Network

Rating:
Summary: message to Warner Bros.
Review: I can't count the number of great works of art heedlessly junked by the studios with terrible transfers. I don't care about special features. I care about respect for the films, and respect for the buying public. This transfer is a disgrace. Other Warners transfers -- Cabaret, All The President's Men, Deliverance, don't get me started on more -- follow suit with ruinous presentations. Stop buying these titles. Force the studios to respect the fact that none of us have money pouring from our pockets; that we've had enough; that we buyers are the market for these life-lifting works of art; that we demand proper due given these treasures. The studios work for us, not the other way around.

Rating:
Summary: Still packs a punch
Review: The movie still packs a lot of punch, but has lost some of its emotional weight over the years. Network presaged many of the changes that would occur in broadcast news in the 80's, as it became subject to the bottom line when it came to ratings. The humor is dark and biting but many of the scenes don't ring as true today as they did 25 years ago when this movie burst onto the screens.

Howard Beale (Peter Finch) is at the end of his rope, ready to cash it all in on prime time, but when his suicide date is announced, ratings leap and soon he finds himself front and center of a tabloid style news program that allows him to unleash all his pent up rage against the establishment, sucking the viewers into his rants.

Lumet deftly plays Beale's theatrics off the seasoned television producer, William Holden. But, Holden is going through his own mid-life crisis and soon finds himself in bed with the frisky young television producer, Faye Dunaway, who has usurped him. What might have worked as a one-night stand is turned into rather drab affair that doesn't help this movie much. In the end, Holden is reduced to giving speeches, which doesn't really suit his style.

Mixed in is some darkly amusing scenes with terrorists, a Black Feminist Communist and an all too gullible audience that makes for the film's dramatic closing scene. This film came as quite a shock in its time, given that Network News was still dominated by Walter Cronkite, but for those watching it for the first time, it would look like a period piece. Still, the performances are riveting, particularly that of Peter Finch, which makes the film worth watching again.

Rating:
Summary: A Prophetic Film
Review: Both the previous reviews seem right on target. This movie is a cherished treasure of American film during a major cultural transition. Seen today, without context, some of my students couldn't understand the satire. The blur between news and junk has become so obscured, they didn't see the big deal. The intelligent--or, rather, I should say--the informed students understood what was so funny about a radical communist demanding--nearly to the point of gunfire--a percentage of the residual runs. Amazingly well-acted, this script is for fairly intelligent people. No, this movie is not a geek-fest for just the smart people, but the smarter you are, the more you'll be able to get the jokes. Of late, the only film since "Goodfellas" to match the morbid, smart humor of "Network" would be "American Beauty."

[Well, Solondz's "Happiness," is nearly as good, and, possibly Burton's "Mars Attacks" or "Ed Wood." I'm not sure, off-hand, if they're before or after "Goodfellas."]

PS: The only reason I give the DVD 4, instead of 5, stars is because, while the film is a masterpiece, the DVD needs further features and a crisp re-mastering for it really to live up to the quality of the source material. Basically, the movie's a must-see that was hastily thrown onto DVD without the extra care such a masterpiece deserves. Where's Lumet's commentary? Dunaway's? Anyone's? Where are the neat historical tie-ins that could make such a movie understandable to an un-informed audience? Mmmm...?

