Sully (2016)

[tinaw]

Saw this movie last night. It was excellent. The actors looked so much like the real people. 

How did everyone like the movie?

[Spartan Girl]

Tom Hanks was excellent, as usual, but Aaron Eckhart had the best lines.

I can't believe Sully went through all that with the investigators. He was right: those simulations were full of crap. 17 practice runs to make a "successful" landing back at the airport?! Are you kidding me?! It kind of reminded me of how in Batman vs Superman and Civil War, the government was breathing down the superheroes' backs for the collateral damages, even though all they were doing was helping people. Sully had NO casualties, no collateral damages (since he avoided crashing into any buildings) and he still was getting crap from authorities! Geeez!

The best part was the credits where the real Sully, crew, and passengers reunited.

[anna0852]

I loved it. Especially Skiles last line. The whole theater burst out laughing!

[tinaw]

4 minutes ago, anna0852 said:

I loved it. Especially Skiles last line. The whole theater burst out laughing!

That line was awesome. 

I was talking to people after the movie and in Sullys book he says that the investigators did take the human factor into account, and were on the pilots side during the investigation. Basically saying the investigation was to find out what happened on the flight

I loved seeing the real people at the end

[AimingforYoko]

The reason flying is one of the safest ways to travel is because the NTSB is so thorough. I really think they came off as adversarial because Mike O'Malley excels at playing a dick.

1 hour ago, tinaw said:

I loved seeing the real people at the end

When they were reading off their seat numbers I got a little choked up.

[tinaw]

3 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

 

When they were reading off their seat numbers I got a little choked up.

I did too

[stonehaven]

I loved this film..and loved Hanks in it....I hoped it gets an Oscar nod...and I ADORED that Clint got a plug for Gran Torino in there....

It is so rare that I pay $10 for a movie and walk out saying "I loved it"...

My only complaint was Laura Linney...I love her as an actress but the wife role was not fleshed out enough...All she did was the "oh honey, be safe" trope...

Still, glad I saw it in IMAX...and it deeply moved me to see it the day before the 15th anniversary of 9/11...

[TobinAlbers]

Great movie that even at 96 minutes didn't feel like it glossed over anything.

When this happened I worked at 50th and 8th Ave in NYC on the 35th floor so you had a view of the river. My office was on the east side of the building but my colleague on the west side could see all the ferries hauling ass to the crash site when this happened. She said she never thought they could move so fast.

Hanks as always is a boss. When he finally told the panel let's get real the audience I was in cheered because they knew that Sully was about to educate some people.

I thought it was lovely that after listening to the complete recording of the event that when Sully and his co-pilot were in the hall, he turns to him and says how proud he is of him and how he kept it together so that they could both do their jobs. You knew the co-pilot was shook and it was the right thing to say to comfort him, but also such an honorable thing to acknowledge.

If it's true that poor traffic controller guy was sitting in that room all that time alone with no clue that the plane landed and everyone was safe, that was just wrong. He was clinging to the hope that Sully had gone for one of the other runways even as tears were streaming down his face. Felt so bad for the guy!

Sully's heart rate in the hospital still at 110 beats hours later when he knew he was normally a 55 at resting? Wow.

Sully was a boss pilot, but I'm absurdly proud of the plane itself. It may have lost its engines but that ole girl HELD. It's body mainly held intact upon impact and didn't break up as it slid to a stop. 

There is an amazing shot of the plane shot from behind after its cleared the bridge and you see Manhattan on the left and the river on the right. The plane is flying straight towards the city. Then we see it deliberately pull to the right with Sully having made his choice to go for the water landing in the river. Just so much said, implied without saying a word.

Oh, and give it up for Doreen the flight attendant at the back of the plane. Water pouring in at her feet and all those people running back at her and she was a wall of steel, directing them back up the aisle even as the water was coming up to her waist.

The little moment of the mom/daughter at the gift shop cracked me up.

He's too young to know where you got him a gift, mom/But I'll know.

