[youtube id=”mjKEXxO2KNE” width=”620″ height=”360″]
You’d be forgiven for thinking that you’d already seen Sully: Miracle on The Hudson. To be honest, I was convinced I’d already seen this film too.
Why did I think I’d already seen it? Because the audacious landing of a packed passenger jet on a river, in the middle of one of the world’s most densely populated cities seems like the stuff of legend, or at least Hollywood. But it happened for real. Played by Tom Hanks, Captain Chesley Sullenberger aka Sully, found himself in control of US Airways Flight 1549, suffering from a failed engine system following an unprecedented mass bird collision. And with literally seconds to decide what to do as his plane began to lose altitude, Sully decided to ignore a recommendation to head to one of the nearest (two) airports and instead LANDED his plane on New York’s Hudson River.
At a time when it seems like a massive flock of birds has been relentlessly kamikaze diving into the year’s engines it’s lovely to be reminded that things can turn out ok, even in the face of certain doom.
It was mid January and ven with his plane taking on water and freezing passengers struggling to evacuate, Sully kept searching the stricken plane and remained on board until all passengers were cleared from the cabin. Then before getting some much needed rest, he insisted all passengers be accounted for. Miraculously all 155 passengers and crew survived the harrowing incident and Sully was hailed a hero, naturally.
Based on Sullenberger’s own best-selling book Highest Duty: My Search For What Really Matters, the film picks up and focuses on the aftermath, with the heroic pilot suffering from PTSD. As America rushes to celebrate its reluctant hero, the National Transportation Safety Board decides to detain Captain Sullenberger and co-Pilot Jeff Skiles (Aaron Eckhart) in a hotel for questioning as they carry out an inquiry. It quickly becomes clear that the NTSB is looking to pin the blame on Sully and/or Skiles, which if successful, would likely clear the airline of any insurance claims and end Sully’s career, despite the fact that everybody survived.
Hanks and the supporting cast, directed by Clint Eastwood do an excellent job of telling this touching and horrendously tense incident. It’s a very human story of integrity and of people coming together in the face of extreme adversity, delicately depicted on the big screen. They could’ve gone big-budget Hollywood and dramatised the hell out of it, but they kept it true to Sullenberger’s book, instead focusing on the miraculous nature of it all, and the way that all of the people who were present on that day worked together to ensure that lives were saved and the damage was kept to a minimum.
At a time when it seems like a massive flock of birds has been relentlessly kamikaze diving into the year’s engines it’s lovely to be reminded that things can turn out ok, even in the face of certain doom.
Sully: Miracle on The Hudson is in cinemas from December 2nd and provides a welcomed, inspirational and heart-warming uplift.
Rating:
4 out of 5 DDs
