Network [Blu-ray]

Product Information

For more about Network and the Network Blu-ray release, see Network Blu-ray Review published by Dr. Svet Atanasov on March 21, 2015 where this Blu-ray release scored 3.5 out of 5. Is that Pong? Cos it looks like Pong. You know Pong has already been invented, right? So, you're just gonna steal the idea and make it better? But, it's Pong .... There are many big-time actors in the film, but it never looks or feels like they are competing with each other. Their characters become real people with unique identities and legit dilemmas. Obviously, the script from Paddy Chayefsky is outstanding, but the terrific chemistry between the actors is crucial for the film's brilliance. Few films resonate with audiences for several generations after their release quite like Sidney Lumet's 'Network.' The film perfectly captures a human attribute born out of modernity which seems universally relevant no matter the age of moviegoers. And today, possibly more than ever, Paddy Chayefsky's eloquent, sharply-written and provocative script still speaks to us with such eye-opening accuracy and insight. 'Network' displays an alien reality with ferocity and urgency, imitating the speed at which the world of TV production moves. People speak at full tilt in a foreign language while major decisions are made within moments, and money is always at the heart of every matter. The only difference between a board meeting and a terrorist organization talking distribution rights is the scenery.

The extras also include a photo gallery of the show’s production and commentaries on some of the episodes by writer and broadcaster Tim Worthington. Though not connected with the show (and by his own admission, not born at the time of its release), Worthington’s enthusiasm and knowledge of the show is palpable and infectious. He discusses such aspects as the design of the title sequence; the ‘care and attention’ paid to the visual composition; why the show is ‘important’; and compares his commentary to others and his wish to be different and informative. For the most part, he succeeds, much as The Owl Service itself mostly succeeds as an evocative, atmospheric and intriguing drama, one that offers plenty to enjoy for modern audiences just as it did for those over fifty years ago. As well as its four Oscars, Network was also garlanded with a quartet of Golden Globes, a BAFTA and numerous other awards. In the years since its release, its reputation has only grown: the Library of Congress granted it a place on their prestigious National Film Registry; the American Film Institute named it as one of the greatest American films of all time; and the Writers Guild of America declared its screenplay one of the ten best of all time. It remains a true classic.Private Screenings with Sidney Lumet (SD; 54:34) Lumet sits down for an in-depth interview with Robert Osborne, culled from the TCM archives.

It's all the more remarkable, then, that Paddy Chayefsky's marvelous script for Network is so frighteningly prescient. After all, in 1976, when the film was released, the evening news was still a nightly tradition for most adult Americans, and the three broadcast networks ruled the airwaves with iconic anchors like Cronkite, Smith, Chancellor and Brinkley. It would be four to five more years until shows like Entertainment Tonight started cropping up in syndication, slowly blurring the line between news and entertainment, and 24 hour news networks like CNN appeared on the horizon, needing, well, 24 hours of content to fill their broadcasting day, thereby creating a whole new market for shows which blended elements of news and entertainment. It seemed to happen almost overnight, seen now from the distance of that quarter century, but Chayefsky obviously saw it coming well before it dawned on the rest of us, and Network was his brilliantly acerbic warning shot across the bow. Unfortunately, too few of us heard, refusing to believe that things could get as bad as Network portrayed them, however satirically. How terribly, terribly wrong we were.

by recognizing our uncanny strangeness we shall neither suffer from it nor enjoy it from the outside. The foreigner is within me, hence we are all foreigners. If I am a foreigner, there are no foreigners” LG 55CX / Denon AVR-X2400H / Q Acoustic 2050's + 2000C + 2070S + 2020's / Sony BDP-S5200 (Region A) / Panasonic DP-UB150 / Nvidia SHIELD 16Gb / Xbox Series X / PS5

Now then, I mentioned that this is a true Ultimate Edition release with substantial extras carried over from both the Network UK BD sets and also the more recent Shout! Factory BD set. So let’s break down the contents of Imprint’s new box set disc by disc (note that some of the special features listed in HD have been upsampled from SD)… Cinematographer Owen Roizman ( The French Connection, The Exorcist) utilized light in a variety of different ways to give the film the desired by director Lumet visual style. It is broken into three phases -- naturalistic, realistic, and commercial -- each with different and constantly evolving tonalities. The Social Network is currently only available as part of the Columbia Classics Collection Volume II.The Social Network was shot digitally on Red One MX cameras, with a resolution of 4.5K, and finished as a 2K DI from which it appears this UHD is sourced. For more about Network and the Network Blu-ray release, see Network Blu-ray Review published by Jeffrey Kauffman on February 15, 2011 where this Blu-ray release scored 4.0 out of 5.

Some Blu-ray disc players cannot stream content directly but can still access network-based content from PCs and media servers. Blu-ray Disc Players and Screen Mirroring/Sharing Isn’t that Networks MO? put out those older fondly remembered titles where the target audience is smaller but willing to pay that big extra for something that has received some TLC.

In any case, despite the fact that there are still a few special features missing, it should be clear now that Via Vision Entertainment/Imprint Television’s new Space: 1999 – The Complete Series Ultimate Edition box set truly is the most comprehensive Blu-ray release of this series to date. Yes, it’s more expensive than the previous Blu-ray editions. But if you’re looking for a single REGION FREE Blu-ray set that contains the largest number (and overwhelming majority) of special features, along with beautifully-remastered HD video, and the correct 5.1 and mono audio mixes too, this is box set is absolutely unmatched.