DVD review: 'Network'

Under Sidney Lumet’s direction, and with the fiercely on-target performances of a stellar cast, “Network” still stands tall as a bold satirical slap at television and the abuse of its power over the viewing public by the mercenary sharks who control it.

Peter Finch won a well-deserved posthumous Oscar as aging, alcoholic anchor Howard Beale on the fourth-place UBS network, who is about to lose his job due to a dwindling share of audience, and announces during his newscast that he’s going to blow his brains out on the air at the end of his last week of employment. Faye Dunaway also earned her Academy gold as a ruthless program director bent on exploiting Beale’s public breakdown by promoting him as “the mad prophet of the airwaves,” freeing him to spew profanities on the air and urge his viewers of throw open their windows and shout, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”