Rating:
Summary: I'm as mad as hell....
Review: Network, as a film is a very important one. It's themes are potent, it's script terrific and it's acting impeccable. Is there flaws in Network? Well, not really. Network, if I have ever seen a film is a very good one. AFI ranked Network at number 66- a good ranking for a film so rarely brought up when discussing the topic, Network deserves to be higher up, in my opinion than movies that have no business being on that list. Peter Finch's Howard Beale is a character never to be forgotten- he is a bomb who has exploded, and represents every man today. Everybody is a time bomb, waiting to go off- and most never do. Howard Beale did, and it was Peter Finch's finest hour. It was also, his last. After a career laced with small films and b-movies, Howard Beale died after Network, and left a performance not to be forgotten. Robert Duvall played the token psycho, as usual. Not unlike his character in M*A*S*H, Duvall was calm and collected, but manipulative and domineering, and ultimatley the villain of the piece. Network that is, not M*A*S*H. Unlike M*A*S*H however, Duvall's insanity is never quite revealed. Dunaway plays an ice queen- as usual. Only different this time. In her other films, she is most frequently unafraid of relationship and quite content with telling a guy to back off, not in Network. In Network, she's an overworked backstabber, who, much like Duvall's character manipulates and uses people to the point it makes the user shout out for her to stop. I like to compare this character with Vivien Leigh's poignant Scarlett O'Hara, because like Diana (Dunaway in the movie), Scarlett used people to get her way. Lastly, an old school William Holden and little known actress Beatric Straight play the couple with the marriage on the rocks. We never really learn where this is going due to Holden struggling to keep working, and worrying little with Straight and his family. He cares only, like many other characters about the money. Unlike the other TV officials, Holden also cares about his friend, Howard Beale and what will become of him after the network spits finishes chewing him and spits him out. It makes Holden as sick as us when Beale is exploded by the psychotic TV officials. Network's story is, as mentioned a very potent one, and it is just as important today in our media crazed society. The acting is very well done, especially by the five main cast members. Upon it's year of release, in 1966, Network won four Academy Awards- for Bets Actor (Peter Finch), Best Actress (Faye Dunaway), Best Supporting Actress (Beatrice Straight) and Best Screenplay (Paddy Chayefsky). It deserved all it's award, and in my opinion, Best Picture over the corwd pleaser Rocky. Network remains a very important satire, even today and it sure to please everyone who watches it. It's one of my favorites.

Rating:
Summary: powerful
Review: This film is more important than ever now, considering the corporate usurpation almost all of our media. The film is loaded with poweful performances. Watch it. It will change the way you view things.

Rating:
Summary: there's a bigger theme in this film...
Review: Most of these reviews talk about how much TV has become just like "UBS" of "Network". This is most obviously true. I believe the media today sacrafices a journalist caught lying on occasion just to cover up the fact that they all lie. But the bigger message in this film is that the media or "UBS" specifically has become a mirror of the world; that we should see how false the WORLD has become when we see this film not just how false telivision is. The most telling scene is not discussed in these reviews--the one where Howard Beale is taken to the Network head who tells him in god-like tones that there are no more nation states; there is no more democracy; that all those concepts are just that--concepts that have had their day and that the new nature; the new over-power is money and it's ebbs and flows and that all morality and ethics stand in its shadow. More than what tv has become this film is about what WE'VE become as individuals in this society.

What's confusing and also intriguing about this unmentioned theme in the film is that once Howard "sees the light"; once he believes that god has spoken to him by way of the Network Head [Ned Beaty], he brings "God's" message to the show which the network head refuses to cancel even when it, because of its now sobering, depressing, rather than merely angry, message, begins to drop in the ratigs. Why would the chief exec allow this to happen if he truely believed in the bottom line he preached to Howard Beale? This satire is so tightly written that I believe there's a good answer here. maybe another reviewer can provide the answer amongst his or her review. Great film.

Rating:
Summary: Riveting and Upsetting
Review: After almost 30 years, people continue to disagree about Network which received an Academy Award for best film. No one questions the quality of acting. Finch, Dunaway, and Straight received Academy Awards; Holden and Beatty were nominees. Rather, one of the volatile issues concerns Paddy Chayevsky's portrayal of network television in the 1970s. (FYI, Chayevsky received an Academy Award for best original screenplay.) How plausible is it, after forcing a news anchor to retire, to allow him to remain on the air after he promises to commit suicide on camera at the conclusion of his final program? Worse yet, to promote him as "The Mad Prophet of the Airwaves" to increase viewership and improve ratings? Some people have suggested that the character of Howard Beale (Finch) is based on Dave Garroway, a long-time anchor on NBC?s Today Show. Others are better qualified to comment on that. The fact remains, Beale is obviously upset and becomes progressively moreso, ranting and raving on-air (and off) about the emergence of institutional authority and the decline of individual influence. At one point, he urges his viewers to go to the nearest window, open it, and shout at the top of their lungs "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" Hundreds of thousands immediately do so, including members of the network executives' own families.

