re: Would you support a remake of M*A*S*H (movie)

It's ok to do the concept, but you can't call it MASH. That's just not possible to replicate today.

The movie was a classic, we don't need a cheap rip-off of the name. Same with things like Kelly's Heroes, the Dirty Dozen etc. Use the concept, but leave the originals alone.

As for the series, leave that alone too. You would not be allowed to have many core features due to political correctness (the homemade still would be nixed because alcohol is bad, you can't have the light-hearted nurse chasing because sexism, no Klinger because transgender rights, no local hookers at the bar right outside the camp because sexism, etc). Most of the original humor would be deleted, and out of place if it were left in.

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I never read the source novel

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Just like w/The Godfather, if you're interested in the adaptation, you should read the novel. It has a curious emphasis on religion (at one point Trapper John poses on a cross and photos of this are sold to Koreans as religious relics). Bowel resections -- a then new surgical technique? -- are a recurring theme. One thing that fascinated me was how Hawkeye, once he learns he is going home, constantly rebuffs people's suggestions to get together later after the war, saying he needs to get settled etc etc etc... The implication is he doesn't really want to see any of these people again. Is it really that way for returning combat vets?

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I interpreted the movie as a bit of a reflection of Robert Altman's unique style of drifting the camera in and out of ongoing conversations. He could build an ensemble cast that was more than just a series of walk-ons and one liners.

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You have to do some research to really see it, but MASH is one of the most heavily re-edited films ever. The original script by Ring Lardner was fairly straightforward. However Altman went in and eventually cut it apart, completely rearranging the chronology. I've read that if you pay close enough attention you can see characters in scenes before they've been introduced.

The most obvious example of this recutting is Duke's fantasy of meeting his family at the Atlanta airport after learning he's going home. This originally was not a fantasy at all, but a "real" scene set after he and Hawkeye return to the States. Altman threw out the entire homecoming section of the film, aside from these insert "fantasy" shots.

FWIW Hawkeye also had a homecoming scene in the original script: He sees his wife (yes he's married in the novel) waiting for him inside the airport, then the screen dissolves just before they meet and the film ends. I don't know if this scene was shot -- but if Duke's homecoming was, I presume Hawkeye's was too.

Lardner, incidentally, was furious when he saw Altman's final cut and disowned the film. He changed his mind a bit when he won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay.

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Kelly's Heroes

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To me Three Kings was a remake of Kelley's Heroes.

NO!