft, immortality and classical piano playing. one of my personal faves. after M*A*S*H* finished, alda has appeared in several movies and has become an accomplished character actor, even playing a murderous husband in the 1990's. he also has fronted several documentaries for the discovery channel in the states. and eats a lot of chilli.

xx

ps just read this all back. does anyone else think i am taking this too seriously?

Yes

I seem to remember this being a gag on "The Critic" back in the late ninties. Anyone remember that it was actually a book first? Anyway, I don't much care for the idea of a movie based on a series based on a movie based on a book. Similar to the proposed Stargate SG1 film.

yup, the movie was based on the book of the same name by richard hooker(yes, very unfortunate). in fact(alert), there were an entire series of books based around the characters of M*A*S*H*, of the M*A*S*H* goes to tokyo type thingy, all by r hooker.

xx

note, hooker never liked alan alda's portrayal of hawkeye.

Ah. I see someones been copying text from http://www.mash4077.co.uk
tutttuttut.

Updated mash set in Afganistan ? Or Iraq

That could work...

don't tutt me young personage. what i don't know about M*A*S*H* could be written on the back of something, well rather small. and no, i haven't lifted anything from the 4077th website. haven't visited it for a few months now...

xx

ps a mate of mine has got a load of the books!

xx

Well howcome its word for word?

oooh!

how many ways can you say that hooker didn't like alda's portrayal?

erm, hooker didn't like the way alda played hawkeye.

alda's portrayal of hawkeye didn't please hooker.

that's about the only way to say it!

You could say it less formally. Hooker didn't like the way Alda played Hawkeye. Then comment. Come on. It's not like I'm going to bite or anything...

hey, i'm a civil servant. i've got a rod up my ar*e.