Rent Network (1976)

3.8 of 5 from 305 ratings
1h 57min
Rent Network Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
  • General info
  • Available formats
Synopsis:
Even more compelling today than when it was first released, Sidney Lumet's 'Network' is a wickedly funny, spot - on indictment of the TV news media. Winner of four Academy Awards including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay (Paddy Chayefsky), this searing satire stars Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch and Robert Duvall. When longtime news anchor Howard Beale (Finch) is fired, he suffers a violent, on - air breakdown. Ironically, his angry rantings boost his sagging ratings - much to the surprise and delight of the UBS brass.
Subsequently rehired and reinvented as the "mad prophet of the airwaves", he soon becomes a pawn of ruthless programming executives who milk his madness for every share point it's worth. Of course, when the "prophet" ceases to be profitable, something has to be done about Beale, preferably on camera, before a live studio audience...
Actors:
, , , , , , , Bill Burrows, , , , , , , , , , , ,
Directors:
Producers:
Howard Gottfried
Narrated By:
Lee Richardson
Writers:
Paddy Chayefsky
Others:
Beatrice Straight, Paddy Chayefsky, Alan Heim, James Sabat, Dick Vorisek, Jack Fitzstephens, Marc M Lamb, Sandford Rackow, Owen Roizman
Studio:
MGM
Genres:
Classics, Drama
Collections:
A Brief History of Films About Television: Part 1, Acting Up: British Actors at the Oscars, Award Winners, BAFTA Nominations Competition 2024, Cinema Paradiso's 2023 Centenary Club: Part 1, Getting to Know..., Getting to Know: Jodie Foster, Oscar Nominations Competition 2023, Oscars: Winners & Losers, A Brief History of Film..., The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to Sidney Lumet, Top 10 Best Picture Follow-Ups, Top 100 AFI Movies, Top Films
Awards:

1978 BAFTA Best Actor

1977 Oscar Best Actor

1977 Oscar Best Actress

1977 Oscar Best Supporting Actress

1977 Oscar Best Original Screen Play

BBFC:
Release Date:
17/03/2003
Run Time:
117 minutes
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono, French Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono, German Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono, Italian Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono, Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono
Subtitles:
English Hard of Hearing, French, German Hard of Hearing, Italian, Spanish
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 1.85:1
Colour:
Colour
Bonus:
  • Original Theatrical Trailer
BBFC:
Release Date:
23/03/2015
Run Time:
121 minutes
Languages:
English LPCM Mono
Subtitles:
English Hard of Hearing
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 1.85:1
Colour:
Colour
BLU-RAY Regions:
B
Bonus:
  • The Directors: Sidney Lumet - a 1999 documentary on the director, containing interviews with Jack Lemmon, Rod Steiger, Christopher Walken and others
  • Tune in Next Tuesday - a visual essay by Dave Itzkoff, the author of Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies
  • Theatrical Trailer

More like Network

Reviews (7) of Network

Classic + Superb 1970s Movie about TV - Network review by PV

Spoiler Alert
09/05/2012

This movies is superb - well-written (script won the Oscar), generally well-acted (some overacting too, but that fits actually in such a farcical satirical context), great sound (you can hear every line and there is no constant pounding music drowning out the dialogue as with so many modern movies). The scathing satire of the TV industry is still relevant today - except that today both TV and the Internet have gone further than any character on this movie could have imagined! Compared to TV these days, 1970s trash seems quality and 1970s sex and violence very tame indeed; now we have presenter-led TV where the presenter and not the programme matters (which is why the ubiquitous and oleaginous St Stephen Fry, a man stupid people think is intelligent, narrates programmes on wildlife and whales about which he knows nothing at all!)....This movie, together with The Truman Show, are the best movies about TV ever made. This film deserved its Oscars (they often don't!). A classic movie - in the top 50 movies ever made for sure. 5 stars.

5 out of 5 members found this review helpful.

Words fail me..... - Network review by JK

Spoiler Alert
14/10/2019

A film that truly deserves the title 'classic'. Superbly written, beautifully acted and as relevant today (2020) as it was 40 years ago.

There is not one redundant line in the whole film and aside from Peter Finch 'going off on one' as the main theme, the soliloquies of several of the other characters (most notably the wronged wife) were stunning in their delivery.

Every word was clear - i.e. they were not speaking from the inside of an especially hirsute Yak (as so many film today are). There was no bloody awful and inappropriate music (piano arpeggios) drowning out what was being said. The atmosphere was provided by the excellent acting.

I'd love to know what PV has got against Stephen Fry? His review was fine until he (or she) got to that bit.

2 out of 3 members found this review helpful.

Prescient - Network review by ll

Spoiler Alert
15/01/2015

Very entertaining satire and difficult to believe it was produced so long ago. Just as relevant today.

2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.

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