I was born after this movie was made. I just saw this and some of the satire is hard to discern because today most of this is reality. Just wait in another 30 years and see where corporations have been guiding humans. I wonder what the perspective was back then watching this. Because today, I see it as genius.
shareThat was my first thought watching this. This moving is 100% prophetic. It's actually quite scary. Replace TV with the internet and it's as topical now (or more so) as it was then.
shareDamn straight it's scary.
I watched it last night for the first time, and once you get beyond the dated seventies clothes and stuff, it's 100% prophetic.
Jensen's speech is a brief synopsis of the New World Order.
It is wild to think this was made almost 40 years ago. I think it rings truer today then ever. People still aren't mad enough though...
shareSo glad to hear that folks today have the patience to watch such a wordy non cgi move! Pleasantly surprised
shareChayefsky and Lumet didn't consider the screen play as satire...they looked at it as cinema verité.
This was there opinion of network television and didn't feel prophetic. TCM has a good interview they air,usually the week they'll show the film,where Sidney Lumet explains all of this.
Star52-2
I couldn't agree with you more.There are other topics on this thread where the op asks the meaning of Beals rant and I just can't bring myself to respond.They obviously haven't paid attention and answer there own question with such a question...they are the vacant minds corporations control.
i thought the same thing just after watching it. so ahead of it' time and TRUE it's scary...
shareSome of my favorite quotes. .. .
"Television is not the truth. television is a goddam amusement park!"
"The world is a business."
There are many more, but it is frightening to see how many of the forecasts and predictions have come true since this film was made!! The screen writers were spot on, and how could they ever have predicted everything they wrote in the script would become reality!! THAT truly is frightening!
amazing... it was made 40 years ago...
Finch was absolutely amazing
that scene where he tries to explain what he is going through
its the loveliest feeling Max ..
Very true. I was born well before the film was made, and what struck me when I watched it again recently is how over-the-top some of the ideas for 'new & improved' news broadcasts seemed at the time, how ridiculous they seemed, and how disrespectful to news reporting. When someone watches Network for the first time today, Christensen's ratings-boosters must seem much, much less exaggerated and silly, because they're not far from what news programmes (and sites) are actually doing.
"You can't handle the post-truth!"