The 1970 film M*A*S*H was added to the National Film Registry in 1996.
The Library of Congress selects films for the registry when they are considered culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. M*A*S*H entered the registry as part of the 1996 annual group of 25 films, recognizing its lasting importance in American cinema.
Robert Altman’s film is a satirical black comedy set in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. Although the story is set in the early 1950s, its irreverent anti-authoritarian tone also reflected the United States’ experience of the Vietnam War, which was still influencing American culture when the film was made and released.
The registry selection is separate from the film’s awards history. M*A*S*H won Cannes’ top prize, earned five Academy Award nominations, and won the Oscar for adapted screenplay. The Academy Film Archive later preserved the film in 2000, but that preservation date is not the National Film Registry selection year.