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 artist... Read allA 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".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".
- Won 1 Oscar
- 46 wins & 13 nominations total
- Self
- (as Jean-François Heckel)
- Self
- (as N. Barry Greenhouse)
- Self
- (as Guy Tozzoli)
- David - Drama Reconstructions
- (as Shawn Dempewolff)
- Alan - Drama Reconstructions
- (as David Frank)
- Dentist
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaLow on money for the Sydney Harbor Bridge walk, Philippe Petit got the cable in exchange for an impromptu juggling and magic show he put on for employees.
- GoofsIn the reenaction of Philippe Petit and his friend hiding from the night watchman at the WTC, a box on the floor has a present-day USPS logo.
- Quotes
Philippe Petit: Life should be lived on the edge of life. You have to exercise rebellion: to refuse to tape yourself to rules, to refuse your own success, to refuse to repeat yourself, to see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge - and then you are going to live your life on a tightrope.
- Alternate versionsAccording to the Technical Specifications link for this page on IMDB, there are two different versions of this film: 1 hr 34 min (94 min) and 1 hr 30 min (90 min) (Sundance) (USA)
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Orange British Academy Film Awards (2009)
Man on Wire is an exciting documentary about Philippe Petit who, thanks to his friends, managed to sneak into the World Trade Center in 1974 and do a high-wire act between the Twin Towers.
From the very start of the film it pulls you in, this is an amazing story and Petit is an amazing person to document. Sure, he's a reckless person and has a wild personality, but he's fascinating to watch. The interviews with him and his friends and "team" who helped pull off the stunt are extremely interesting and great to watch. It's fun watching old footage of Petit performing some of his previous acts, this guy really has talent, and may be a bit too determined and crazy. The reenactments are also well filmed and a nice job of telling the story.
This documentary plays like a classic heist film. It's filled with suspense and has many of those caper moments of mistakes that may ruin the entire job. Even though the final outcome is already known, it's still thrilling and you don't know if they will pull it off.
A well crafted film that does a wonderful job of telling the story of one man's dream and how he managed to make it a reality.
- se7en187
- Jun 15, 2008
- How long is Man on Wire?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Людина на канаті
- Filming locations
- World Trade Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA(archive footage)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- £1,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $2,962,242
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $51,392
- Jul 27, 2008
- Gross worldwide
- $5,258,569
- Runtime1 hour 34 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1