The Walk, technically speaking, is a well done biographical drama. However, I really didn’t find Petit’s past all that interesting in spite of a nice performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt, French accent and all. But as one would expect, the highlight of the film is the prep and actual walk across the Twin Towers.
The Walk
(2015)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Drama, Comedy
Sony | PG – 123 min. – $40.99 | January 5, 2016
Date Published: 01/03/16 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE – 3.5/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Twelve people have walked on the moon, but only one man – Philippe Petit (JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT) – has ever walked in the immense void between the World Trade Center towers. Guided by his real-life mentor, Papa Rudy (BEN KINGSLEY), and aided by an unlikely band of international recruits – including fellow artist Annie (CHARLOTTE LE BON), photographer Jean-Louis (CLEMENT SIBONY), his friend Jean-Francois/Jeff (CESAR DOMBOY) and New Yorker J.P. (JAMES BADGE DALE), and a couple other accomplices necessary to pull off the feat – Petit and his gang overcome long odds, betrayals, dissention and countless close calls to conceive and execute their mad plan.
Quick Hit Review: Technically impressive and featuring some nice performances, I don’t exactly know why The Walk needed to be made when you consider the documentary about the actual event, entitled Man on Wire released back in 2008, is probably far more interesting than anything Robert Zemeckis, who commonly is a capable enough director, and company could put on the big (and small) screen. Now, one of the selling points when it was released in theaters was the 3D technology and on that front the film does succeed giving us a first-hand point of view. However, the other 80-some-odd minutes, showing us Philippe’s early life in Paris, his street performances and desire for the hire-wire act, isn’t nearly as fascinating as the filmmakers apparently thought it was. The other issue is with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and his French accent which was, at times anyway, pretty distracting though Gordon-Levitt does possess enough charm and all around charisma to give us at least a moderate investment into Philippe.
In the end, The Walk is a very Zemeckisy film: Very nice and you’ll walk away entertained but wait a month or two and you’ll completely forgot you even saw it. Having said that, it is at least worth a rental as the performances aren’t bad and the finale is well shot. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.25/5 |
| This 2-disc release comes with a front-lenticular slip cover and sits in a clear Blu-ray case. Inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy.
Deleted Scenes (5:44; HD) – There are five scenes that were trimmed or removed including an alternate opening. First Steps: Learning to Walk the Wire (9:11; HD) is a behind-the-scenes featurette with interviews by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Robert Zemeckis, Philippe Petit and others talking about the performance of wire-walking. Pillars of Support (8:27; HD) looks at the supporting cast of Petit’s “accomplices.” The Amazing Walk (10:48; HD) covers the history and story behind “The Walk” and the part the Twin Towers played. |
2D VIDEO – 4.5/5 | 3D VIDEO – 5.0/5
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| Sony Pictures takes The Walk on the high-wire presenting the film in its original theatrical 2.40 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. The picture looks good with nice detail throughout and colors are generally vibrant. There were no major instances of artifacts or aliasing making for a mostly pleasant-looking transfer.
Where this comes alive is with the 3D transfer. As with the 2D version, colors are nice so they comes through very well and the depth provided with the 3D is excellent particularly, and unsurprisingly, when Petit goes on the wire going across from one tower to the other. Early on, there were other usage of 3D but it’s the annoying objects flying to the face gimmick probably to justify the technology for the film’s entirety when in fact the final act is where the 3D could be justified. |
AUDIO – 4.5/5 |
| The movie comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which is very effective. Dialogue levels sound crisp and clear be it indoors or on the ledge of a CGI’d building (i.e. soundstage) but where it really comes to life is with the soundtrack and ambient noises, particularly as Petit makes his walk toward the end. It’s not what I would call reference quality but with its subdued nature, it’s still a solid and impressive lossless track. |
OVERALL – 3.5/5 |
| Overall, The Walk, technically speaking, is a well done biographical drama. However, I really didn’t find Petit’s past all that interesting in spite of a nice performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt, French accent and all. But as one would expect, the highlight of the film is the prep and actual walk across the Twin Towers, not only is it suspenseful but it fully utilizes the 3D technology. The Blu-ray released by Sony is on the basic side with a few so-so featurettes and deleted scenes. |
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.