This video compilation by Dan Meth shows the World Trade Center appearing in several movies from 1969-2001.
The Hot Rock (1972), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Three Days of the Condor (1975), Superman (1978), Wolfen (1981), Escape from New York (1981) and Being John Malkovich (1999) are just some of the films featured.
With the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaching there’s going to be a lot of news media coverage about it over the next two weeks.
Aside from the enormous human cost and dreadful long-term consequences of that day, part of what made the Twin Towers resonate so much was that they formed an indelible part of the New York skyline for a generation.
In turn, they were reproduced around the world in movies and television for a generation, be it the opening of Friends (1994-2004) or various blockbusters like Independence Day (1996) and Armageddon (1998).
This website has an detail chronological list of the buildings appearing in movies, along with some screen shots.
It claims that the first appearence of the fledgling WTC building was this shot in William Friedkin’s The French Connection (1971).
Another interesting development was how filmmakers featured the Towers after September 2001.
Famously, a teaser trailer for Spider-Man (2002) was pulled after featuring the two buildings (although glimpses of it could be seen in the final film) and a drama like Changing Lanes (2002) captured the towers before they fell, but actually came came out several months after the attacks.
Director Roger Michell edited out shots in the days after 9/11 but later put them back in as a tribute.
Later period films, such as Munich (2005), digitally reinserted the towers and this also reflected advances in visual effects as well as their historical importance to New York over three decades.
Perhaps the most unique use of the towers in a film was Spike Lee’s 25th Hour (2002) which used the ‘Tribute in Light‘ in the months after 9/11 for a memorable opening title sequence.
Whenever I think of the biggest news event of my lifetime, this sequence often springs to mind.