MAS*H
FromCatch-22toGood Morning , Vietnam , there are plenty of great motion picture that equilibrize compelling character drama with incisive dark-skinned humor as effectively asMASH . Most war movies , likeSaving Private Ryan , Apocalypse Now , andThe Deer Hunter , offer bleak , torturous accounts of the horrors of war and the annihilative psychological bell it takes . But there are plenty of filmmakers who have used the inherent absurdness of war to satirize geopolitics and human nature , likeStanley Kubrick with his Cold War - era farceDr . Strangeloveor Ivan Reitman with his blithe chum comedyStripes .
Robert Altman ’s transgressive comedy blockbusterMASHand the ensuing remove TV version both demonstrate interview how to laugh at the pain of war . Altman ’s film used its Korean War setting as a timely parallel to the then - on-going Vietnam War , and the video show used a workplace situation comedy set in a war zone to depict triumphs of the human spirit — even under such trying circumstances , people can make friend and build a community . FromThree KingstoStalag 17 , there are a net ton of great movies that have done the same .
11Biloxi Blues (1988)
The Film Was Directed By Mike Nichols
Your Rating
Your scuttlebutt has not been saved
Cast
Between his hit moviesHeartburnandWorking Girl , Mike Nichols helmed the underappreciated military comedyBiloxi Blues . Biloxi Bluesstars Matthew Broderickas a rebellious teenager who ’s drafted into the U.S. Army and Christopher Walken as the severely - butt against veteran sergeant charged with train him and all the other fresh recruits .
MAS*H was a popular war sitcom in the ' 70s , but could the humor transform to forward-looking daylight ?
It was establish on the semi - autobiographic gambling of the same name by Neil Simon , and Simon ’s ego - penned screenplay adaption represent his signature tune razor - sharp wit . At the rootage of the motion picture , Broderick ’s Private Jerome set out to not only survive the war , but also recede his virginity .
The clapper - in - cheek humor ofBiloxi Bluesbrings the occur - of - age trope of sexual maturity into a deadly World War II setting . Simon ’s typically comic book , Nichols ’ typically lean , focused guidance , and Broderick ’s typically charismatic performance all get together to makeBiloxi Bluesa gemstone .
10Kelly’s Heroes (1970)
The Film Was Directed By Brian G. Hutton
Brian G. Hutton’sKelly ’s Heroestransplants a off-color heist comedy into the battlefields of World War II.It keep up a ragtag band of American G.I.s who go A.W.O.L. so they can go behind enemy lines and rob a cache of Nazi Au from a French bank . Kelly ’s Heroessatirizes warfare by focusing on the soldiers ’ pursuit of personal wealthiness over the underlie political science of the battle itself .
It ’s a war movie in which the heroes have no interest in the war they ’re fight . Clint Eastwood and Telly Savalas ably lead the ensemble , with hilarious defend turns from Don Rickles , Donald Sutherland , and Harry Dean Stanton .
LikeMASH , Kelly ’s Heroesis less concerned in the wartime setting and more in its cast of colourful character .
Custom Image by Milica Djordjevic
Troy Kennedy Martin provides a screenplay that ’s just as audacious , imaginative , and wildly entertaining as his hand forThe Italian Job . LikeMASH , Kelly ’s Heroesis less interested in the wartime setting and more in its cast of colourful grapheme .
9Three Kings (1999)
The Film Was Directed By David O. Russell
After make his mark with the acclaimed low - budget comediesSpanking the MonkeyandFlirting with Disaster , David O. Russell helmed his first big - budget studio motion-picture show withthe Gulf War heist caperThree Kings . dress at the end of the First Gulf War , Three Kingsstars George Clooney , Mark Wahlberg , Ice Cube , and Spike Jonze as four American soldiers in Iraq . They set out to steal a obscure memory cache of atomic number 79 during the 1991 revolt against Saddam Hussein .
Much likeMASH , Three Kingssends its absurdist fable break up into the real - life history of a controversial war . It sets an explosive blend of action and humor against a backdrop of political furore . Although the story is ridiculous , the approach is realistic ; Russell used Steadicam snapshot and handheld photographic camera to give the pic a documentary - like sense of immersion .
