M*A*S*H | 1970 | R | – 6.6.5

Why is “M*A*S*H” rated R? The MPAA rating does not include content details. The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a sex scene, several kissing scenes, discussions of infidelity, a prank that exposes a woman fully nude in a shower, and many sexual references and comments about women in sexual terms, many operating room and triage scenes with bloody wounds shown and wounds actively bleeding, a man talks about committing suicide, and at least 1 F-word and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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A classic anti-war movie taking place at a Korean War field hospital in 1951: two newly arrived brilliant combat surgeons (Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould) keep confronting authority, breaking army regulations and using irreverence, dark humor and uninhibited sexuality to keep their sanity while confronting the damage caused by war. Also with Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman, Robert Duvall, Roger Bowen, Rene Auberjonois, David Arkin, Jo Ann Pflug, Gary Burghoff, Fred Williamson and Michael Murphy. Directed by Robert Altman. [Running Time: 1:56]

M*A*S*H SEX/NUDITY 6

 – A woman opens her shirt toward a man, they lie on a bed moaning and kissing and sex is implied: we hear them over a loudspeaker as she tells him, “Strangle me!” A man and a woman kiss and roll around and the woman says, “I’m married,” and “I made a vow to myself,” and they are interrupted. A man and woman kiss passionately. A man and woman kiss and the man leads the woman to a tent where another man lies on a bed motionless; the woman lifts a sheet to view his genital area and the scene ends (sex is implied).
► A woman enters a communal shower and many men gather outside as the tent walls drop to reveal her fully nude (we briefly see bare breasts, abdomen, buttocks, back and legs) before she covers herself and falls to the floor yelling as the men cheer. Two men pound on the door of their tent and we hear clambering around inside as a man calls out that he didn’t expect them back; we then see the man sneaking a woman under a blanket out the back of the tent (sex is implied). A man is given a sedative and he is photographed posed suggestively with a scantily clad woman (we see the man’s bare chest and abdomen and the woman’s cleavage and bare legs).
► Men mock a man and ask him what a woman was like “…in the sack.” A man talks about his inability to perform sexually and decides to commit suicide because of it. A man asks a woman on a date and he is told that she is married. A man remarks about a woman and says, “Look at that piece of scenery.” A man says, “I think I’m in love” as a woman walks by. When arriving at a camp, a man says, “Let’s see what the nurses are like.” A man remarks about a woman and says she’s a “Pretty girl.” A man talks about a woman and says she’s, “The type to keep you awake all night.” A man remarks about a woman and says that she has a “nice body.” A reference is made to someone satisfying a man’s urges. A man calls out, “I want sex.” A man says, “Take her clothes off and bring her to me.” An announcement is made over a loudspeaker for all “nude posters to be removed.” References are made to a man being “The best equipped dentist,” referring to a man’s genital endowment. A man talks about inviting a woman to his bed. A man says that he “wasn’t gonna fool around” and that he is engaged to 3 women at home. A man says that he is suffering from latent homosexuality.
► A photo of a nude woman is shown and we see bare breasts, buttocks and legs. A drawing of a nude woman is shown and bare breasts, abdomen and pubic area (without hair) are seen. A man looks at a pornographic magazine a couple of times and we see a topless woman on the cover (bare breasts are visible). A woman’s bare breasts and the side of her bare buttocks are shown. Several teen boys and young men are checked by doctors for their fitness to serve in the Korean army; we see them shirtless and wearing boxers that reveal their bare chests and abdomens. A woman is shown wearing stockings with a garter belt (we see partial bare legs). Several men are shown shirtless and wearing shorts (bare chests and abdomens are seen). Cheerleaders at a football game wear short skirts that reveal their bare legs to the hips. We see boxes of Tampax.

