Network

Rating:
Summary: Prophetic
Review: Being born the year this movie was released, 1976, I had only recently heard about it and am sorry I didn't watch it sooner.

Growing up in the '80s, my first introduction to television was what Paddy Chayefsky came up with as far-fetched in the mid-70's. The current "reality TV" boom in recent years is on a par with the radicals that Faye Dunaway's character wanted to showcase to the country.

And the way the network searches for something more outlandish than Howard Beal when his ratings begin to slide was prophetic: Today, the networks compete with each other on a daily basis to outdo the other in outlandishness and who can go completely over the top.

A must have for your collection.

Rating:
Summary: TERRIBLE TRANSFER OF A HOLLYWOOD MASTERPIECE
Review: "Network" is the brilliant and ominously accurate prediction of what the news industry of the 20th century has become - sensationalist. When stalwart television anchor, Howard Beal (Peter Finch) suffers a complete mental breakdown on the air he is encouraged to continue his ranting as "an angry prophet, denouncing the hypocracies of our time," to boost the network's Nielson ratings.
Faye Dunaway is marvelously on point as the neurotic programmer who usurps Max Schumacher's (William Holden) life and job. The cast also includes Robert Duvall, as a corporate cutthroat and Beatrice Straight, a brilliant, but sadly underrated actress, in the role of Schumacher's betrayed wife.
Throughout, the acting is superb and the screenplay holds no punches in its somber, if prolific, hypothesis about the news world of tomorrow that, sadly, we of the present day have become.
But Warner Home Video's import of a previously released MGM DVD is one of the worst DVD transfers I have ever seen for a film of "Network"'s age. Colors are muted, dull and incredibly faded. Flesh tones are so inaccurate that there's really no point in suggesting any consistency - there is none to be found. Contrast levels during night scenes are terribly low and overly high during the daytime scenes. Light browns, oranges, beiges and flesh tones all exhibit an undistinguished muddiness that is unflattering. There is also an incredible amount of film and digital grain throughout the transfer that makes for a completely unsatisfying viewing experience, no matter the size of your television screen. There is nothing, I repeat - NOTHING, to recommend this visual presentation.
The audio is mono. It is strident, unnatural sounding and grating on the ears. There is also background hiss in many of the more quiet scenes. Extras are a theatrical trailer - BIG DEAL!
BOTTOM LINE: This classic needs a complete and meticulous restoration. Warner has been doing such a wonderful job of late, one can hope that they will eventually get around to revisiting this title.

Rating:
Summary: A great movie!
Review: A powerful and entertaining satire on television! Wonderfully written by Paddy Chayefsky. Great performances by Peter Finch, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, and Ned Beatty(in a small but powerful scene). A surprising ending!

Rating:
Summary: We thought it could never happen but it has.
Review: I saw Network when it was first released and will never forget it.
We in the audience didn't know what to think. The tv shows were so outlandish as to be fantastic. We were sure nothing like the events of the movie could ever happen. Boy, were we wrong! No one today can see it as we saw it because it is everyday tv now.

The scene with Ned Beatty explaining that big business runs the country was laughable then. Now I believe it. If you have never seen Network sit back and enjoy the wonderful script. I don't know why writing has taken a back seat in Hollywood, but this script is so enjoyable it is like a good meal. Savor it.

Rating:
Summary: It used to be a satire...
Review: Once upon a time, Paddy Chavesky wrote a movie screenplay. In it, he envisioned a television network which, in search of higher ratings, puts on shows about Marxist revolutionaries, psychic soothsayers, and, to hold it all together, a certifiably insane man who threatened to blow his brains out on the air. He intended the film to be a scathing satire on the world of television and how it would do anything for a 30 share.

Now, a quarter-century later, "Network" seems much more than just a satire; it has become prophecy. The most popular programs on TV are so-called "reality shows," featuring people who are willing to eat bugs, relinquish every shred of privacy (and dignity) and expose their most personal dreams -- all for the chance of getting on that magic box.

Shows like "RealTV" and "Cops," while perhaps not quite up to the movie's fictional "Mao Tse Tung Hour," are not far behind as they revel in mayhem and chaos. The psychic beyond-the-grave "Crossing Over with John Edward" echoes the movie's "Sybil the Soothsayer." And any of the ranting, bullying pundits who infest the airwaves can sound an awful lot like Howard Beale himself.

