Network (1976)

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Network (1976)
Starring: Faye Dunaway, William Holden
Director: Sidney Lumet
Synopsis: A news anchorman's career is failing, but with the words "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more" his popularity is rejuvenated, and he becomes the "mad prophet of the airwaves."
Runtime: 121 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Genres: Classic, Comedy, Drama



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Network (Widescreen)	DVD
Network (2 DVD Set)(Special Edition)	DVD
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DVD Review

Network (1976)(Widescreen)

Taken out of context, Howard Beale is ridiculous. Outside Network's framework, the suicidal news anchor's raw, angry "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" litany is silly, laughable even. In his rain-drenched overcoat and pajamas, standing in front of a hopelessly dated news set, Howard looks lost and ludicrous, a pitiable sight to today's moviewatchers, almost all of them sophisticated media consumers — 100% "television generation." That's why it's so important to watch Network — one of cinema's darkest, most brilliant looks at TV and the "infotainment" hybrid it has spawned — from start to finish. Because while Howard is funny (in a twisted, cynical way), he is far from ludicrous. He is, in fact, the ultimate irony: a "latter-day prophet denouncing the hypocrisies of our time," railing against television while appearing on TV every night to do so.

A Modern Messiah for a TV Generation
Howard (played by Peter Finch in a performance that won him a posthumous Best Actor Oscar) is at the center of director Sidney Lumet's pitch-black drama/satire. After being fired by the fictional UBS television network for low ratings, Howard announces that he'll kill himself on the air and suddenly finds himself popular again. The viewers, starved for something different, something new, latch onto Howard and his angry diatribes, his willingness to acknowledge that life is bulls***t. He becomes a modern messiah, the centerpiece of an increasingly commercial, lowest-common-denominator "news" show that is the brainchild of Diana (a sharp, brittle Faye Dunaway), a TV-fanatic programming executive with an attention span as long as a commercial break. Diana is "television incarnate," according to Max (William Holden), her lover and former head of UBS' news division, a fact that ultimately drives them apart — he happily leaves TV behind, she embraces it because it's the only thing she understands.

Disc Fittingly Offers Few Extras
Network is so absorbing, so darkly gleeful in skewering TV and society, that you'll never notice its comparative lack of extras on DVD. The two-sided disc has Dolby Digital mono sound and both standard and anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) viewing options, and the transfer is excellent — Howard and friends never looked or sounded so good. The TV news-themed main menu offers scene selection, languages (English, French, and Spanish subtitles are available), and a link to the disc's few special features: the film's original theatrical trailer (which feels incredibly slow compared to today's hyperactively paced and edited previews) and an interactive quote quiz. The latter, in which you match 15 of the movie's most famous lines (for example, "I'm not sure she's capable of any real feelings. She's television generation. She learned life from Bugs Bunny") with one of four characters — Howard, Diana, Max, or Frank (Robert Duvall), a UBS executive — is challenging and diverting. Use your remote to highlight the top TV knob on the special features page and you'll find the disc's "hidden" special feature — a brief article on the history of the Nielsen ratings which is interesting, but too simplistic when held up against the movie's complexity.

In a way, it's suitable that Network, which deplores the mixing of news and entertainment, has so few extras. Howard Beale would approve.

— BETSY BOZDECH