Cheap Network (DVD) (Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch) (Sidney Lumet) Price

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Customer Reviews of Network

"This is mass-madness, you maniacs!!!"
This was the winner of 4 Oscars back in 1976, ultimately losing the Best Picture Oscar to "Rocky." But this film garnered every acting nomination across the board, winning three: Best Actress(Faye Dunaway), Best Actor(Peter Finch), Best Supporting Actress(Beatrice Straight). Other acting nominations included William Holden for Best Actor and Ned Beatty for Best Supporting Actor. Obviously, the acting here is amazing! Sidney Lumet's direction is also stellar, with fluid transitions and a professionalism that makes one forget how well-directed this film actually is. But the star of this film is screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky. Back in 1971 he won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for "The Hospital" and wrote nothing else for the screen until "Network" in 1976 for which he won another Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. His writing for "The Hospital" is excellent, but his writing here is unprecedented. The writing is razor-sharp and savagely funny, primarily satirizing the television industry in all its lunacy. My favorite lines from the film are witty plays on poor journalism like the title of my review or "a wanton fiscal affront to be resolutely resisted." The next time you watch the news, particularly sporting news, listen for those annoying phrases where the newscaster uses absurd word-play, usually as a segue. This film actually changed my outlook on all entertainment industries, from television to radio, and showed me how everything is commercialized. We live in a capitalist society, so it is little wonder why networks are "in the boredom-killing business" to make money. Keep the viewers sedated with artificial bliss and you can make them believe anything. That is only one of the intelligent themes that this scathing indictment of the television industry has in store. The script is incredibly tight, with perfect concoctions of frantic word-play and insightful revelations. This is the only screenplay that I own in paperback. I believe the writing is that phenomenal. New viewers should be warned, however, that watching this film may make you never want to watch television again. I've seen this film dozens of times and I am now disgusted with the television industry, magazines, newspapers, etc. For me, this film really was a revelation. For most, in the least, it should be an intelligent and entertaining satire on a powerful part of American culture. The ideas here may not be as strartling as they were to an audience of 1976, but most of them still hold true to this day.

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The reason why I'm in the Broadcasting business!
You want to see some great acting! I'm mean do you really want to see some great acting? This all star cast is a testament to the movie's greatness. William Holden, Faye Dunnaway, Robert Duvall, Ned Beatty are all outstanding. But it's Peter Finch who died just before the Academy Awards and recieved a postumous Oscar for the mad prophet himself, Howard Beale. A man who single handedly brings a Broadcasting Network from worst to first. The actions of the executives in this movie are no different then what they do today. On my top 5 list of the greatest movies ever!

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We're mad as hell!
'Network' should be seen together with 'EdTv' and 'The Truman Show'. They all show the effect of television on people and also what goes on behind the scenes, the eternal fight for higher ratings, no matter what it is about.

Faye Dunaway wants to try everything to get higher ratings, she is so obsessed that even life has become a scenario to her, she almost has no ties to 'normal' life anymore, everything has become a spectacle.

When a newsbroadcaster tells his audience he is going to kill himself on tv in two weeks hell breaks loose. No one cares about human life, it's all about ratings. They would go as far as they can possibly go...