![[box cover]](../../reviewimgs/n/network.jpg)
Network
Shortly after receiving two weeks' notice from the network brass, UBS' veteran news anchorman Howard Beale announces to his national audience that he will kill himself, live on the nightly news, in one week's time. Beale doesn't get a chance. Upon his declaration of suicide, ratings for the struggling "fourth network" skyrocket. When his breakdown culminates in the famous, anguished cry, "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" he gets his own show, and television programming will never be the same. Released in 1976, Network is a frightening, funny, prophetic vision of the future (now the present) of television, courtesy of screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky and director Sidney Lumet. Peter Finch is brilliant as Beale. Also with William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Beatrice Straight, Robert Duvall, and Ned Beatty. Network looks fine in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen (pan & scan on other side) with an adequate Dolby 1.0 soundtrack. Extras include trivia and production notes, an interactive quiz game, the original theatrical trailer, and a "Hidden Menu Page" (even though it's advertised on the keep case) with an analysis of the Neilsen Ratings System.
—Gregory P. Dorr
