The real heroes aren't robots, aliens or made in a lab, they're the ones who know exactly what to do to save everyone they can.
Directed by the legendary Clint Eastwood, Sully: Miracle on the Hudson tells the true story of Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger; an American airline pilot who landed flight 1549, full of 155 passengers, on the Hudson River after a devastating bird strike at 2,800ft and the legal investigation he faced following the event.
The story of Sully: Miracle on the Hudson touches on the familiar arc of "Hero VS The Law"; Yes, Sully saved all those people but was the landing necessary? And if not, did he endanger everyone's lives?
The strong moral angle on the side of Captain Sullenberger automatically puts the audience in support of him but rather than leave it at that basic conflict, Eastwood decides to show the inner turmoil of our hero, the early stages of Sully's PTSD and his constant questioning of himself as everyone seems to be against him, even computer simulations say he could've landed safely at two different airports. We're shown this crippling mental and emotional ordeal through visual representations of what Sully thinks would've happened if he'd turned back for the airports, all of which ended in fiery climaxes in the centre of New York City.
Having the audience know this, as well as his calm behaviour when being questioned, completely brings into reality how experienced Sully was at that point and that he doesn't see himself as a hero, just as a pilot following standard protocol, he just carried out his part in saving those people in a way he'd always practiced for, just never under such extreme circumstances.
Hanks delivers another astounding performance in the lead role, carrying such a heavily emotional performance under the subtlety and control of someone like Captain Sullenberger. By far the strongest scene in the entire movie is the so-called "Can we get serious now?" scene, in which Captain Sullenberger confronts the officials about the simulations being inhuman, unrealistic and incorrect, the calm tone Hanks keeps when performing this scene has more resonance that someone screaming in defiance about suspected wrong-doings, his stern confidence and intelligence destroys his opposition with well-worded questions and belief that no-one outside that plane could possibly comprehend what happened. The abilities of an actor like Tom Hanks have always impressed and considering he's still going strong into 2019, I'm looking forward to what he brings to the table next.
Of course with Sully being the base for the entire film, there aren't really any pivotal characters outside of him but there are a few key moments in which the supporting cast really shine. Moments like the midnight walk between Captain Sullenberger and his co-pilot Jeff Skiles (Aaron Eckhart) in which they talk about how surreal their situation seems to be, how ridiculous "counselling" sounds and the fact that they're going to be interviewed by David Letterman. That scene once agian grounds these characters in reality, they're reacting to a situation not like heroes or movie-stars, they're real people.
With Heroic stories being swallowed up by the media everyday, buried underneath tabloid nonsense about celebrity diets, royal babies and the hottest new make-up trends, I can only hope that more awareness comes out in films like Sully: Miracle on the Hudson, so that we can celebrate the world's true inspirations instead of the tedious and undeserving ones.
5/5 - No cape and costume necessary.
The story of Sully: Miracle on the Hudson touches on the familiar arc of "Hero VS The Law"; Yes, Sully saved all those people but was the landing necessary? And if not, did he endanger everyone's lives?
The strong moral angle on the side of Captain Sullenberger automatically puts the audience in support of him but rather than leave it at that basic conflict, Eastwood decides to show the inner turmoil of our hero, the early stages of Sully's PTSD and his constant questioning of himself as everyone seems to be against him, even computer simulations say he could've landed safely at two different airports. We're shown this crippling mental and emotional ordeal through visual representations of what Sully thinks would've happened if he'd turned back for the airports, all of which ended in fiery climaxes in the centre of New York City.
Having the audience know this, as well as his calm behaviour when being questioned, completely brings into reality how experienced Sully was at that point and that he doesn't see himself as a hero, just as a pilot following standard protocol, he just carried out his part in saving those people in a way he'd always practiced for, just never under such extreme circumstances.
Hanks delivers another astounding performance in the lead role, carrying such a heavily emotional performance under the subtlety and control of someone like Captain Sullenberger. By far the strongest scene in the entire movie is the so-called "Can we get serious now?" scene, in which Captain Sullenberger confronts the officials about the simulations being inhuman, unrealistic and incorrect, the calm tone Hanks keeps when performing this scene has more resonance that someone screaming in defiance about suspected wrong-doings, his stern confidence and intelligence destroys his opposition with well-worded questions and belief that no-one outside that plane could possibly comprehend what happened. The abilities of an actor like Tom Hanks have always impressed and considering he's still going strong into 2019, I'm looking forward to what he brings to the table next.
Of course with Sully being the base for the entire film, there aren't really any pivotal characters outside of him but there are a few key moments in which the supporting cast really shine. Moments like the midnight walk between Captain Sullenberger and his co-pilot Jeff Skiles (Aaron Eckhart) in which they talk about how surreal their situation seems to be, how ridiculous "counselling" sounds and the fact that they're going to be interviewed by David Letterman. That scene once agian grounds these characters in reality, they're reacting to a situation not like heroes or movie-stars, they're real people.
With Heroic stories being swallowed up by the media everyday, buried underneath tabloid nonsense about celebrity diets, royal babies and the hottest new make-up trends, I can only hope that more awareness comes out in films like Sully: Miracle on the Hudson, so that we can celebrate the world's true inspirations instead of the tedious and undeserving ones.
5/5 - No cape and costume necessary.
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