The United Broadcasting Company (UBS) is hardly unique. Amoral careerists and predatory backstabbers can be found in any organization. However, UBS and other networks are granted licenses to use air time owned by taxpayers. Therefore, in certain respects, they have a fiduciary responsibility to behave as a public trust. However mentally unbalanced Beale may be, his messianic zeal to defend the best interests of his viewers is both sincere and legitimate. Max Schumacher (Holden) is his closest friend and longtime business associate. As portrayed by Holden, Max is himself a troubled man. He feels obligated to support Beale but fears the end of his own career and the situation is complicated by the fact that his marriage has become stale and he is thus vulnerable to the charms of the ferociously ambitious Diana Christensen (Dunaway) with whom he has an affair.

Of course, tension builds as Beale's final program approaches. Will he commit suicide on air? Will his substantially increased popularity force UBS to let him continue to anchor the evening news or remain on-air in some other capacity? Will the Schumachers be reconciled? What impact will the Beale Saga have on others at UBS, notably Diana Christensen, owner Arthur Jensen (Beatty) and CEO Frank Hackett (Duvall)?

See the film and find out.

Rating:
Summary: One of my top 10 favorite movies of the 20th century!!!!!!
Review: Network was way ahead of its time! This film shows how a television network can take something that can actually enlighten and empower people and turn it into entertainment. It's also interesting to see the network's ratings skyrocket by feeding reality TV programs into the minds of its viewers. If you look at the saturation of reality shows today you can see that screenwriter Paddy Chayesfky was an oracle of his era.

What I also got from this film is the discarding of old ideas and replacing them with new ones. The William Holden and Peter Finch characters (these guys were already established movie stars) represented the old ideas; and the Robert Duvall and Faye Dunaway characters (by this time they were becoming big movie stars) represented the new ideas-a brilliant move on the part of the casting department.

Lastly, Paddy Chayesfky's screenwriting work is superb!!!!!! The words have so much substance and color to them! These days you hardly come across a movie with rich, propelling dialogue.

This movie is worth 20 stars. But to be fair to the rating system, giving it five is still good.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing movie, one of the all-time greats
Review: How well I remember when this movie was released in 1976: long lines at the box office, spontaneous cheers from the audience, bursts of applause at pivotal moments and a great all-around buzz about the movie. Sadly, the intervening years haven't been kind to "Network," and it seems to have been relegated to the back burner in many people's minds. What a colossal mistake. This movie is one of the most perfect films made in the past fifty years and boasts several mesmerizing performances.

The top kudo's must go to Peter Finch as the neurotic, bombastic and brilliant news anchorman, Howard Beale. This is a performancre of the ages: rich, nuanced, mature and believable, an absolute acting tour de force. Finch richly deserved the posthumous Academy Award, which was gracefully accepted by his widow. One of the great lines in screen history has got to be, "I'm mad a hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!" When "Network" was first aired on TV in the late 70's, I still remember neighbors going to the window and actually screaming out this line in frantic unison.

Faye Dunaway also won an Oscar in her role as a frigid, catty and heartless witch of a woman whom Bill Holden vainly tries to tame. Robert Duvall delivers yet another outstanding performance. The script, dialogue and sets are all superb. The screenplay cackles with an intensity and spirit which are sorely lacking in today's films. But first and foremost is the performance of Peter Finch. It's one for the ages!

Rating:
Summary: Good movie but expoitative of a real tragedy
Review: This is undoubtedly an excellent film, but to me it always brings to mind and seems exploitative of the incident which occurred in Sarasota, FL in July 1974, in which WXLT-TV channel 40 newswoman Chris Chubbuck, 29, announced, "In keeping with Channel 40's policy of always bringing you the latest in blood and guts, in living color, you're about to see another first -- an attempted suicide." And then she shot herself on live tv, on her program "Suncoast Digest". I have always thought part of "Network" was inspired by this tragic tale.