Network [Blu-ray]

One of greatest films of all time. Slightly ahead of its time when released. Ridiculous how much it anticipated today’s world. World class writing. Legendary leads doing their best work. Hilarious and thought provoking.

The 2011 Blu-ray release of Network takes full advantage of the very high quality possible in that format - as well as the room to include lots of useful extra material. The picture quality is stunning throughout - and you appreciate this even more after watching the series of extras and understand what was achieved by working skilfully within the limitations of the locations. The script by Paddy Chayefsky is pure gold - and again it's through the extras that we can gain a full appreciation by hearing director (and long time friend of Paddy's) Sidney Lumet sharing their history and mutual commitment to this film. Both men consistently described this as certainly not being satire, but rather as honest reportage. All of the Turner Classic "behind the scenes" documentary material is entertaining and revealing, but I loved the one hour interview with Sidney Lumet in which his whole brilliant career in film is discussed in leisurely detail. I also love the Paddy Chayefsky "live to air" guest appearance with Dinah Shore in which he takes full advantage of the opportunity to unreservedly share his opinion about the power and function of television. This Blu-ray was released in the same year that Sidney Lumet died, and it is a fitting tribute to his memory as well as a vital part of his legacy. After watching the feature and all the other extras, I am currently enjoying watching the feature again - this time listening to Sidney's joyful and personally informed commentary. The only aspect I'd say could be improved is just Warner's continuing strange habit of encoding the Dolby soundtracks of their mono movies as "1.0" so the audio comes only from the centre speaker. I find the sound to be much more rich, and realistic when I hear a mono signal coming from both my left and right front speakers. Most other companies encode their mono movies as "2.0" - which makes good logical sense, and saves me the trouble of changing my amplifier settings. Every other aspect of this Blu-ray is perfect - and of course the acting is all without a doubt of Academy Award standard (I am in full agreement with with Sidney and Paddy in wondering how it was possible for Network to have lost out to "Rocky" as Best Film).

Watch this movie and then consider what has become of television "news" since the release year of "Network" (1976). You will have to conclude that writer Paddy Chayefsky had a fully functioning crystal ball. In addition to its pin-point accuracy in predicting the future of the television news industry, "Network" remains an enormously entertaining film. A superlative cast and director in combination with Paddy Chayefsky's stunning screenplay make it one of the truly memorable films of the 1970's. I always become a little ill when I consider that "Rocky'' received the Academy Award for Best Picture instead of this film or "All the President's Men" -- something for which I will never forgive the Academy in its abject stupidity. It is for that reason that I have not, to this day, admitted "Rocky" into my movie collection. William Holden, Faye Dunnaway and Peter Finch, for which he posthumously received an Academy Award, lead the fine cast. But for me, it is Robert Duvall who is overwhelming in his brilliant portrayal of Frank Hackett, the corporate hatchet-man. One must also acknowledge the superb performances of Beatrice Straight for which she won best supporting actress in a role having five or six minutes of screen time and Ned Beatty as the corporate CEO. This film must be regarded as director Sidney Lumet's masterpiece. It is easy to draw comparisons between this film and another brilliant film also written by Chayefsky, "The Hospital" (1971). In both pictures the phrase, "I don't know what you're talking about" occurs again and again, signifying the failure of human beings to communicate. A character in both films has an epiphany or vision that could be seen as a psychotic episode which, however, alters the course of the story. Each film has a leading character who attempts to maintain the stability of the institution of which he is a part, that is nevertheless descending into madness and chaos. "Network," similar to "The Hospital," is satire which tends to turn off many people. The great playwright George S. Kaufman once observed: "Satire is what closes on Saturday night." In spite of that, "Network", thirty-fours years later continues to be a fresh and vital work of art as well as a warning as to what our culture may well, at this moment, be turning into.

"Network" is a prescient masterpiece and one of my all-time ten favorite films. While the overall image quality of the two-disc special edition DVD does improve greatly over the first DVD release from 1998, I noticed several glaring audio and video issues with the newer DVD that are simply inexcusable. During several scenes in the film, primarily the shouting match between Max Schumacher and Frank Hackett in Hackett's office (chapter 14) and Diana Christensen's speech and the applause at the UBS affiliate's meeting (chapter 22), the sound becomes greatly distorted. The sound resembles crackling, as if my speakers are blown (which they're not). In addition, at the very beginning of chapter 20, when Max tells his wife about his affair with Diana, the image dramatically jumps around for a second or two. I broke out my old 1998 DVD version to compare, but it did not have either of these issues. In fact, the audio on the 1998 DVD sounded cleaner overall to me. I don't know if anyone else has noticed these issues with the special edition DVD (or even the Blu-Ray version), but I was shocked that it passed Warner's quality controls. I give the film itself five stars without hesitation, but I knocked off a star for my overall rating of the DVD due to the issues described above.

