Network

[Gordon]

A 2-disc SE of this amazing film was announced by USA Today:

A trio of seminal films dealing with the media are being primed for special-edition treatment by Warner Home Video. A new two-disc All the President's Men ($27) arrives right after Presidents Day on Feb. 21. In addition to a commentary from Robert Redford, whose Wildwood Productions produced the film, the new DVD includes segments about the making of the film and the recent revelation of Deep Throat.

Then on Feb. 28, Warner will release new two-DVD editions of Network and Dog Day Afternoon ($27, separately, or $60 in a box set with All the President's Men). Each has a commentary by director Sidney Lumet; Al Pacino participates in a making-of Dog Day documentary, as does Faye Dunaway for Network. The films, say Warner's George Feltenstein, "are as sharp, pointed and as powerful today as the day they were made. ... They came out as vanilla DVDs, (and) we knew they needed revisiting."

Great news. I knew that All the President's Men and Dog Day Afternoon were definitely in the works, but not Network. The old DVD transfer was abysmal - the LD was said to be much better - so I am sure that this new transfer will be a huge improvement, going by Warner's usual standards now. A shame that Prince of the City couldn't also have been released, but there may be rights issues with that amazing film.

[justeleblanc]

I thought Warner told us all this good news in the htf chat.

But yes, still great news! Though honestly, the movie is so damn good it doesn't need any special features!

[Gordon]

A lot of what Warner has promised in chats and their infamous AOL voting campaign has yet to come to pass. Nothing beats an official announcement with dollar signs, days and dates, etc!

[Lino]

Will be buying Dog Day Afternoon but I am more excited about Network, which I think is a film that could have been done this year with little change of the script and still be as powerful and influential. And what a prophetic script it was!

Now go to the nearest window and shout your lungs out!

[Gigi M.]

From the Digital Bits:

Extras on Network will also include commentary by director Sidney Lumet, along with the 6-part The Making of Network documentary (including The World and Words of Paddy Chayefsky, The Cast and the Characters, Mad As Hell! The Creation of a Movie Moment, The Experience and The Style Network by Walter Cronkite), a vintage interview with Paddy Chayefsky from the Dinah! show, Turner Classic Movies' Private Screenings featuring Sidney Lumet and the film's theatrical trailer. We've posted the details for All the President's Men previously.

The two will also be available as part of a Controversial Classics, Volume 2: The Power of Media collection (SRP $59.92) which will also include the new 2-disc All the President's Men

I just can't wait. Great month Warner!!

[Lino]

[Gordon]

A very 'slick 'n' modern' cover for a Warner catalogue DVD. Nice, though. The extras sound great.

[analoguezombie]

I can't wait for this release. I've been putting off buying the original dvd for years in hopes of something like this, same for Dog Day Afternoon. And at $42 for the box set with All the President's Men, it's a must buy.

There are so many 70's American classics which were put out during the first days of dvd that demand revisiting. I'm glad to see them getting around to doing so, if only for a few. Warner has really stepped up the quality level lately for releases. The other studios wopuld do well to take notice.

Now if only Waner could get around to updated discs of Badlands and McCabe and Mrs. Miller, though the latter has some pretty nice features as is.





hmm......

[Oedipax]

"Still mad as hell after 30 years"? Ugh. I'll buy it though.

[Gordon]

There are so many 70's American classics which were put out during the first days of dvd that demand revisiting.

Deliverance will be revisited this year, probably as a 2-disc, according to John Boorman himself.

[Lino]

Just rewatched this one earlier this week with my sister and was blown away once again. There are moments where I literally was taken aback at some parts of the dialogue - they're that good!

And yeah, Gordon - you're right: the transfer sure could use a lot of restoration. The colors are too muted and lifeless to a point where it almost starts to be distracting on the eye. Let's hope Warner delivers once again with flying colors, literally!

[solaris72]

If I'm not mistaken this and the SE of Dog Day Afternoon will be Sidney Lumet's first dvd commentaries.

[Gigi M.]

If I'm not mistaken this and the SE of Dog Day Afternoon will be Sidney Lumet's first dvd commentaries.

Actually, Lumet recorded a commentary with Paul Newman for The Verdict dvd.

[Gigi M.]

This set has to be one best that's coming out this year. Only three more weeks.

[Lino]

Beaver already has a comparison review and all I have to say is, WOW! I always suspected this film looked WAY too muted in its colors and now I know for sure:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview ... review.htm

What can I say, Warner? =D>

[Gordon]

Holy shit - the making-of documentary on Network runs 85 minutes? Blimey!

What is the 54-minute "Turner Classic Movies' Private Screenings featuring Sidney Lumet" documentary? Has anyone seen this before?

A very, very generous package from Warner.

