adonis98-743-186503 A look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the artistic crime of the century". The actual real life storyline is truly something special and just amazing but unfortunately this documentary showcases that with such boredom and slow pacing that makes the actual real life events look hollow thanks to this. To be honest i would advice you to check out the Joseph Gordon-Levitt film which was much better. (0/10)

saraccan The guy who accomplished this, is not only insane but he's also a great storyteller. The way he describes the tiny details of what was going through his head during this whole thing is very enjoyable. This documentary is about the guy who illegally walked on a tightrope between the two world trade center buildings.

classicsoncall Not only is this documentary an eye opener on how Phillip Petit planned and executed his wire-walk between the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center, but there's enough archival footage of the actual construction of the Towers to make for an interesting subject in itself. One never considers the amount of time and preparation that goes into a stunt like this; most times one sees something like this on TV news and takes it for granted that some nut just decided to do something crazy. In Petit's case, he'd been at his craft for at least five years, with prior high wire walks between the towers of Paris's Notre Dame Cathedral and the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Australia. I read with some interest a couple of other reviewers who compared Petit's exploit here to a heist caper, and to a great degree, that's exactly what it was.The documentary illustrates with some detail how Petit and some loyal friends faked work orders and created phony invoices to gain access to the Towers under construction, and the patience required to out-wait security personnel once inside. As for the walk itself, simply incredible to imagine that the man ventured out on a thin cable strung between the Towers a quarter mile in the air. I have to say, even though I'm not prone to vertigo, I couldn't take a single step at that height on a plank ten feet wide with guardrails on both sides. My legs would be jelly, not to mention my insides.Though the walk in it's entirety isn't shown in full, one doesn't need to see it to understand the danger and excitement all rolled into one that the daredevil Petit must have felt. Yet he looked perfectly calm, having practiced his stunt thousands of times before the real thing. The funniest moment of this film for me was when Phillipe Petit was led away by policemen following one of his prior wire walks, and pretended to stumble while walking on solid ground pavement. You could tell the man had a sense of humor to go with his steel nerves.

tomgillespie2002 On the morning of August 7th, 1972, in New York, something occurred that brought shock and exhilaration to the city's inhabitants. Eccentric French acrobat Philippe Petit wire-walked between the two towers of the World Trade Centre, as onlookers watched in awe and the police waited patiently at either side. Not only did he walk between the towers without safety precautions, but he also tip-toed gleefully back and forth, beckoned for the helpless police to come and catch him, and even found time to have a lie down in the process. With Robert Zemeckis's The Walk currently in cinemas, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt starring as Petit, it seemed a perfect time to re-visit James Marsh's miraculous documentary Man on Wire.After encountering Petit on a radio show, what struck director Marsh so much about the story is how the meticulous planning that went into this highly illegal act and the round-up of Petit's assisting crew resembled that of a heist movie. With thrilling reconstructions, cleverly played out with silhouettes and shadows, we witness the intense research that went into making this extremely dangerous stunt feasible and safe, the various undercover operations done in plain sight to gather visual information on the building, and of course, the job itself. At one point, Petit and a colleague hide from wandering security officers under a plastic tarp for what feels like an eternity. Ever wondered how they got the wire over that tremendous drop? Well, now you'll know, and it's probably not how you thought.The central spectacle aside, Man on Wire is very much about Petit himself. Narcissist, egotist, attention-seeker - he is of course all of these things (what great performers aren't?) - but he is also highly intelligent, charismatic, and uses beautiful language when he talks. From a young age, he dreamt of walking in the clouds, and his early life was neatly synchronised with the construction of the World Trade Centre, to which he kept close tabs on over the years. Dazzling crowds with a unicycle and slight of hand tricks, Petit trained for his ultimate goal by walking between towers at Notre Dame Cathedral and Sydney Harbour Bridge. But the World Trade Centre remained an almost mythical entity to Petit, something that was built for him and something he was born to conquer.Anyone who suffers from a fear of heights may perhaps want to avoid the film. While his climactic walk in New York is shown only with still photographs (no video footage was taken from the top), his previous walks are caught in all their vertigo-inducing glory. Yet these stunts aren't designed to terrify, and although they certainly forced my heart into my mouth, they create an almost transcendent sense of wonder. When recollecting the World Trade Centre walk, many of Petit's accomplices break down in tears. This was a truly special thing - a man literally walking in the clouds - and it is something that can never be done again. It's also fitting that the 9/11 attacks are not mentioned in the movie, as this is as a much a love- letter to the memory of the twin towers as it is to the human spirit of Philippe Petit.