Spotlight
There is some brief 9/11 footage about an hour and a half into this movie.

The Walk

Did everyone see that they now have a trailer out for "The Walk," which will come out in October? For those who don't know, "The Walk" is based on the true story of Philippe Petit's famous 1974 tightrope walk between the Twin Towers. "The Walk" will star Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Petit. Here is the trailer: 

 http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/new-trailer-for-the-walk-sells-the-procedural-of-philippe-petits-stunt

 I am really conflicted about this. First of all, this story has already been told as a fantastic documentary called "Man on Wire," which everyone should see. So we really don't need this movie. Second of all, it will probably involve lots of terrible french accents from Gordon-Levitt and other Americans playing various french people. Third, it's directed by Robert Zemeckis, which in my opinion is not a good thing. 

But on the other hand, let's face it, I have an obsession with staring at the World Trade Center--whether it's in old photos and movies, or nowadays when it's digitally recreated. If you don't believe me, see my previous post in which I combed through the completely forgotten 1996 Whoopi Goldberg movie "The Associate" for additional images of the WTC. And this movie "The Walk" will be basically nothing BUT digitally recreated images of the WTC--are you kidding!? It's like opening a door for Scarface to a room full of cocaine. I've got no chance!

I've already watched the 2-minute trailer about 20 times, and I'll watch it again right after I post this. The movie's going to be in 3-D and IMAX, which is going to be creepily immersive--in other words, right up my alley. So there's no doubt at all that I'm going to watch this at least once in the theater, even though it's almost sure to be terrible. I'm hopeless. Curse you, Hollywood!

There's another WTC in "The Associate" at about 1:08

Hey, for whatever reason "The Associate" is in HBO's rotation right now. I noticed that you only had the WTC listed in the opening shot, and I was pretty sure that given the Wall Street setting of the movie, there had to be more shots of it than that.

Sure enough, there is one at about the 1 hour 8 minute mark, although it's only a partial shot. It comes right at the end of a tracking shot with Whoopi Goldberg and Dianne West walking along the East River. They stop directly accross from them, and you'll see them right above Whoopi's head. 

Here's a picture of it I took off my TV, so you can see (I don't know if this blog lets me upload a picture, so apologies if it doesn't come through):

 

 

I was hoping for a WTC shot in the "Mad Men" finale

Was anyone else hoping for a shot of an under-construction World Trade Center in the "Mad Men" finale? In the final shot, we leave protagonist ad man Don Draper in California. It's inferred, though, that he returns home to NYC to create the now legendary "I'd like to teach the world to sing" Coke commercial. And while I liked the actual ending, how cool would it have been had the final shot of the series shown Don looking downtown from his balcony--smoking contemplatively, of course--at the partially built towers?

For those of you who weren't fans, the show ended right in 1970/71, so the timing would have lined up perfectly. At that time, both towers were a little more than halfway complete, looking very "Return of the Jedi" Death Star-ish. Besides being a cool shot, it also would have generated approximately a million thinkpiece essays on its signficance and symbolism, all of which I would have liked to have read. Oh well... 

"A Most Violent Year"
Hey, I don't know if you've caught it yet, but "A Most Violent Year," which came out last year and is available on demand, has a couple of recreated shots of the WTC. That's honestly the main reason I rented it, although it was also a decent movie, too. Once I knew it was set in 1981, I knew they'd have to do something.

Creative Manifestation
Now Playing: Deep Impact

Thanks so much for your website and blog!

I watched Deep Impact recently and it dawned on me that the twin towers figure in apocalyptic films (or they did) and were on occasion the visual subject matter in a scene - being destroyed or nearly destroyed.

I am wondering about the effects of such a strong visual statement in terms of creative manifestation. Of course, then I also start to think about the effects of a visual of the entire planet being destoyed, but that's another blog.  

In Deep Impact, for example, the twin towers are a major focal point as the tidal wave sweeps over NYC. As the water recedes, the towers are left forlornly slumped against each other, but are, again, the focal point of the scene.

I'm looking for scenes of the twin towers in apocalyptic situations or scenes of mass destruction in film, where the towers are the visual focal point, the subject of the scene. The WTC in movies website will be invaluable for this research, again thank you so much!

 

7 WTC?

I know the blog is about the twin towers but it might be interesting to at least add notes about the other buildings in the WTC complex, or even the area (WFC, etc), that were lost that day. Even the PATH station might be interesting to note. 

One I recall specifically to start with is Working Girl (1988) has significant scenes set (and actually filmed) inside 7 WTC, and has a very neat aerial zoom out from an office in that building at the end, showing the building and area. 

WTC In Iron Sky

I've got one for the 'Future' section. In the 2012 film 'Iron Sky', set in 2018, the completed new World Trade Centre is seen at 38:34. (As shown in this YouTube video of the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CTC3W1ROVs)

 

Here is a screenshot of when it appears: http://i.imgur.com/HYQNDbV.png

 

http://i.imgur.com/ffyXyP2.png

 

Furthermore, it also appears in the poster for the film: http://i.imgur.com/TgPwkge.png

 

The poster without the red square: http://impawards.com/intl/misc/2012/posters/iron_sky_xlg.jpg

 

And finally, the UK/International (I presume.) version of the poster also includes the new WTC: http://www.impawards.com/intl/misc/2012/posters/iron_sky_ver5_xlg.jpg

 

Thanks!

The movie "Big"
The movie "Big" with Tom Hanks (1988). Roughly 13 mins in after he wakes up the next morning and jumps on his bike and rides to where the amusement park was. There you can see the Towers in the back ground. 

THANK YOU and two suggested additions

First of all, thank you so much for creating this site. Second of all, I wish I had found this site a long time ago. Third of all, I see two omissions. Let me first explain my gratitude:

I grew up in the Jersey suburbs and from my childhood bedroom window, I could see the Towers at night far off in the distance, and I used to look at them twinkling before going to sleep. For me they were a symbol of comfort, practically a night light. More generally they were in the periphery of so many childhood memories that--at the risk of sounding like an armchair psychologist--it's probably not surprising that I've become obsessive over them ever since they fell. 

Hence I've spent god knows how many hours looking at images of them online, which eventually led to me DVRing movies set in NY from the 70s-00s and watching them--usually in fast-forward--just for glimpses of the Towers. Or in the case of post-9/11 movies, I would watch those set in the past (e.g., "Munich") that would need to recreate them. And then when they came up, I would take a picture of them on my iPhone and store them. Thus I've been building up my own library of images and eventually I probably would have built a site...similar to the one that you already have!!

So...thank you! Even though I've already spent hours going down this wormhole, you've still saved me time with this site. And you've shown me images I probably wouldn't have realized were out there on my own, like the "Bronx Warriors" movies.

But I'd also like to contribute as well, because as comprehensive as your site is, I noticed two omissions. The first is "She's Gotta Have It," Spike Lee's debut film from 1986. There are two shots of Towers: the first is during the colorized dance sequence, and the second is toward the end, when the Nola Darling character breaks up with Lee's Mars Blackmon character.

The second is the HBO 2003 miniseries "Angels In America" (maybe you're counting this as a TV show?). I forget which episode it is, but I believe it's around episode 6. The Patrick Wilson and Mary Louise-Parker characters are talking on their apartment roof looking over the East River, and the Towers are digitally recreated in the distance on an overcast day.

I have images of all three (the "Angels in America" one is actually a brief video clip) and can send them to you (can I post them here? I don't see a command that lets me do that). Just let me know.

Otherwise, thanks again!