Why weren't you this generous when we were kids?/ Fine, I'll buy you a snow globe too, honey.

[Spartan Girl]

2 hours ago, stonehaven said:

I loved this film..and loved Hanks in it....I hoped it gets an Oscar nod...and I ADORED that Clint got a plug for Gran Torino in there...

LOL I caught that too! My parents missed it but my mom laughed when I told them.

[thuganomics85]

Really enjoyed it.  Then again, while I don't think I will ever agree with all of his politics, I usually enjoy Clint Eastwood's films, even if his "one or two take" method can sometimes lead to roughness or a few awkward moments.  I think it really helped that they really had a deep bench with the cast.  Even characters with one or two lines were done by actors I've seen on a ton of television shows and whatnot, so they're probably actors who know how to prep and hit their marks.  So it was fun seeing folks like Chris Bauer, Autumn Reeser, Holt McCallany, and Michael Rapaport pop in for a scene or two.  I'm sure they enjoyed getting to interact with Clint and Tom Hanks too.

The build-up and actual Miracle on the Hudson scenes were really well-done, and still carried suspense, even though I knew the outcome.  I like seeing glimpses of some of the passengers, seeing the different perspectives from the passengers/flight attendants, to even the rescue crew and traffic control person (that really has to be a harrowing experience who anyone in a situation like that), until we finally see it from Sully and Jeff Skies' point of view, and how they handled it.  I liked that they didn't to turn it into something bigger, and they had Sully and Jeff both remain calm (at least on the surface), like they apparently were in real life.

Tom Hanks was about as spot-on as you can get as Sully, which is no surprise.  But Tom Hanks really is one of those guys where, to quote a common phrase, I could probably watch him just read a telephone book, and still be entertained.  Aaron Eckhart was a pleasant surprise.  I feel like it's been a while since I've been impressed by him (granted, that might be less about him and more about the films he winds up being in), but I thought he held his own, and made Jeff a good character too.  I loved his loyalty to Sully; they really did a good job with that relationship.  And it certainly helps that Aaron was also sporting one sweet moustache, which is totally accurate according to real photos I've seen of Jeff.

I did think Laura Linney was wasted, but it is still great to see her.

Only issue I had was the NTSB came off just like typical antagonists.  I think it is understandable to have questions to figure out how to prevent incidents like this, and I can even see why it required them to maybe challenge the pilots, but they seem to be getting a kick out of trying to take Sully down a peg.  Anna Gunn's character seemed to occasionally show a glimmer of something else, but Mike O'Malley's really seemed like your normal, smirking suit, who is destined to eat crow. 

Still, a really well done film.  I liked them including the real Sully, Jeff, passengers and crew during the credits.  It is still crazy that it happened and that all of them are still alive to tell the tale.

[Eyes High]

It says something for Clint Eastwood's skill as a director that the crash sequence was incredibly tense for me even though it had been well established even by that point in the script that everyone on board survived with only minor injuries.

Didn't like how they wrote the NTSB as dicks just to ratchet up the suspense of whether or not Sully would be exonerated by the NTSB of having caused the crash (well, water landing).

One thing that wasn't mentioned by anybody--not even self-effacing Sully--was that the Hudson was extremely calm that day, allowing a smooth landing. If it had been choppy, the plane would have broken up on impact (or at least that was what the experts were saying after the incident back in 2009).

Tom Hanks and Aaron Eckhart were excellent, although I doubt Jeff Skiles is that effortlessly witty in real life.

Quote

Oh, and give it up for Doreen the flight attendant at the back of the plane. Water pouring in at her feet and all those people running back at her and she was a wall of steel, directing them back up the aisle even as the water was coming up to her waist.

Doreen was the one who was quite hurt (laceration to the leg), and she was still directing everyone off like a boss.

Edited September 11, 2016 by Eyes High

[GreekGeek]

It was a great experience to see this on 9/11. The second reminder of the day about how wonderful New Yorkers can be in a crisis. 

