Death-Defying Audacity Walks Between the Twin Towers in New Documentary ‘Man on Wire’

CHICAGO – Where have all the true eccentrics gone? Where are all those people who achieve a Zen purpose just because the challenge is there?

“Man on Wire” is a documentary that tells of such a challenge 34 years ago in another place and time. The story of Frenchman Phillipe Petit and his gang of merry pranksters brings into focus another legendary piece in the puzzle within the twisted history of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Phillipe Petit is a performance artist whose main specialty is tightrope or high-wire walking. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he conquered two wire-walking feats through his own grit and determination.

Read Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Man on Wire” in our reviews section. View our full “Man on Wire” image gallery.

These were between the spires of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris and two bridge bays in Sydney, Australia.

But these were merely warm-ups for his next and greatest goal: walking between the buildings of the relatively new Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974.

After gathering a team of “experts” (more like stoners and hangers-on), he devises a plan for getting through the more lax building security of the era.

The documentary creates a tension as the story builds. The film cuts between the recreated scenes of the tower entry and operation with flashbacks to the preparation and stunts that led up to the moment.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full “Man on Wire” review.

Philippe Petit in “Man on Wire”.
Photo credit: Magnolia Pictures

Philippe Petit in “Man on Wire”.
Photo credit: Magnolia Pictures

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full “Man on Wire” review.