M*A*S*H VIOLENCE/GORE 6

 – An injured man is shown in an operating room with a wound that spurts blood until another person clamps the artery. A man in an operating room places a bone saw against a patient’s leg and we hear cutting. Many scenes take place in an operating room and we see bloody wounds, tissue and bloody surgical scrubs and gloves. Several scenes show wounded people being transported on helicopters and then carried on stretchers to a mobile medical unit and we see some bloody wounds. A man pounds on a patient’s chest and when the patient is not revived, he tells another man, “It’s too late, you killed him.” A young man on an operating room table is seen with a bruised face and blood on his head and face.
► A man punches another man in the face. A man attacks another man and we see them scuffle until one of the men is led away in a straightjacket. A man lies down in a coffin and a series of people move past saying goodbye to him after he takes a capsule that he believes will kill him (he does not die). Men play football and we see them piling on top of each other during plays; several men are taken off the field with injuries that are not evident, one man has a bloody mouth and a couple of men are shown being injected with a sedative while on the field (they stumble around). A man playing football charges over the sideline and crashes into several injured players in wheelchairs knocking them over.
► A woman charges through a camp and storms into a man’s tent where he is shown in bed with a woman; the first woman yells and demands something be done about people that have been giving her a hard time and just played an embarrassing prank on her. A man drives away in a military vehicle and he’s chased by MPs until their vehicle blows a tire and a few of them argue and wrestle on the ground (no injuries are shown). MPs corner two men when they try to get into a medical facility. Several men play football and roll around on the muddy ground.
► A man grabs a woman and she says, “Unhand me sir.” A man talks about someone raising “all kinds of Cain.” A man tells another man that he is going to commit suicide. Two men imitate speaking in Japanese, in a teasing manner. A man yells, “I’ll have you court-martialed.” A man coaching a football team yells at his players to “Kill ’em.” A man in an operating room says, “I can’t stop that bleeding.” A man in a surgical unit says that he’ll be “passing gas for you” (he’s an anesthesiologist). A priest delivers last rites over a patient in an operating room. A comment is made about someone having a “sexy scar.” We see an X-ray of a man’s chest

M*A*S*H LANGUAGE 5

 – About 1 F-word, 7 sexual references, 1 scatological term, 9 anatomical terms, 37 mild obscenities, 5 derogatory terms for African-Americans, a derogatory term for gay people, name-calling (racist, Yankee, mad dog, babe, idiot, loaded, schmuck, big ape, blockhead, nincompoop, Ugly John, gas passer, ignoramus, filthy mouth, lousy, knuckle-head, clown, sultry, Godless Buffoons, hoodlums, fool, dirty old man, finks, gone mad, sex maniac, bastards, twerp, hooligans, unwholesome), exclamations (for crying out loud, oh baby, oh man, what’s wrong with you, oh my goodness, flipped his wig), 15 religious profanities (GD), 16 religious exclamations (e.g. Oh My God, Oh Christ, Honest To God, Amen, Dear God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, My God, Dear God, For Christ’s Sake, God’s Will, Godless Buffoons, discussion of suicide being a mortal sin, a man prays before he sleeps each night, a priest delivers last rites in an operating room, a priest prays over a military vehicle, people sing the song “Onward Christian Soldier”). | profanity glossary |

M*A*S*H SUBSTANCE USE

 – A remark is made about marijuana being a dangerous drug, men on the sidelines of a football game smoke what could be marijuana cigarettes, and a man is given a drug to sedate him. Two men drink liquor in many scenes throughout the movie, a teenage boy mixes cocktails for people in several scenes, a man opens a beer, a man drinks a scotch and a beer, several men drink with a meal, men are shown playing cards, drinking and smoking cigars in a few scenes, and a comment is made about people “boozing all day.” Men are shown smoking cigars in a few scenes.

M*A*S*H DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – The Korean War, wars, Dwight Eisenhower, sexism, gender roles, respect, corruption, death and dying, suicide.

M*A*S*H MESSAGE

 – War is irrational and causes much death and devastation.