When it was first released back in 1976, moviegoers took comfort in the fact that the wild excesses of "Network," while fantastically exaggerated, could never really happen. Today, with "Joe Millionaire" and "The Bachelorette" firmly lodged at the top of the ratings, one has to wonder whether Chayevsky was on to something. He just had to let the world catch up.

Rating:
Summary: Depressingly accurate.
Review: My second favorite movie of all time. One of the most important, ignored, prophetic stories ever told...and Faye Dunaway is gorgeous! Watch it and try to fool yourself into thinking things aren't this bad....really....

Rating:
Summary: What once was biting satire is now documentary
Review: This movie must have seemed outlandish in 1976. Some people must have laughed, scoffed, and I'm sure many critics thought the film was "over the top," ridiculous. Now we watch it, and we wonder what the "comedy" was, at least in the programming sequences. There are shows now that make Howard Beale's gig look positively lame. Like "Being There," another one of my favorite satires, farce has become reality.

What puzzles me more is some critics, even today, have found the scenes with the SLA-inspired terrorist group to be unbelievable. If we have learned anything in the last 25 years, it's that even the most idealistic, alttruistic groups are extremely media savvy, faxing press releases and providing news stations with so-called "courtesy" video feeds, which many stations, lacking scruples, put on the air without even acknowledging the "courtesy." Nothing is pure; there are no ideals. And I think Chayefsky nailed that perfectly.

The performances are all terrific, but to me the standouts are Robert Duvall, at his bigmouth bullying best, and William Holden, as a man broken down and at the end of his rope, but with some fire still left in his belly. Maybe his last speech, where he breaks up with Diana, is a little too close to "talking the play," but until then it's a wonderful performance. Also scene-stealing is Marlene Warfield as an Angela Davis-type of liaison who has some fabulous lines, a few of which I can't print here. And of course, there's Finch, with his famous rallying cry, "I'm mad as hell..." that millions around the country embrace. His show skyrockets, but it's just a fad, the way reality TV shows have more recently become, and a year later ratings have tanked. Programming's solution is to look for the next fad, even though that is destined to burn out too, trapping the network in an endless loop that will probably lead to burn out. This is no solution, of course, but two decades later real-life programmers have not advanced beyond this strategy.

One year after Network hit screens, ABC News would be taken over by the man who ran ABC Sports, Roone Arledge, and he would run them both the same way for many years. This is not to slam Roone, who actually did many good things for TV news. But this was the very beginning--the crack in the floodgates--of news and entertainment mixing, becoming symbiotic, and finally blurring, till we're reached the point where entertainment has triumphed and news is now a thinly-disguised advertisement, after being for the past two decades thinly-disguised entertainment. Where will it end? Don't look to Network for that. I don't even think Chayefsky could have forseen where we are today.

The print on this DVD is excellent--if it weren't for the polyester and the dated TV sets, we'd think this film were made yesterday. I wish there were some commentary or a documentary or a look back 25 years later type of thing, but still, this is a DVD that should be on every serious film buff's shelves. Network was made right in the middle of a period when Hollywood was creating big-budget but personal films that had a social conscience. The action-fantasy flicks of the late 70s, starting with Star Wars, killed off that kind of filmmaking, for the most part, or at least consigned them to small-budget "limited release" pictures. At the same time, though, it would be a lot harder to make a satire like Network today. Tom Wolfe recently lamented that great satires are not being written anymore, and concluded that this is because life has become its own farce, and it's hard to make a statement that really stands out. Watching Network again, I realized he has a point.

Rating:
Summary: Media vultures
Review: Here we have an hyperrealistic portrait of what ruthless and amoral media moguls in pursuit of audience can commit, exploiting the mental deterioration of the unfortunate Howard Beale, save disposing of him quite pitylessly when he proves no more useful to them. That's the story in a nutshell,but it's the climaxes and the turning points of the narration, and the utterly unscrupolous charachter interpreted by Faye Dunaway that make this movie a masterpiece. My favourite moment is when we see the UBS moguls gloating in their ill-gotten success, only to be crushed by Howard Beale's appeal against the CCE takeover by the Arabs. The following scenes are less convincing, but the scene of the crazy Howard whit the Great Boss is impressive, and the finale is pure melodrama. A very good movie, worthy companion to "A voice in the crowd"

Rating:
Summary: Well-Crafted and Bold Drama About Television Business
Review: Although this film was released over 25 years ago, NETWORK is still revelant today. Winner of four Oscars AND four Golden Globes, NETWORK was also selected by the National Film Registry for preservation.