I'm only sad that I didn't stick around long enough during the credits to see the real Sully and the actual passengers. Were those little stories of the passengers--the mother and daughter at the gift shop, the three guys who got on at the last minute--true?

[Eyes High]

3 hours ago, GreekGeek said:

It was a great experience to see this on 9/11. The second reminder of the day about how wonderful New Yorkers can be in a crisis. 

I'm only sad that I didn't stick around long enough during the credits to see the real Sully and the actual passengers. Were those little stories of the passengers--the mother and daughter at the gift shop, the three guys who got on at the last minute--true?

Possibly. There were six guys on that flight who were all friends or family and were heading for the same South Carolina golf trip, only three of whom were depicted as the guys trying to get on at the last minute (father and son Rob and Jeff Kolodjay and Jimmy Stefanik). As in the movie, Jeff was seated at the back of the plane away from his dad. I couldn't find anything about a late boarding in the interviews, except a statement in one of the articles that Jeff "wasn't supposed to be on" Flight 1549.

As for the mother and the daughter, there was an elderly female passenger on board who used a wheelchair and who was traveling with her daughter. I'm not sure about the snowglobe repartee, but that bit of dialogue was cute.

It seems like the only real dramatic license taken in the film was with the NTSB investigators. I read on History vs Hollywood that the real Sully insisted that the movie's investigators' names be changed, since the fictional NTSB investigators were established as the villains of the film for dramatic purposes.

Edited September 12, 2016 by Eyes High

[Bruinsfan]

That vibe in the trailers was what's made me hesitate to see the film so far. From what I can remember, Sullenberger was hailed as a hero by the FAA authorities too from pretty much the moment the story broke, and much was made of him being the ideal pilot you'd want in those circumstances. Sometimes there aren't any villains in a story Clint, you already had Man's struggle against Nature, you didn't need to insert Man vs. Man on top of it.

[methodwriter85]

I thought it was pretty good. I liked the general restraint they had here- I honestly expected some smaltzy reunion scene with his wife, or a moment where Sully just completely breaks down, and they resisted doing that, and the movie was for the better for it.

So Tom Hanks has his first number 1 movie in 7 years. Congrats to him.

[SmithW6079]

On 9/10/2016 at 3:45 PM, Spartan Girl said:

I can't believe Sully went through all that with the investigators. He was right: those simulations were full of crap. 17 practice runs to make a "successful" landing back at the airport?! Are you kidding me?! It kind of reminded me of how in Batman vs Superman and Civil War, the government was breathing down the superheroes' backs for the collateral damages, even though all they were doing was helping people. Sully had NO casualties, no collateral damages (since he avoided crashing into any buildings) and he still was getting crap from authorities! Geeez!

The best part was the credits where the real Sully, crew, and passengers reunited.

He didn't go through that with the NTSB investigators. Clint Eastwood, to further promote his "government is evil" agenda, made that up. The real Capt. Sullenberger had nothing but praise for the investigators and their thoroughness.

An article in "The Guardian" sums it up: "Sullied: With Sully, Clint Eastwood is weaponizing a hero"

Quote

in his memoir, Sullenberger reflects that he was “buoyed by the fact that investigators determined that Jeff and I made appropriate choices at every step”. 

On 9/12/2016 at 7:56 AM, GreekGeek said:

It was a great experience to see this on 9/11. The second reminder of the day about how wonderful New Yorkers can be in a crisis. 

I'm only sad that I didn't stick around long enough during the credits to see the real Sully and the actual passengers. Were those little stories of the passengers--the mother and daughter at the gift shop, the three guys who got on at the last minute--true?

I thought it was pretty tone-deaf or insensitive that a movie about a plane crash opened two days before 9/11, especially when the opening sequence 

Spoiler

is an image of a plane crashing into a building in Manhattan with the resultant fireball.

Other than the "evil gubbmnit" investigators, I enjoyed the movie.

[tinaw]

Smithw6079 Thank you i thought the same thing about that sequence. Who the hell does that?