[Schkura]

@ Gordie:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/re ... 1001263025

[Gordon]

Thanks for that link, Schkura! It sounds like a fascinating and unique programme. Lumet's 1973 film, starring Sean Connery, The Offence is a remarkable film that has been shamefully overlooked in his and Connery's careers. For me, it is one of Lumet's best and definitely Connery's best performance as a haunted police detective, investigating a child rape. Connery did Diamonds Are Forever on the contractural agreement that United Artists funded two other films starring he - The Offence flopped at the box-office and Connery's plan to star and direct a new adaptation of MacBeth fell apart, but The Offence was and most definitely still is, a very powerful film; Ian Bannen is also brilliant as the child molester. There's an anamorphic, bare-bones available in the UK from MGM, but a region 1 SE would be most welcome and might help to bring about a reppraisal of the film. Dreamy, yet gritty cinematography by the great Gerry Fisher.

[Anonymous]

'NETWORK': TAKE 2!
By LIZ SMITH

'I'M AS MAD as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

That was Peter Finch's great rant in the famous 1976 film "Network," which was all about the rise of TV news and infotainment. (Finch was awarded an Oscar - posthumously - and Faye Dunaway also took the statuette for Best Actress.)

Well, screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky's satire from 30 years ago, has turned, scarily, into our daily dose of small-screen reality. And because everything old is new again - especially when it is so relevant - "Network" will be remade for television by CBS. Although the rumor of such a project has been around for years, Les Moonves, the CEO of the Tiffany Network, made it official at the TV Critics Association Convention in Pasadena a few weeks back.

The last time the rumor floated, it featured George Clooney, who said he would direct. (The actor was then in the midst of doing publicity for his Edward R. Murrow flick, "Good Night, and Good Luck.") Clooney also revealed that because it was Moonves who suggested the remake, he would actually cast the TV titan himself as . . . a TV titan. He wanted Moonves for the Ned Beatty role.

So the film is going ahead, and Les Moonves, who once acted for a living, says he will take the role of the network chief. He thinks it's "a fun part." (Moonves also said he expects the remake to be as scathing as the original. "Everything works today . . . it's not dated at all!") But Clooney, with all those Oscar nominations on his plate, has changed his mind - he won't be the director. Perhaps he has had enough of examining the sociopolitical world of television?

No cast has been announced, but allow me to suggest Diane Lane in the Dunaway role of the crazily ambitious Diana Christensen. And perhaps Anthony Hopkins as the desperately unhinged anchorman?

Fans of the original movie can look forward to Warner Home Video releasing a 30th-anniversary DVD next week. Fans of Paddy Chayefsky can dip into Shaun Considine's bio on the screenwriter, "Mad As Hell," which has been reissued.

Big P.S. - Negotiations are now under way to bring "Network" to Broadway as - what else? - a musical!

[Fletch F. Fletch]

Holy shit - the making-of documentary on Network runs 85 minutes? Blimey!

Yeah, it is pretty damn good too -- especially the mini-profile on Paddy Chayefsky.

What is the 54-minute "Turner Classic Movies' Private Screenings featuring Sidney Lumet" documentary? Has anyone seen this before?

I think is my favorite extra on the set. Lumet's interviewed by Turner Classic Movie's Robert Osbourne. They start on Lumet's brief acting career and how he got into directing and the go through most of his movies with Lumet giving his impressions of some of the actors he has worked with. It's just great to hear the man talk and by the sounds of it I think the interview was done just after he got the Life Time Achievement Oscar.

[jcelwin]

Just finished watching this movie. An excellent and underapreciated film. All the performances are exceptional, especially Griffith as 'lonesome'. Kazan did an- um... opps. Wrong thread...

[Gordon]

Lonesome Rhodes wouldn't be out of place in this film!

[cdnchris]

I finally picked this DVD up because of the Best Buy sale and I still absolutely love this film. And this DVD is amazing. The supplements were actually worth my time. I also finally found All the Presidents Men and Dog Day Afternoon at a Best buy and got those as well, so I can't wait to dig into those.

One thing that just kills me right now is that I never realized that Arthur Jensen was played by Ned Beatty. I had seen the movie I don't know how many times (I haven't seen it in a few years, though) but it just never dawned on me that that was him and it took the documentary for me to finally realize this. Yet I noticed Lance Henriksen the first time I saw it. Either I'm an idiot (which I can accept) or he was just that damn good in that small role.

[Gordon]

I feel that the Arthur Jensen speech is the best thing that Chayefsky ever wrote. It must have been odd to be presented with such a modality of "All is Business; Busniness is All" so shortly after the 'Summer of Love', Woodstock and the brief Age of Optimism. It's a hilarious moment, planting a metanoia in the mind of Beale and summing up how life would be for the next 40 years. But such modalities cannot last forever - the Terrorists are seeing to that, though they are not alone.

[HarryLime]

Network, Nashville, Mikey & Nicky, Wise Blood, All the President's Men, and of course, Deliverance...Beatty's unique contributions to some of the key films from the '70's put him in league with Duvall as one of the stellar character actors of that generation. You'd be hard-pressed to name many current actors who could deliver that Jensen scene from Network with Beatty's precision and power.