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From Amazon.co.uk
Media madness reigns supreme in screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky's scathing satire about the uses and abuses of network television. But while Chayefsky's and director Sidney Lumet's take on television may seem quaint in the age of "reality TV" and Jerry Springer's talk-show fisticuffs, Network is every bit as potent now as it was when the film was released in 1976. And because Chayefsky was one of the greatest of all dramatists, his Oscar-winning script about the ratings frenzy at the cost of cultural integrity is a showcase for powerhouse acting by Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight (who each won Oscars), and Oscar nominee William Holden in one of his finest roles. Finch plays a veteran network anchorman who's been fired because of low ratings. His character's response is to announce he'll kill himself on live television two weeks hence. What follows, along with skyrocketing ratings, is the anchorman's descent into insanity, during which he fervently rages against the medium that made him a celebrity. Dunaway plays the frigid, ratings-obsessed producer who pursues success with cold-blooded zeal; Holden is the married executive who tries to thaw her out during his own seething midlife crisis. Through it all, Chayefsky (via Finch) urges the viewer to repeat the now-famous mantra "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore!" to reclaim our humanity from the medium that threatens to steal it away. --Jeff Shannon
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
38 of 39 people found the following review helpful
By L. Davidson
VINE™ VOICE
Format:VHS Tape|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Network" is quite simply one of the best films I have ever seen. It works on so many levels ;as a satire on the television industry and the people who work within it , as a philosophical critique of globalising late 20th Century consumer capitalism and the dehumanising , desensitising and deindividualising effect that television plays in that system (the hypnotist in the corner) . The acting and screenplay in "Network" is sensational; William Holden is superb as the world-weary and wise News Controller and his relationship with his boss Faye Dunaway works as a symbol of the uneasy symbiosis between the Old Absolute Moral Values that Holdens character represents and the amoral New "Humanoid" Values of the Television Generation that Dunaways' represents . Insane (or messianic) News Anchor Man Howard Beale (Peter Finch) is another brilliantly acted character , while Ned Beatty and Robert Duvall also give remarkable performances as a sinister media baron and a ruthless network executive respectively . There are so many memorable scenes - Finches "I'm mad as hell..." rant is a classic, his one to one meeting with Beatty in the Boardroom , Holden with his wife , Holden with Dunaway towards the end of the film... the list goes on. "Network" , like Howard Beale , touches on some very sensitive and profound issues ,ultimately about the nature of life and humanity itself and it does so in a stylish, intelligent way with some of the best acting you will ever see.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By William Cohen
VINE™ VOICE
Format:DVD
I put this on at 10.30pm expecting to watch the first ten minutes before going to bed. At 1am I was searching on Wikipedia looking up everything written about it. I work as a speechwriter and the speeches in this film are sublime. The film surprises you and engages you. It's becoming a historical piece because the power of the mass media is collapsing rapidly. Apart from the occasional look at iPlayer, I don't watch any TV. We can pick and choose the good stuff now. I was born in 1968, and I find the films of the 70s very comforting. The era is also very similar to our own - the anxieties about recession, unemployment, inflation, banks going bust, environmental pollution - and Peter Finch as Howard Beale is the sublime commentator on the events.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By SEV
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I can't quite believe that this film is over 30 years old. It could have been made today as an accurate satire of modern society and the corporatocracy we live in. Sadly it seems the world the film foreshadowed didn't stop it becoming a rather too close to home reality. The films script has rightly won many awards as it contains many powerful messages and memorable quotes delivered by an excellent cast. The scene with Ned Beatty's corporate CEO 'Arthur Jensen' explaining to 'Howard Beale' how the world really works is a real stand out. Quote; "You get up on your little twenty-one inch screen and howl about America and democracy. There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM, and ITT, and AT&T, and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world today".
Whatever the power of the corporate state in the mid 70's, and the influence of corporate media propaganda on the passively consuming masses, we can now multiply many times in modern day society. That's what makes this film even more pertinent today.
A society driven by profit is a world lacking in love, as portrayed in the film by Faye Dunaway's character, and with a disregard for the sanctity of life, as represented by the films end.
A clever, funny, sad, entertaining and timeless classic.
Whatever the power of the corporate state in the mid 70's, and the influence of corporate media propaganda on the passively consuming masses, we can now multiply many times in modern day society. That's what makes this film even more pertinent today.
A society driven by profit is a world lacking in love, as portrayed in the film by Faye Dunaway's character, and with a disregard for the sanctity of life, as represented by the films end.
A clever, funny, sad, entertaining and timeless classic.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
what a movie!!!
a film way ahead of its time. the story is more relevant now in 2013 than it was in 1974 when it was made. thanks to michael tsarion for heads up on this movie. Read more
Published 16 days ago by jonathan cleary
5.0 out of 5 stars
A movie milestone
Someone said it was too moralistic And dated, but to me it's One of lumet top movies And no, it's not got old at all. Read more
Published 23 days ago by Luca Piccirilli
4.0 out of 5 stars
Here we are again
Superbly crafted piece that reminds us that unless we care then those who don't will deliver the world nobody wants.
Published 1 month ago by G. Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lumet And Chayefsky's Prescient Media Tale
Sidney Lumet (director) and Paddy Chayefsky's (screenwriter) 1976 film Network is a brilliantly prescient tale of the power and corrupting influence of the media (in this case,... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Keith M
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding
A stellar cast of actors and exceptional screenplay makes Network (1976) one of the best social critiques made about television news media and a multiple-watch film. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Miami
5.0 out of 5 stars
Man say things in one log
Much special extra enjoy I like from the person and they present well and speak sound men feelings and super you like trust not question? Read more
Published 18 months ago by Burnt Face Man
4.0 out of 5 stars
Of its time but the parody has been overtaken by reality
At the time the film was made, no doubt the themes were shocking and challenging. However today the audience is knowing and a bit po-mo. Read more
Published 19 months ago by G. Gavigan
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Seventies film ahead of its time
Network is a social satire film made in the 70's about the feeding frenzy mentality that defines modern media. This film was well ahead of its time as it rings true today. Read more
Published on 26 Sep 2010 by A. GIBBON
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must see.
Truly a must see, even more than ever.
Best film i've seen in years, perhaps ever.
Best film i've seen in years, perhaps ever.
Published on 6 Jun 2010 by J. Anderson
5.0 out of 5 stars
media madness
I first watched this film on tv many years ago. I don't think it's even been shown since then, hmmm, curious, wonder why? Read more
Published on 1 April 2010 by D. Coe
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