[Bastet]

Quote

Only issue I had was the NTSB came off just like typical antagonists.  I think it is understandable to have questions to figure out how to prevent incidents like this, and I can even see why it required them to maybe challenge the pilots, but they seem to be getting a kick out of trying to take Sully down a peg.  Anna Gunn's character seemed to occasionally show a glimmer of something else, but Mike O'Malley's really seemed like your normal, smirking suit, who is destined to eat crow. 

This is my big stumbling block in deciding whether or not to see this film.  I'm addicted to plane crash documentaries, so enjoying the dramatized versions is always difficult for the inaccuracies, but completely misrepresenting the NTSB investigators (To, what, add drama?  Um, I think the engine loss takes care of that, so that leaves an anti-government agenda, and fuck that noise) may be a step too far for me.  I'll probably wait until it's on TV.

Quote

One thing that wasn't mentioned by anybody--not even self-effacing Sully--was that the Hudson was extremely calm that day, allowing a smooth landing. If it had been choppy, the plane would have broken up on impact (or at least that was what the experts were saying after the incident back in 2009).

Both Sully and the co-pilot have talked about that stroke of good luck in real life.

[Dejana]

The problem from a storytelling POV is that IRL, the entire flight was extremely short,  everyone survived and thought Sully did a great job landing the plane. He didn't let instant fame go to his head, leave his wife for some hot passenger half his age, or have a secret double life exposed by suddenly being thrust into the limelight. The real story fits nicely into an episode of a plane crash docu-series but that's what, an hour with commercial breaks, compared to more than twice that much time for even a short feature-length film. Then add that Flight already came out four years ago, and it comes off like a screenwriter took the actual Miracle on the Hudson story and added all the personal and professional drama it lacked in real life.

Maybe the focus could have been broadened a bit, to how more of the people on the plane coped, if their family/friends treated them differently afterward, or if any of them radically changed the course of their lives, after getting a second chance...but then, it's not a Tom Hanks vehicle called Sully.

Edited September 18, 2016 by Dejana

[NumberCruncher]

Well I saw the movie and IMO, that Guardian article is way OTT.  I have a hard time believing that most rational thinking people would come away from that that movie with anti-government feelings.  I'm certainly no Eastwood fangirl but I doubt even he set out to make it as such.  I'm more inclined to believe that had there been an obvious attempt to portray some staunch Libertarian, government-is-evil agenda, the liberal actors (hi, Tom Hanks) and crew wouldn't want anything to do with it.  Besides, isn't it kind of a given by now that you shouldn't study history from Hollywood because they have to make everything so dramatic?  This movie is no different.  I think had they stuck strictly to the script (pun intended), I agree with Dejana that the movie would have been about an hour long and probably not all that gripping.

Edited September 19, 2016 by NumberCruncher

[Browncoat]

I just saw this, and while I really enjoyed it, and was surprised by how suspenseful it was, I did think they seriously had to work to stretch and pad it out to be a 90-minute movie.  Do flight attendants really chant like that ("Brace! Brace! Brace!")?  I hope I am never in a situation where I have to find out first-hand.

Absolutely loved the end with the real Sully and real passengers.

[FuriousStyles]

Saw this the other day.  Great movie.  I was surprised to see how much of a hard time the NTSB gave to Sully.  I mean, the man performed a successful water-landing and saved everybody.  The fact that it took those simulator pilots 17 tries to get it right should have been enough "facts" to prove Sully made the right decision.

My friend and I were saying how the stars pretty much aligned for those passengers. Like who better to be your pilot in such a crisis than Sully? So many years of experience, calm cool and collected.  Having taken off from LaGuardia with the Hudson at your disposal so to speak.  If this had happened in some other state, how many would have such a large area (obviously not populated) for the plane to land?  And then of course as the poster above said, that day the water was pretty calm giving them a better chance to land safely. 

One thing that I wanted to know was how did the NTSB figure out how the left engine was damaged (there was some thought that maybe the engine was still operable, but because it had separated from the plane they weren't able to find out quick enough.)  Well when they did find it, how could they decifer if the damage came from the bird strike or the landing?