81941 (1979)
The Film Was Directed By Steven Spielberg
After the back - to - back blockbuster success ofJawsandClose Encounters of the Third Kind , Steven Spielberg had the exemption to make whatever motion-picture show he wanted to — and what he wanted to make was a farcicalIt ’s a unhinged , Mad , Mad , Mad human beings - style ensemble clowning set up during World War II.1941tells the news report of the Great Los Angeles Air Raid of 1942 as an absurdist caper . After the attack on Pearl Harbor , scare spreads across the Los Angeles expanse ( with comical effect ) .
Although it was a decisive and commercial collapse in its clip ( especially compared to Spielberg ’s old films),1941has since been reevaluated as a cult classic . Its ensemble cast includes some of the funniest performer in Hollywood , like Dan Aykroyd , John Belushi , John Candy , Michael McKean , Penny Marshall , and Slim Pickens , to name a few . It ’s impressive just to see the lengths that Spielberg run to in social club to pull off elaborate , expensive sight gags .
7Stripes (1981)
The Film Was Directed By Ivan Reitman
Stripes centers on John Winger , a 30 - something who engage in the U.S. Army after a streak of personal failure . let go in 1981 , this film stick with Winger ’s comedic journey through basic training , as he navigates military life with a radical of misfit recruits .
Before they put on their proton packs to bust ghosts , Bill Murray and Harold Ramis worked with director Ivan Reitman on a very unlike comedy : 1981’sStripes . Murray and Ramis act two unfledged shirker who decide to draft in the U.S. Army to work some much - needed subject and purpose to their floundering , afloat spirit .
Once they join the military , they get into all form of hilarious hijinks . Murray is at the summit of his powers , and his on - CRT screen chemistry with Ramis believably captures a drive - or - die friendship .
It ’s a mountain likeMASH ; it takes place in a dangerous surround , but it has the heart of a witness - family plot line .
WhileStripesdoesn’t have a lot to say about the military - industrial complex or the absurdity of war , it is a delightfully saucy funniness with lovable characters and an teemingness of peachy jest . In that sense , it ’s a lot likeMASH ; it takes place in a dangerous environment , but it has the affectionateness of a find - family storyline .
6The Boys In Company C (1978)
The Film Was Directed By Sidney J. Furie
The Boys in Company C : This 1978 war drama follows a group of untried American Marines as they pilot the challenge of scrap during the Vietnam War . Facing corruption and incompetency , they contemplate a plan to escape frontline duty by enter in an unusual scheme involve a soccer match .
The first chapter in Sidney J. Furie ’s unofficial Vietnam War trilogy,1978’sThe Boys in Company C , is still the most noted . Set in 1967,The Boys in Company Cfollows five vernal men as they go through canonical education at boot camp before being shipped off to fight in Vietnam . Once they really get to the field of honor , it dawns on them that no amount of training could ’ve set up them for the repugnance they find there .
Much likeMASH , The Boys in Company Cencapsulates the comradeship that bonds soldier together in battle . The five main characters all become effective admirer at boot camp , but the traumatic events of the warfare contribute them together as sidekick - in - arms . Just under a ten beforehis iconic turn inFull Metal Jacket , R. Lee Ermeygave his first on - screen Mandrillus leucophaeus instructor performance inThe boy in Company C.
5Stalag 17 (1953)
The Film Was Directed By Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder followed up his film noir classicsSunset BoulevardandAce in the Holewith one of the greatest P.O.W. picture show ever made : 1953’sStalag 17.Based on Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski ’s autobiographical Broadway play of the same name , Stalag 17revolves around a group of American airman in World War II , who are lock away off alongside 40,000 other prisoners in a German prisoner - of - war cantonment somewhere on the Danube . The moving picture focuses on one specific barracks , where the men begin to suspect that one of their fellow prisoners is an informant .