The film tells the story of Howard Beale (Peter Finch in a bravura performance), a faded news anchor for the lowest rated broadcast network. Two weeks before his scheduled departure, he declares during his nightly broadcast that he will publicly commit suicide. Everyone is shocked and stunned by this revelation. Management decides to immediately remove Beale off the air. After some persuasion by Max Schumacher (William Holden), longtime buddy and network executive, Beale is allowed on for one more broadcast. What Beale says then is equally shocking, but this time something unexpected happens. Because of what Beale said, his overnight ratings take a sharp boost.

Beale's sudden popularity boost attracts the interest of Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway), an ambitious young programming executive at the network. Although she's not in the news department, she wants to develop a new program with Beale.

Within a short while, Beale has the hottest program on television. What follows is a series of surprising and provocative twists that will leave the viewer completely engaged and glued to the screen.

NETWORK is the work of a masterful writer (Paddy Chayefsky), who gets a credit similar to the overused (and often undeserved) "a film by" credit. Wisely, the filmmakers here know that the script is the foundation for this great film.

Chayefsky's craft is evident throughout this script. The structure is very sharp with many great lines peppered throughout the script.

This is not to discount the other talented people involved with this film. Sidney Lumet's direction is superb without drawing attention to itself. The cast, which also includes Robert Duvall and Beatrice Straight (the latter won an Oscar while only appearing in two scenes) works incredible well together.

Judging from some superficial similarities between the two films, NETWORK appears to be an inspiration for Spike Lee's ill-fated drama about television, BAMBOOZLED. However, the latter pales in comparison. While Lee didn't quite know how to balance the sensational elements in his script, Chayefsky passed with flying colors.

The DVD is a little light on features. It includes the original threatrical trailer (complete with CARA rating), chapter selection and subtitles. The only "extras" are a choice of both anamorphic ("widescreen") and full screen ("pan and scan") versions along with a quiz on quotes from the film.

While light on the features that many DVD buyers come to expect, NETWORK is still a must-see film. For anyone who wants to learn about film structure and pacing it's an excellent film to study. For everybody else, it's simply a VERY entertaining film.

See it. For fans of BAMBOOZLED, go see what Spike Lee could have accomplished with his film.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: In a 1970's review, who's author I'm at an unfortunate loss to recall, it was prophecised that Network would be a huge commmercial smash. Imagine that! Could a movie like this woo modren crowds who labor under the belief that by simply being enjoyable a movie is worthy? No. There is a pleasant lack of what in modren terms could be considered "commercial appeal", in fact there is not even a score to manipulate our emotions as the director sees fit, which alone merits praise. Our latter day Athenian crowds squeal like indignant pigs when their vices are questioned ("If you don't like it, leave America"), but regardless it should be done in the spirit of satire, at least. How wonderful then that Paddy Chayefsky does an extradordinary job. Yes, maybe the message will fall on deaf ears, as another review has stated. Perhaps we have embraced Jerry Springer as "a crazy uncle", and badly staged sex scenes on tv still makes us grunt like pigs in estrus; as long as there are people of reason, the truth of Chayefsky's indictment will not fade away.
I believe that credit for the success of the picture can be divided equaly among the Writer, the cast, and the director( yes, Hollywood folk out there who read this. The credit should not be the director, the cast, and then-lastly-the Writer), who perform their duties with the skill much lacking in the younger filmmakers of today. *sigh* Now if only agesim could be abolished in Hollywood, the teen demographic utterly forgotten, and innovative ideas given their day instead of being rewritten to be safe, yawn inducing cliches by illiterate "writers" with an eye toward a new Lexus.... Enjoy this crown jewel of cinema that could only have been made in the 70's, a great decade for movies. It did not earn Best Picture, of course(Rocky did) which I'd call it a crime, but given that the Academy of Motion Pictures has also awarded How Green Was My Valley Best Picture in the same year as the release of Citizen Kane, never gave Hitchcock an award, nor Stanley Kubrick, and among other laughable deeds gave Julia Roberts an oscar over Ellen Burstyn, the academy has rendered itself obsolite in mine eyes.