[WendyCR72]

19 minutes ago, FuriousStyles said:

Saw this the other day.  Great movie.  I was surprised to see how much of a hard time the NTSB gave to Sully

They didn't in real life. That was all dramatic license for the film. I guess Clint Eastwood thought there needed to be more suspense or whatever.

[Raja]

19 hours ago, FuriousStyles said:

Saw this the other day.  Great movie.  I was surprised to see how much of a hard time the NTSB gave to Sully.  I mean, the man performed a successful water-landing and saved everybody.  The fact that it took those simulator pilots 17 tries to get it right should have been enough "facts" to prove Sully made the right decision.

My friend and I were saying how the stars pretty much aligned for those passengers. Like who better to be your pilot in such a crisis than Sully? So many years of experience, calm cool and collected.  Having taken off from LaGuardia with the Hudson at your disposal so to speak.  If this had happened in some other state, how many would have such a large area (obviously not populated) for the plane to land?  And then of course as the poster above said, that day the water was pretty calm giving them a better chance to land safely. 

One thing that I wanted to know was how did the NTSB figure out how the left engine was damaged (there was some thought that maybe the engine was still operable, but because it had separated from the plane they weren't able to find out quick enough.)  Well when they did find it, how could they decifer if the damage came from the bird strike or the landing?

You should watch Air Disasters on the Smithsonian Channel. The only thing wrong with the NTSB portrayal was they played it like we lost when evidence suggested that the plane wouldn't have made it to an airport if the Captain choose that option 

Edited September 26, 2016 by Raja

[vavera4ka]

18 hours ago, FuriousStyles said:

My friend and I were saying how the stars pretty much aligned for those passengers. Like who better to be your pilot in such a crisis than Sully? So many years of experience, calm cool and collected.  Having taken off from LaGuardia with the Hudson at your disposal so to speak.  If this had happened in some other state, how many would have such a large area (obviously not populated) for the plane to land?  And then of course as the poster above said, that day the water was pretty calm giving them a better chance to land safely. 

 

I'm listening to his autobiography now (narrated by Captain himself!) and, I know, the hindsight is always 20/20, and it's easy to make it look that was in the book that was first published right after the incident, but I'm about half way through and it truly seems like every day in his life and career was a preparation for that landing.
I highly recommend this book, btw. Very easy and informative listen (or read I guess lol)

[Steph619]

I went today to watch this movie and I thought it was excellent. Tom Hanks was great in his portrayal of Sully and I really liked Aaron Eckhart as Jeff. His last line that ended the movie had me cracking up. 

I thought the airplane scenes were really well done and had me in suspense even without the use of dramatic music. I'm a native New Yorker and I remember this event from when I saw it on the news. I can't even begin to imagine what it must've felt like to go through that experience, especially Sully who had to make the difficult decision to land the plane on the Hudson River in order to save everyone's lives. It could've easily ended in disaster, but thankfully, it didn't.

It was really touching to see Sully and the passengers reunited during the credits. Just to see everyone alive and well made me happy.

[Artsda]

Just saw this and loved it. It was really great job by everyone.

[dwmarch]

I loved the whole movie but two scenes in particular. First, when Sully asks if the hotel can have his uniform dry cleaned. When the lady at the hotel goes in for the hug it almost brings me to tears. The expression on Aaron Eckhart's face is gold. Second was the scene where the ATCO was moping in a conference room and his coworker brought him the news. "I guess you didn't hear... he landed the son of a bitch!"

The only sour note in the movie was when Sully went into a random bar and they gave him the drink named after him. The guys at the bar seemed douchey, like they were kind of making fun of him. And a Sully has two shots of Grey Goose in it although I guess that wouldn't have worked with the plot about one engine possibly still being in working order.

