Editing Network (1976 film) (section)

== Release and reception ==
''Network'' premiered in New York City on November 27, 1976, and went into [[wide release]] shortly afterward. The film opened to widespread critical acclaim, and became one of the big hits of 1976–77, earning $23.7 million at the box office.<ref name=bo/>

===Critical reception===
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[[Vincent Canby]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' called ''Network'' "outrageous&nbsp;... brilliantly, cruelly funny, a topical American comedy that confirms Paddy Chayefsky's position as a major new American satirist" and a film whose "wickedly distorted views of the way television looks, sounds, and, indeed, is, are the satirist's cardiogram of the hidden heart, not just of television but also of the society that supports it and is, in turn, supported."<ref>[https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF173CB82CA6494CC1B7799A8C6896 Review of ''Network''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207015327/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF173CB82CA6494CC1B7799A8C6896 |date=February 7, 2012 }} from the November 15, 1976 edition of ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref> [[Gene Siskel]] of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' gave ''Network'' four stars out of four, calling it "a very funny movie that takes an easy target and giddily beats it to death."<ref>[[Siskel, Gene]] (December 19, 1976). "'Network' power scrambles TV's set image". ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''. Section 6, p. 2-3.</ref> In a review written after ''Network'' received its Academy Awards, [[Roger Ebert]] called it a "supremely well-acted, intelligent film that tries for too much, that attacks not only television but also most of the other ills of the 1970s," though "what it does accomplish is done so well, is seen so sharply, is presented so unforgivingly, that ''Network'' will outlive a lot of tidier movies."<ref>[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/network-1976 Review of ''Network''] by [[Roger Ebert]] from the 1970s</ref>

Not all reviews were positive: [[Pauline Kael]] in ''[[The New Yorker]]'' criticized the film's abundance of long, preachy speeches; Chayefsky's self-righteous contempt for not only television itself but also television viewers; and the fact that almost everyone in the movie, particularly Robert Duvall, has a shouting rant: "The cast of this messianic farce takes turns yelling at us soulless masses."<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Kael |first1=Pauline |title=Hot Air |magazine=The New Yorker |date=December 6, 1976 |pages=177}}</ref> Gary Arnold of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' declared that "the movie is too sternly, monotonously preachy for either persuasion or casual amusement."<ref>Arnold, Gary (December 16, 1976). "'Network': Satirical Overkill". ''[[The Washington Post]]''. B1.</ref> [[Michael Billington (critic)|Michael Billington]] wrote, "Too much of this film has the hectoring stridency of tabloid headlines",<ref>{{cite book|last=Halliwell|first=Leslie|title=Halliwell's Film Guide, 6th edition|year=1987|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|location=New York, NY|isbn=0-684-19051-6|pages=729}}</ref> while [[Chris Petit]] in ''[[Time Out (company)|Time Out]]'' described it as "slick, 'adult', self-congratulatory, and almost entirely hollow", adding that "most of the interest comes in watching such a lavishly mounted vehicle leaving the rails so spectacularly."<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Milne|editor-first=Tom |title=Time Out Film Guide, The|year=1993|publisher=Penguin|location=Hammondsworth, Middlesex|isbn=0-14-017513-X|pages=[https://archive.org/details/timeoutfilmguide00miln/page/486 486]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/timeoutfilmguide00miln/page/486|edition=3rd}}</ref>

[[Jack Shaheen]], an American writer and lecturer who specialized in addressing racial and ethnic stereotypes, was critical of the film in his book, ''[[Reel Bad Arabs]]''. He put it on his worst list, noting that Arabs were portrayed as "medieval fanatics," and criticized Chayefsky's "[[Stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims in the United States#Stereotypes in film and their effects|prejudicial]] Arab colloquies." He also asked whether Chayefsky would label Israelis as "medieval fanatics" and wondered why the producer, Howard Gottfried, and director, Sidney Lumet, sanctioned Chayefsky's "anti-Arab diatribe," as he described it, in the film. He additionally described the film's focus on Arabs not only to be "[[Anti-Arab racism|racist]]," but also nonfactual, and noted that Chayefsky condemned [[Vanessa Redgrave]] after [[50th Academy Awards#Vanessa Redgrave's speech|she described]] demonstrators, protesting her pro-Palestinian views, as "a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums" at the [[50th Academy Awards|1978 Academy Awards]] ceremony.<ref>{{cite book |last=Shaheen |first=Jack |author-link=Jack Shaheen |date=2001 |title=Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nWXp59GVNgIC |location=New York |publisher=Olive Branch Press |pages=347–349 |isbn=1566563887}}</ref>

On [[Rotten Tomatoes]] the film has an approval rating of 91% based on 76 reviews, with an average rating of 8.50/10. The site's critics consensus states, "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."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/network |title=Network (1976) |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |publisher=[[Fandango Media|Fandango]] |access-date=January 19, 2024 |archive-date=April 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426170757/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/network |url-status=live }}</ref> On [[Metacritic]] it has a weighted average score of 83 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{cite web |title=Network |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/network |website=[[Metacritic]] |access-date=2021-10-01}}</ref>

=== Legacy ===
In 2000, Roger Ebert added the film to his [[Great Movies]] list and said it was "like prophecy. When Chayefsky created Howard Beale, could he have imagined [[Jerry Springer]], [[Howard Stern]], and the [[World Wrestling Federation]]?"; he credits Lumet and Chayefsky for knowing "just when to pull out all the stops."<ref>[https://www.rogerebert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20001029/REVIEWS08/10290301/1023 Review of ''Network''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204121536/http://www.rogerebert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20001029%2FREVIEWS08%2F10290301%2F1023 |date=February 4, 2013 }} by Roger Ebert from October 2000</ref> Screenwriter [[Aaron Sorkin]] wrote in 2011 that "no predictor of the future—not even [[Orwell]]—has ever been as right as Chayefsky was when he wrote ''Network''."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/movies/paddy-chayefskys-notes-for-network-film.html |title=Notes of a Screenwriter, Mad as Hell |last=Itzkoff |first=Dave |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 19, 2011 |access-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-date=January 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116180428/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/movies/paddy-chayefskys-notes-for-network-film.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The film ranks at number 100 in ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Films of All Time.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.empireonline.com/500/80.asp |title=The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time |work=Empire |publisher=Bauer Media Group|access-date=August 17, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814081404/http://www.empireonline.com/500/1.asp|archive-date=August 14, 2011|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>