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Review: How 'Sully' recreates 'Miracle on the Hudson'
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This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Tom Hanks, left, and Aaron Eckhart in a scene from "Sully." The movie opens in U.S. theaters on Friday. (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP/File)
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ased on a memoir of the titular character, Tom Hanks fully embodies on the big screen the famous veteran pilot that is Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger.
Directed by Clint Eastwood, this biographical drama tells the story of how a veteran pilot, who has been in the air for 42 years, managed to land a plane on the Hudson River without any casualties, as all 155 passengers, including the crew, survived.
The movie, which takes place days after the crash, also replays the events the day of the crash on Jan. 15, 2009. The quiet life of the pilot soon becomes a whirlwind of the media hounding him and the public hailing him a national hero, while National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) authorities investigate the accident.
The real-life event of the US Airways Flight 1549 was dubbed the “Miracle on the Hudson.” After multiple bird strikes hit the engines of the airplane, it suffered from instability and the pilot had to figure out an escape plan to be able to save the passengers on board. With the plane barely three minutes into the air, the now retired Chesley Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles made an emergency water landing on the Hudson in what was truly a miracle as surviving a crash in the water had never been heard of before, hence the subsequent investigation as to what really happened.
In the film, First Officer Skiles, played by Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight, Olympus Has Fallen) accompanies the veteran pilot through his disbelief of the event's aftermath, while continuously defending his actions against the NTSB. Sully continues to struggle to comprehend the situation and is stressed from the events surrounding him as well as the events back home.
(Read also: Review: Prepare to hold your breath when watching ‘Don’t Breathe’)
The tension in the movie keeps the audience breathless as everyone follows the main character throughout his overwhelming experience. Despite the few comedic scenes to lighten the mood and the constant support for Sully from the public, the audience cannot help but feel for his traumatic experience, as he continues to remind himself that he could have died along with these people had he not directed the plane towards the river, which was not an easy thing to do.
At the end of a press screening, and as the NTSB investigation comes to a close, the entire audience gave a round of applause to the hero who saved a lot of lives in the near-death experience. (kha/kes)