On 9/26/2016 at 0:50 PM, vavera4ka said:

I'm listening to his autobiography now (narrated by Captain himself!) and, I know, the hindsight is always 20/20, and it's easy to make it look that was in the book that was first published right after the incident, but I'm about half way through and it truly seems like every day in his life and career was a preparation for that landing.

One thing he said that I probably found on Facebook or Wiki a long time ago was that he had been making regular deposits in the bank of experience for when he had to make that one big withdrawal. I'll have to get a copy of his book!

[LauraAnders]

I just saw this film and most of what I want to say was already said by others.

I can understand the bad feelings towards Clint  Eastwood because people resent his inventing exchanges with the NTSB.  When I first read that, I choked back some angry feelings for a second but then I know movies are often fiction. If it doesn't say that it's a documentary, it's fair game to fictionalize (you can call it lying if you want to and there is no argument about that).

But far and away the best thing about this movie IMHO is the fabulous direction. It's like Eyes High said (and IMO he/she said it quite perfectly):

"It says something for Clint Eastwood's skill as a director that the crash sequence was incredibly tense for me even though it had been well established even by that point in the script that everyone on board survived with only minor injuries."

EXACTLY!

The last time I saw a film that was directed so expertly was Sabrina (1954). I won't argue about the quality of the film. But the direction made it perfect. At the time he directed Sabrina, Billy  Wilder was just at the top of his form. Absolutely tip top!

The same goes for Eastwood. He has been acting and directing for many years and if his work on Sully is any indication, he has evolved into a masterful director. One of the best directors currently working. Wow! He should write a book about how to direct. Up and coming new directors would do well to study his films over the years.

There is so much more I'd like to say but it's mostly all been said and I'm just about speechless. Except maybe to say that I loved this film. It was like a university course in how to direct a film. Wonderful. Wonderful. Wonderful.

In case anyone is interested, I wondered what his wife looked like - whether she came close to being as beautiful as was portrayed by Laura Linney. I was so happy to find the following photos of his wife. The answer is "YES"! She is absolutely gorgeous. It's hard to say who is more beautiful - Laura Linney or Lorrie Sullenberger. It's real close.  Take a look. What a doll!

https://www.google.com/search?q=Lorrie+Sullenberger&sa=X&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAOPgE-LSz9U3ME1KS66qUIKxU0rMtSSyk630C1LzC3JSgVRRcX6eVXFBfmlxKgAc7Py_NAAAAA&biw=1912&bih=908&tbm=isch&imgil=Ambll3j3KF22WM%3A%3BaIyxeH_01tlx2M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fdailyentertainmentnews.com%252Fmovies%252Florrie-sullenberger-us-pilot-chesley-sullenbergers-wife%252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=Ambll3j3KF22WM%3A%2CaIyxeH_01tlx2M%2C_&usg=__XaYplMJr3IezI6aWNuWZPfcwFHU%3D&ved=0ahUKEwih1pOm4ZHSAhVC4CYKHYxHBKEQyjcILg&ei=ghukWKGNIsLAmwGMj5GICg#imgrc=Ambll3j3KF22WM:

Yikes! I've never seen a link that takes up 6 lines before. If you have any problem trying to access that, just Google:

Lorrie Sullenberger

Edited February 15, 2017 by LauraAnders

[BitterApple]

On 9/10/2016 at 5:53 PM, TobinAlbers said:

 

If it's true that poor traffic controller guy was sitting in that room all that time alone with no clue that the plane landed and everyone was safe, that was just wrong. He was clinging to the hope that Sully had gone for one of the other runways even as tears were streaming down his face. Felt so bad for the guy!

 

I wouldn't be surprised if it's true. I recently watched a documentary about the SwissAir flight that crashed off Nova Scotia in the late 90s and the traffic controller communicating with the pilots during that ordeal was absolutely devastated he couldn't help get the plane back safely. 

Edited February 16, 2017 by BitterApple

[chitowngirl]

I can't imagine the pressure of being an air traffic controller, much less an air traffic controller in New York. LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark are practically on top of each other. Add in the smaller airports nearby and <shudder>.