Network (1976) Blu-ray from Arrow

[Akijama]

Release date: March 23

Network Blu-ray



Extras:

High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the film
Uncompressed mono PCM audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
The Directors: Sidney Lumet – a 1999 documentary on the director, containing interviews with Jack Lemmon, Rod Steiger, Christopher Walken and others
Tune in Next Tuesday – a visual essay by Dave Itzkoff, the author of Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies
Theatrical Trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jay Shaw
Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Mike Sutton and an American Cinematographer article by director of photography Owen Roizman, illustrated with original stills and artwork

[rapta]

Rollerball and now this. Both were on the list I sent Arrow earlier in the year, so I'm so glad I can tick them both off my want list!

[Chad Plainview]

Fantastic!

[franzsanchez]

an odd choice for arrow given that it's available on a warner bros region-free release with better extras. imported it a couple of years ago and it is excellent in terms of special features with a commentary, 90 minute documentary, a tcm programme with sidney lumet

you can get it from all your music via amazon uk for £6

[McCrutchy]

WB licensed out a title?!

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

WB licensed out a title?!

No, it's an MGM film distributed by Fox in the UK

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by rapta

Rollerball and now this. Both were on the list I sent Arrow earlier in the year, so I'm so glad I can tick them both off my want list!

Same here

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

No, it's an MGM film distributed by Fox in the UK

That explains a lot.

[PowellPressburger]

Something tells me the ARROW encode might best the WB US Disc. If so I am all for thise release. I wonder if the film will have an original United Artist opening logo. (Not sure if one was ever attached)

[huntauk]

Top film! One of my faves of the New Hollywood era!

[Foggy]

Excited for this!

[ScorpionReleasing]

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

I wonder if the film will have an original United Artist opening logo. (Not sure if one was ever attached)

It was a MGM film, UA helped MGM on some of thier releases domestically back then like this one, but MGM always retained the opening logo in the theatrical and all home medium, so if anything, it will have the MGM logo, since it was Warner, who now controls MGM's library.

[the blob]

Originally Posted by franzsanchez

an odd choice for arrow given that it's available on a warner bros region-free release with better extras. imported it a couple of years ago and it is excellent in terms of special features with a commentary, 90 minute documentary, a tcm programme with sidney lumet

you can get it from all your music via amazon uk for £6

While it's a brilliant film and it's great to see a UK release for it, I do have to agree about the extras. The Arrow ones sound very underwhelming and having owned the 2-disc S.E. from where the U.S. extras are culled, the doc especially is great. It's one of those titles that I've put off for a bit and while I'd like to support a homegrown release, unless the A/V is a significant improvement, for around £6 the import is a bit of a no-brainer.

[dunkrag]

Originally Posted by the blob

While it's a brilliant film and it's great to see a UK release for it, I do have to agree about the extras. The Arrow ones sound very underwhelming and having owned the 2-disc S.E. from where the U.S. extras are culled, the doc especially is great. It's one of those titles that I've put off for a bit and while I'd like to support a homegrown release, unless the A/V is a significant improvement, for around £6 the import is a bit of a no-brainer.

Agreed - seems to be a pointless re-release..
WB version is stellar..

[rapta]

Pointless? It's never been available in the UK before. Doesn't seem pointless to me...great for Arrow collectors. What mystifies me more is people who come onto these threads to comment about an apparent pointlessness to releasing a film of such high quality. You never know, Arrow's transfer could be an improvement! And the extras are not finalised either.

[crazyman]

Bet MoC are a bit miffed about this one.

[lolwut]

I'm guessing this will be the best transfer for the film. The WB release has a low bitrate and Arrow is usually on the ball.

[rapta]

Originally Posted by crazyman

Bet MoC are a bit miffed about this one.

Was thinking that myself. But still, we're getting two Lumet's in one month! Assuming The Offence is out in March as well (as it was one of the Eureka titles mentioned as Q1 but without a finalised release date...but Q1 would mean January/February/March). Be even better if it's the same week!

[Bruce Morrison]

I already have the Warner Blu, so I'll certainly hold off ordering this new one until I can read a review to see whether the transfer is significantly better than the Warner one.

[Pork Chop Express]

Originally Posted by Fat Phil

Agree it's a shame about all the missing extras like the Sidney Lumet commentary and the feature length making of doc.

Without a new transfer why choose this over the Region Free USA release (which at the time of writing this can be bought for ~$9/£6 from amazon? For a slightly higher bitrate? Sorry. Sounds like an obsolete release to me.

Let's have some of the lesser known Sidney Lumet gems like 'Q&A' (my personal favourite) or 'Prince of the City'.

Now you're talking.The god awful soundtrack is the only thing that ruins this film.Maybe a special feature where you can replace it with something else?Seriously,this flick needs more attention,Nick Nolte has never been better.