Network

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Network

R

1976

2h 1m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

91%

Tomatometer

80 Reviews

93%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

In this lauded satire, veteran news anchorman Howard Beale (Peter Finch) discovers that he's being put out to pasture, and he's none too happy about it. After threatening to shoot himself on live television, instead he launches into an angry televised rant, which turns out to be a huge ratings boost for the UBS network. This stunt allows ambitious producer Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) to develop even more outrageous programming, a concept that she takes to unsettling extremes.

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Critics Consensus

Driven by populist fury and elevated by strong direction, powerful acting, and an intelligent script, Network's searing satire of ratings-driven news remains sadly relevant more than four decades later.

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John Hindle

The Age (Australia)

Network is good, strong stuff. Fine performances enhance a meaningful script.

Sep 27, 2025

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Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

Everything about the movie is thrilling and flawless.

Rated: 5/5

Jun 28, 2024

Full Review

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

Like John Updike, Chayevsky and Lumet are here giving us Memories of the Ford Administration -- only they weren’t memories at the time. This was America as it was happening, suicidal ideations born of a scotch hangover, beamed live into every home.

Rated: 5/5

Jun 26, 2024

Full Review

Daniel Allen

Loud and Clear Reviews

Network acted as a troubling warning of where we were heading when it came to media, populist messages, commercialism, sensationalism and corporate dominance over all those fields. Perhaps we should have listened.

Rated: 5/5

Jul 16, 2025

Full Review

Rich Cline

Shadows on the Wall

Sidney Lumet's quick-paced direction feels remarkably fresh nearly half a century later. It also says something powerful about the state of the media today. And with their pointed personalities, the charismatic performances still zing.

Rated: 5/5

Jul 2, 2024

Full Review

Ian Kane

Epoch Times

“Network” is both a highly entertaining drama with lots of laugh-out-loud humor and a film that carries some very timely messages, ones that are extremely prescient in modern times.

Rated: 4.5/5

Feb 13, 2023

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Audience Member

Amazed by the glowing reviews. Um, I'm watching this for the first time in 2025. I'm a movie person. I got that it was Satire- but I couldn't understand what it was going for? TV as the godhead of all? There was cable when this came out and it was only a matter of time before the 4 major networks were going to at least be deluded by other networks?! I get the anything for ratings premise but I thought it a bit shortsighted and I didn't find much humor in the movie and when it's Satire= it has to be funny. I even tried putting myself in the time/era of when it was released, but to no avail. I'm not going to keep it for my collection and not sure why anyone thought it was great? Stumped.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

09/16/25

Full Review

Byron H

4/4 Network foretold the world around us. This drive for original interesting content whether it be on TV, a streaming service, or an influencer. It's script rivals Citizen Kane & Chinatown as some of the best writing ever put on screen.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/15/25

Full Review

Lorenz L

The single most prescient film ever made.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/13/25

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Farah R

It’s easy to see why critics and audiences hail this satire as one of the best in Cinema, but Network is a boring film with unlikable characters.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

04/25/25

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Clint A

I was very surprised to see the raving reviews over this movie, and I know im just some dude so who cares what i think, but I literally created a rotten tomatoes account just to rate this movie poorly. seriously, save your time, while I can admire the nice cinematography and production quality of the movie, the overall story and message of the movie is very simple and basic and predictable. The acting is pretty good. The dialogue is extremely boring and the entire movie I just struggled to care about anything happening. There are no stakes, The characters are very hard to care about because everybody in the movie is extremely generic + there is no context/good backstory to any of them. it takes over 2 hours to convey a very basic message and it's just a waste of time. Not a poorly made film just painfully boring, and i never write reviews on things. 3/10 at its very best.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/08/25

Full Review

Brett C

Absolutely fantastic! 50 years ago but feels like right now. WOW.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/27/25

Full Review

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Sidney Lumet

Director

Faye Dunaway

Diana Christensen

Peter Finch

Howard Beale

William Holden

Max Schumacher

Robert Duvall

Frank Hackett

Beatrice Straight

Louise Schumacher

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Synopsis

In this lauded satire, veteran news anchorman Howard Beale (Peter Finch) discovers that he's being put out to pasture, and he's none too happy about it. After threatening to shoot himself on live television, instead he launches into an angry televised rant, which turns out to be a huge ratings boost for the UBS network. This stunt allows ambitious producer Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) to develop even more outrageous programming, a concept that she takes to unsettling extremes.

Director: Sidney Lumet
Producer: Howard Gottfried
Screenwriter: Paddy Chayefsky
Distributor: United Artists, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co: United Artists, Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 27, 1976, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2008
Runtime: 2h 1m

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