Network (UK)

6 / 10
2 votes cast
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Television will never be the same!
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 117 mins
Retail Price: £12.99
Release Date:
Content Type: Movie

Synopsis:
Even more compelling today than when it was first released, Sidney Lumet`s Network is a wickedly funny, spot-on indictment of the TV news media. Winner of four Academy Awards including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay (Paddy Chayefsky), this searing satire stars Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch and Robert Duvall. When longtime news anchor Howard Beale (Finch) is fired, he suffers a violent, on-air breakdown.

Ironically, his angry rantings boost his sagging ratings - much to the surprise and delight of the UBS brass. Subsequently rehired and reinvented as the "mad prophet of the airwaves", he soon becomes a pawn of ruthless programming executives who milk his madness for every share point it`s worth. Of course, when the "prophet" ceases to be profitable, something has to be done about Beale, preferably on camera, before a live studio audience...

Special Features:
Original theatrical trailer

Video Tracks:
Widescreen Letterbox 1.85:1

Audio Tracks:
Dolby Digital Mono English
Dolby Digital Mono Spanish
Dolby Digital Mono German
Dolby Digital Mono Italian
Dolby Digital Mono French

Subtitle Tracks:
French
CC: German
Italian
Spanish
CC: English

Directed By:
Sidney Lumet

Written By:
Paddy Chayefsky

Starring:
Ned Beatty
Wesley Addy
Robert Duvall
Peter Finch
William Holden
Faye Dunaway

Casting By:
Juliet Taylor

Soundtrack By:
Elliot Lawrence

Director of Photography:
Owen Roizman

Editor:
Alan Heim

Costume Designer:
Theoni V. Aldredge

Production Designer:
Philip Rosenberg

Producer:
Howard Gottfried
Fred C. Caruso

Your Opinions and Comments

7 / 10

Network is brilliant, but it`s not very funny in the conventional sense. Those looking for a bellyful of laughs would do better renting/buying something else. The final scene of Network is intended to be frankly shocking. And, when the movie was released in 1976, it was. Since then, however, television in general, and the news in particular, has become so openly grotesque and sensationalistic that Network`s finale seems more credible than appalling.

This is a re-issue of the MGM release of this picture, and the quality of both audio and video are not exceptional, but for a film that`s now 24 years old, the presentation meets expectations reasonably well, the audio quality is extremely basic.

I`m wondering what the hell Criterion is doing, sitting on their hands, not picking this film up for a special disc.

All in all, a brilliant film.

Is it worth buying? In a word yes.

posted by Aslan on 25/4/2003 23:59