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Network

Play trailer Poster for Network R 1976 2h 1m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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90% Tomatometer 89 Reviews 93% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
In this lauded satire, veteran news anchorman Howard Beale (Peter Finch) discovers that he's being put out to pasture, and he's none too happy about it. After threatening to shoot himself on live television, instead he launches into an angry televised rant, which turns out to be a huge ratings boost for the UBS network. This stunt allows ambitious producer Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) to develop even more outrageous programming, a concept that she takes to unsettling extremes.
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Network

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Critics Consensus

Driven by populist fury and elevated by strong direction, powerful acting, and an intelligent script, Network's searing satire of ratings-driven news remains sadly relevant more than four decades later.

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Critics Reviews

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Derek Smith Slant Magazine Feb 13, 2026
Half a century later, Sidney Lumet’s Network remains a darkly humorous and relevant treatise on capitalism’s erosion of morality. Go to Full Review David Thomson Sight & Sound Dec 22, 2025
The film is as vicious and feeble as a wasp trapped in the jam it craves, and if Network is essential viewing it is because of this chronic confusion. Go to Full Review John Hindle The Age (Australia) Sep 27, 2025
Network is good, strong stuff. Fine performances enhance a meaningful script. Go to Full Review Joshua Tyler Giant Freakin Robot Jun 23, 2026
Whether Network meant to or not, it prepared audiences for a new kind of journalism. One where the anchor isn’t pretending to be neutral anymore. One where outrage replaces reporting. Go to Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Mar 31, 2026
3.5/4
One generation’s satire is another’s reality, meaning that the outrageous antics on view in Network would hardly be out of place in a TV landscape that in the modern era has housed Bill Reilly, Howard Stern, and Fear Factor. Go to Full Review Michael Clark Epoch Times Mar 26, 2026
5/5
Presenting this kind of absurdity with even a whiff of knowing, tongue-in-cheek self-awareness would have neutered its desired sting, so it’s all played with straight faces for the duration. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Rafi M @RT61647557 Sep 8, 2026 This could have been a great movie, but the decision to crowbar in the totally implausible romance between Dunaway and Holden, and the way overdone storytelling is what put me to sleep in the theater when it first came out. The peak of the movie is the 'I've had it' scene - which should have begun the last half hour. But another hour of belaboring the point, creepy, unconvincing and irrelevant intimate scenes, and long, technical office meetings make it really boring and obscure the message, which was totally valid. See more Robert P @Superbad Sep 3, 2026 I cant stand it "anymore" gets a four star rating! See more Howie B @Howie10 Aug 6, 2026 50 years on and it almost feels prophetic. Peter Finch excels as the ‘mad as hell’ newscaster who becomes the forerunner for all those wannabe news commentators and cult/ celebrity nobodies. Sadly it reflects the TV (and broader media) audience gullibility of the past, present and probably the future. An inconvenient truth for many. See more Atilla T @Treviewd1nce Apr 15, 2026 Wow! What a movie! Did not expect it to be this good. Timeless! See more Russ G @RT78760655 Apr 8, 2026 Second, possibly third, time I've watched this but enough time had elapsed since my last viewing that most of it seemed fresh, and that's largely due to the brilliant script and the pacing. It's a stunning depiction of how money and power corrupts. You grasp that it's satire and dark comedy requiring substantial suspension of disbelief in places but you hold on for the ride to see where it takes you. You can't even call the Holden / Dunaway affair a subplot; it's inseparable from the whole. Bill Holden didn't even get featured billing in this but he should have been billed above Robert Duvall, who probably got it because he was still a box office draw coming of The Godfather. See more Levi J @Lev77 Mar 29, 2026 Absolutely amazing acting and screenplay in this very good and interesting satire that dives into the corrupt, world of the media/journalism, etc. See more Read all reviews
Network

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Cast & Crew

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Sidney Lumet

Director

Faye Dunaway

Diana Christensen

Peter Finch

Howard Beale

William Holden

Max Schumacher

Robert Duvall

Frank Hackett

Beatrice Straight

Louise Schumacher

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Network

Network (1976) Network (1976) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis In this lauded satire, veteran news anchorman Howard Beale (Peter Finch) discovers that he's being put out to pasture, and he's none too happy about it. After threatening to shoot himself on live television, instead he launches into an angry televised rant, which turns out to be a huge ratings boost for the UBS network. This stunt allows ambitious producer Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) to develop even more outrageous programming, a concept that she takes to unsettling extremes.
Director
Sidney Lumet
Producer
Howard Gottfried
Screenwriter
Paddy Chayefsky
Distributor
United Artists, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co
United Artists, Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Rating
R
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 27, 1976, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2008
Runtime
2h 1m
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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