Feiert dieses Jahr sein 50. Jubiläum. Es ist erschreckend, wie hochaktuell dieses Meisterwerk ist. Blu ray ist richtig gut. Wer Kino der besten Art erleben möchte, Network wäre da eine richtig gute Entscheidung.

Extrañamente este bluray (el que en la portada sale un locutor con la cara de una TV) SOLO lleva audio inglés y alemán y subtítulos en ALEMAN Creo que han equivocado la información con otra edición y esta es la ALEMANA, pues tiene el menú en ese idioma. Ojo a eso Hay el dvd del Reino Unido que lleva el audio en castellano, que también tengo comprado aquí en amazon https://www.amazon.es/Network-Reino-Unido-Faye-Dunaway/dp/B000087I2F/ref=tmm_dvd_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp&qid=&amp&sr=

Le premier constat qui s'impose, presque quarante ans après la sortie de cette brillante satire sur la télévision, est que Lumet était véritablement un visionnaire. Tous les ingrédients sont réunis pour que l'on puisse parler d'un grand film : un scénario implaccable et solide, une réalisation glaciale et efficace, mais surtout des acteurs impeccables, Faye Dunaway en tête, qui campe parfaitement son personnage complexe de femme dominatrice et intéressée, que viennent compléter les interprétations de William Holden, Peter Finch et Robert Duvall. Rien d'étonnant à ce que "Network" est obtenu 4 Oscars (Meilleurs Acteur, Actrice, Second Rôle Féminin, et Scénario Original), et qu'il soit aujourd'hui considéré comme un classique indémodable !

"I love it. Suicides, assassinations, mad bombers, mafia hit men, automobile smash-ups... 'The Death Hour'. Great Sunday-night show for the whole family." The back of the DVD's box describes 'Network' as "even more compelling & relevant today than when it was first released, [it] is a wickedly funny, spot-on indictment of the TV news media." Very true - but I think there's also a lot more to it than that. The story revolves around Howard Beale, a news anchorman who is fired for his shows' poor ratings. As a result, he suffers a nervous breakdown & announces during a live broadcast that he will kill himself live on air, during his very last show in 2 weeks time. But as a result of his announcement, his viewing figures soar & ruthless TV executives aim to exploit him for all that he's worth & set him up as an anti-establishment, everyman preacher. Never mind that his message condemns them, forget getting him psychiatric help, it's the viewing figures that count. This is a stark reminder of the central theme in the recent documentary 'The Corporation', which states that US big businesses can be compared with psychopaths due to their unwavering will to increase profits at any collateral cost & irregardless of social impact or morality. As the Networks' CEO tells Beale, "there is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM & ITT & AT&T & DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide & Exxon. Those are the nations of the world." Made in 1976 'Network' certainly comes across as a prophetic work when watched today - consider the increased power of corporations & sensationalistic, 'black-&-white' coverage of warfare & terrorism, not to mention US news shows which film car chases live. Real human lives turned into Hollywood movies & packaged for entertaiment. The character of Howard Beale isn't actually in the film very much. A lot of the screen-time is given to one of his colleagues, played by William Holden - a menopausal everyman trying to make sense of the TV age, where everything & everyone is product to be exploited to increase viewing figures. He has an affair with an up-&-coming executive who 'scripts' her own life & those around them as if they were TV shows & wants to create "a show based on the activities of a terrorist group. Joseph Stalin & His Merry Band of Bolsheviks." Duvall says of her, " I'm not sure she's capable of any real feelings. She's TV generation. She learned life from Bugs Bunny." When Holden leaves his wife - representative of traditional American values - she tells him that "if you can't work up a winter passion for me, the least I require is respect & allegiance," comdemning the new dehumanising values which this new age has ushered in. 'Network' is a very thought-provoking piece. which has been very skilfully put together by Sidney Lumet, director of one of my all-time favourite films, 'Dog Day Afternoon'. While both films are well crafted & leave their audiences with much to ponder, the pacing in both is a little slow at times. However, while watching one of the slower portions of 'Network', I began giving very serious consideration to throwing away my television - and I think I probably will. This is testament to the powerful way this film makes the audience question a lot of their assumptions & implores them not to loose their basic humanity - which can surely only be a good thing.

This is one of the best Oscar winning films I've seen to date. It won 3 oscars for acting. It lost the coveted academy awards for best picture and director to Rocky. But won all other major award ceremonies for best pitcher. A ratings spike occurs one night when a news anchor looses his mind in middle of his nightly commentary, so the network chooses to do the only thing one can do in the situation. They give him his own show. His outrage and very direct views become an outlet for anger of a nation. The network finds itself riding high on one mans insanity. They reap the rewards and eventually the consequences of turning loose such a clearly disturbed man on airwaves.