Network (Two-Disc Special Edition)

I've been very satisfied with my movie purchases at Amazon Prime. Network is hard to get a copy of, bought in "very good" condition or "like new" and never had a problem! Only returned one (scratched unplayable) out of 30-40 movies over the past few years.

Excellent movie w great acting

The movie is near perfect. A stellar cast and a script by one of the greatest screenwriters ever, Paddy Chayefsky. Director Sidney Lumet captures very well the look and feel of TV production in New York, which makes sense because it was both his and Chayefsky's background.On top of that, it's hilarious. An extremely dark comedy that uncannily predicts the future of television and TV news.The Blu-Ray looks great. The movie has never looked better, and there's a commentary by Lumet along with an extensive documentary on the making of the film.What more could you ask for?

Super service. A+++

I must admit that I hadn't heard of this movie until 2011 (I was only 4 when it came out and it never played in my home country). I picked it up last year 2011 through Netflix and immediately fell in love with its prophetic and satirical power. This movie is even more relevant today than it was back in 1976.It brilliantly shows the hypocrisies of our time, mostly how profits and financial gain have become the only measure of things and how quickly values can shift as a result of this measure, how it deteriorates relationships between people, friends, lovers, employers-employees.First, the network wants to shut off Howard Beale, the anchorman who is angry over being fired for low ratings but when Beale goes on ranting on live TV and ratings go up, they immediately devise a plan to make profit out of it. Something considered obscene yesterday can be considered a corporate strategy today. I'd like to quote two of my favorite monologues from the movie (I think they sum up best what the movie is trying to say):This is the scene when Mr Beale goes to meet the president Arthur Jensen, and here's what Arthur Jensen has to say:"You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations!, there are no peoples! There are no Russians! There are no Arabs! There are no Third Worlds! There is no West! There is only one holistic system of systems. One vast and immane...interwoven, interacting, multi-variate, multinational of dollars. Petrol dollars, electro-dollars, multi-dollars. Reichsmarks, rins, rubles, pounds and shekels. It is the international system of currency which determines the totality of life on this planet. That is the natural order of things today. 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 today."After this encounter, that evening Mr. Beale goes on TV to preach the corporate cosmology of Arthur Jensen:"....we know that democracy is a dying giant...a sick, sick, dying, decaying, political concept writhing in its final pain. I don't mean that the United States is finished as a world power. The United States is the richest and most powerful, the most advanced country, light years ahead of any country. And I don't mean the communists are gonna take over the world because the communists are deader than we are. What is finished...is the idea that this great country is dedicated to the freedom and flourishing of every individual in it. It's the individual that's finished. This is no longer a nation of independent individuals. It's a nation of some 200-odd million transistorized, deodorized, whiter than white steel-belted bodies...totally unnecessary as human beings and as replaceable as piston rods. Is "dehumanization" such a bad word? The whole world is becoming humanoid...creatures that look human but aren't. The whole world not just us. We are the most advanced country so we are getting there first. The whole world's people are becoming mass-produced, programmed, numbered insensate things".Blu ray is OK, not great but it's not terrible. Overall it's a little grainy, most likely, due to the nature of the film used. But still looks pretty good given the fact that it is 36 years old. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who is interested in social and economical issues of today. There aren't many movies that are as clever as Network.

If a broadcaster threatened to kill himself during a news show, would anyone care? Would anyone stop him?People would watch, but no, they probably wouldn’t stop him. That’s the confounding message of this movie. Has violent news become entertainment? Are people desensitized to nothing but the outrageous?At the beginning, when ratings plummet at a TV network, a news anchor, Peter Finch, is given notice, because his popularity has fallen. Furious, he threatens to commit suicide on the air during his last show. Overnight, ratings soar. Finch’s sensational outburst grips the viewers. To capitalize on it, the ambitious programming chief, Faye Dunaway, jumps in and crams more disturbing stuff on the network. And the news division director, William Holden, can only watch, not stop, the madness.This is a scathing story about the news business. Every actor in this movie is excellent, giving performances that stayed with me a long time. Finch babbles away about the hypocrisies of our time. Dunaway levels co-workers like a steamaroller. Network boss Robert Duvall foams like a deranged dog. Network owner Ned Beatty talks like an alien creature. Everyone in Network is clearly over the top…..except William Holden. He is the voice of reason, the moral heartbeat that the network loses in its insane quest for high ratings. His acting is Oscar-worthy!Paddy Chayefsky’s script is purposely provocative. On TV, what counts is shock. An event in my own life illustrates this sad truth. Years ago, I sat transfixed before my screen watching the World Trade Center bombings. My reaction reeled between outrage and horror and fascination. I couldn’t turn away. That line between disaster news and entertainment was blurred as I continued, glued to endless reports of the event.So the movie poses this question. Are we becoming like the viewers who watch Finch’s show?

Xlnt service. Terrific addition to my home movie collection.

This movie was so ahead if its time. Should be a must watch for everyone. The warning here was ignored and now we are where we are.Truth is stranger than fiction.

I first discovered this film whilst watching the excellent  Tony Benn: Will And Testament [DVD ] which included an excerpt from the film which inspired me to purchase it.This is one of the best scripted films I have ever seen, it's very enlightening about the world in which we live and is hilarious at times. The film was awarded four Academy Awards including best actress for Faye Dunaway who delivers a superb performance.If you enjoy subversive films such as  They Live [DVD ] and  Brazil [1985] [DVD ] you will love Network! This is one of those films I will definitely watch again and again. Tony Benn: Will And Testament [DVDThey Live [DVDBrazil [1985] [DVD

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. It's not just perfecty done, scrited And acted, but it gives you an apocalyptic view of The world as it was in The 70s And was going to be (even worse than that) in The Following decades. Now we have internet, maybe The problems are slightly different, but This is going to stay not just in The history of cinema And 20th century, but it still is And will still be a prophetic And powerful mirror of our society And our world

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. The detail in the acting is amazing and it's a story well told.The acting in the film (the winner of four academy awards) is superb.The plot comes to a conclusion that is quite absurd but because the characters are so believable the film makes the audience feel like the conclusion was logical.They don't make films this good like this anymore. This film is sensational.

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.

A presenter goes rogue and public love it. The network tries to figure out what to do and cares only for ratings. Rogue presenter gets weirder and weirder. The film is as much of a mess as the TV network it is chronicling.