Wilder deftly translate the play ’s balance of liquid body substance and tragedy — the same counterweight handled beautifully inMASH — to the culture medium of film . Wilder ’s unbendable - handed guidance and the cast ’s o.k. performances make this a true masterpiece . Stalag 17is such a pitch - sodding portrayal of life in a P.O.W. camp that it ended up inspiring the origination ofHogan ’s Heroes .
4Catch-22 (1970)
Before he madeBiloxi Blues , Nichols had previously satirized war in his 1970 film adaption of the delimitate anti - war satire : Joseph Heller ’s originative debut novelCatch-22.Catch-22lampoons the absurdity of muster in unwilling citizens to fight in a state of war zone with the story of a group of soldiers trying to maintain their saneness while carry out their military chores . Nichols reteamed withThe Graduatescreenwriter Buck Henry to condense Heller ’s devilishly complex novel into a two - minute moving picture .
Nichols not only becharm the chaos of the source material , but its biting deconstructionism of the absurdity of war . Alan Arkin gives one of his all right performances in the lead character of Captain John Yossarian , with strong backing from the ilk of Bob Balaban , Bob Newhart , Anthony Perkins , and even Orson Welles . Like the Good Book it ’s based on , Catch-22is as smart as it is risible .
3Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
The Film Was Directed By Barry Levinson
Good Morning , Vietnam , direct by Barry Levinson , asterisk Robin Williams as Adrian Cronauer , a radio DJ assigned to the Armed Forces Radio Service in Vietnam . His comedic programme quickly gain popularity among the troops , but his unlawful humor face pushback from military Superior .
Loosely based on the experience of genuine - aliveness Armed Forces Radio Service DJ Adrian Cronauer , Barry Levinson’sGood Morning , Vietnamis a refreshingly ardent - hearted counterpoint toharrowing Vietnam War movieslikeApocalypse NowandThe Deer Hunter . Set in Saigon in 1965 , it star Robin Williams as Cronauer , who keeps his fellow soldiery ’ spirits up with a screaming radio show . Although he seek to be massively democratic among the soldiers , his Superior are increasingly frustrate by his “ pert propensity . ”
Williams received his first of four Oscar nomination for his turn inGood Morning , Vietnam , which is adequate percentage hysterical and heartfelt . Levinson masterfully balances the laughable levity of Cronauer ’s radio set show with the unspeakable horrors necessitate place just outside the walls of the base . Much likeMASH , Good Morning , Vietnamis all about the human tone triumphing in the case of warfare .
2Dr. Strangelove (1964)
The Film Was Directed By Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick in effect captured the cutting horrors of war inPaths of GloryandFull Metal Jacket , but he took a much more comedic approach to the open thing in his vivid 1964 satireDr . Strangelove . Produced at the height of the Cold War , Dr. Strangelovesees the world on the threshold of nuclear annihilation . The U.S. chair and his cronies urgently seek to prevent a pre - emptive atomic onrush on the Soviet Union that was ordered by a mentally unstable Air Force superior general .
Although the motion-picture show ’s source material — Red Alertby Peter George — is a aboveboard dramatization of a possible nuclear warfare , Kubrick recognise the built-in absurdity of mutually assure destruction and conform it as a nihilistic drollery . Dr. Strangelovearrived as picture palace ’s sharpest political satiresinceThe Great Dictator(and continue the sharp untilMASHcame along ) . It was made to poke fun at Cold War - era paranoia , but its sarcasm of the atomic arms airstream is , sadly , just as relevant today .
Stripes centers on John Winger, a 30-something who enlists in the U.S. Army after a streak of personal failures. Released in 1981, this film follows Winger’s comedic journey through basic training, as he navigates military life with a group of misfit recruits.
The Boys in Company C: This 1978 war drama follows a group of young American Marines as they navigate the challenges of combat during the Vietnam War. Facing corruption and incompetence, they contemplate a plan to escape frontline duty by participating in an unusual scheme involving a soccer match.
Good Morning, Vietnam, directed by Barry Levinson, stars Robin Williams as Adrian Cronauer, a radio DJ assigned to the Armed Forces Radio Service in Vietnam. His comedic broadcasts quickly gain popularity among the troops, but his unconventional humor faces pushback from military superiors.
