The Chronic Consumer

I’ve had my M*A*S*H: Martinis and Medicine DVD box set for just over a week now, and since I’ve watched something from it every day, I think I’ve seen enough to write a review. Obviously, I won’t touch on everything here, but I’ll try to cover the important stuff.

First, I was disappointed by how the discs are stored. They come in a binder type thing with cardboard sleeves that fold in and out. It’s a tight fit for the discs in the cardboard slots, and many of them were already scratched when I received the set!! So far it doesn’t seem as though the playability is affected by these scratches, but it’s not a good feeling to see a $100 collection arrive in this condition.

Second, the binder thing comes with a clipboard glued to the inside cover. The clipboard just says “4077″ on it and is meant to hold the little guidebook of disc contents that comes with the set. It would have been nice if this clipboard was removable so I could use it for other things, but oh well.

I like how the bonus features are on their own DVDs because they’re obviously easy to find that way. It’s tougher when the extras are scattered on individual DVDs throughout a set, so I wish all collections were organized this way. The features include cast interviews, bloopers, public service announcements, a “Just the FAQs” interactive game, behind-the-scenes on the last day of filming, and more. These are definitely worth having!

As for the audio/visual quality of the episodes themselves… I think these DVDs are pretty darn good, considering how old the source material is. I’ve had zero problems so far.

Overall, I think the M*A*S*H: Martinis and Medicine DVD box set is a wonderful addition to my DVD collection. I only paid $99 for the set, which was like 50% off the regular price, and I feel that I got a terrific deal here. If you can get this set at a comparable price, I say go for it!