If WTC's Were Still Around, This Movie Would've Been a Smash Hit

Just caught the film for the first time on Starz.

I'll admit, I'm biased, as Zemeckis is my all-time favorite film director. And once again, he delivered in a major way. Pulled me in, and I couldn't stop watching (despite having things to do, lol!) So I watched all of it, and loved it.

I recall hearing about the movie in early 2015, and couldn't wait for it to be in theatres. Once it was released though, it seemed like it was gone in a blink of an eye, and you didn't hear much about it. Almost as if it were a bomb, one of those dreadful movies that stay in the theatres for a week or go straight to home video.

Perplexed as to why such a solid film by an acclaimed director like Zemeckis didn't receive much balleyhoo or attention, a friend of mine pointed out his reason why, and I think he hit the nail on the head: The World Trade Centers. They're still sort of taboo, as far as Hollywood is concerned. Images of the World Trade Centers conjure up unpleasant memories for so many Americans, as it was such a dark day that will never be forgotten. And the WTC's were plastered all over the movie posters for this film, at bus stops in my town promoting it.

It still seems as if the WTC's are off-the-table, so to speak, in regard to Hollywood filmmaking; the biggest film I can recall about 9/11 was about Flight 93, which didn't involve the WTC's at all. That controversy still looms around the WTC's and WTC 7 from that dark day probably doesn't help matters, either, in regard to the WTC's being the elephant in the movie discussion room.

In regard to The Walk, the WTC's are front and center; they're sort of like what Wilson was to Hanks in Zemeckis' Cast Away; they become characters in the story, they become one with Phillipe in the film's final act. To see the WTC's in all their glory, fresh and new, is a site to behold. Zemeckis brings them to life, and his visual effects are once again unmatched and cutting-edge.

Had the attacks of 9/11 never occurred, and the towers still stood today, I have no little doubt The Walk probably would've been a big thing, a smash hit in the theatres. They probably would've held promos and premieres at the two towers, and who knows, maybe Phillipe would've even been granted a promotional "anniversary" walk to plug the film. But it wasn't to be. All that was left is their memory, and Zemeckis pays great tribute with his final shot of the film.

Thought it wasn't a smash-hit in theatres, it still remains an excellent film, another gem from Robert Zemeckis, one of our finest and most innovative movie directors.