Sully: Miracle on the Hudson Dvd

Sully (also known as Sully: Miracle on the Hudson) is a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Todd Komarnicki, based on the 2009 autobiography Highest Duty by Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Zaslow. Tom Hanks stars as Sullenberger, with Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney, Anna Gunn, Autumn Reeser, Holt McCallany, Jamey Sheridan, and Jerry Ferrara in supporting roles. The film follows Sullenberger’s January 2009 emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River, in which all 155 passengers and crew survived—most suffering only minor injuries—and the subsequent publicity and investigation.

Sully premiered at the 43rd Annual Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2016, and was released in the United States by Warner Bros. on September 9, 2016, in conventional and IMAX theaters. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed over $240 million worldwide, but created controversy with its fictionalized portrayal of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as “prosecutorial and closed-minded.” The American Film Institute and National Board of Review both selected it as one of their ten best films of 2016, and it received an Academy Award nomination for Best Sound Editing at the 89th Academy Awards.

Plot

On January 15, 2009, US Airways pilots Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles board US Airways Flight 1549 from LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Three minutes into the flight, at an approximate altitude of 2,800 ft (850 m), the Airbus A320 strikes a flock of birds, disabling both engines. Without engine power and judging themselves unable to reach nearby airports (Teterboro Airport being the closest), Sully ditches the aircraft on the Hudson River. The crew and passengers evacuate without any fatalities. The press and public hail Sullenburger a hero, but the incident leaves him haunted, and experiencing a dream in which the plane crashes into a building.

Sully learns that preliminary data from ACARS suggest that the left engine was still running at idle power. Theoretically, this would have left him with enough power to return to LaGuardia or land at Teterboro. Furthermore, the National Transportation Safety Board claims that several confidential computerized simulations show the plane could have landed safely at either airport without engines. Sully, however, insists that he lost both engines, which left him without sufficient time, speed, or altitude to land safely at any airport.

Sully realizes that the Board believes the accident may have been pilot error, which would end his career. He arranges to have the simulations rerun with live pilots, and the results are relayed to the public hearing. Both simulations result in successful landings, one at each airport. Sully argues that they are unrealistic because the pilots knew in advance of the situation they would face and of the suggested emergency action, and were able to practise the scenario several times. The board accepts that in real life the pilots would have taken some time to react and run emergency checks before deciding to divert the plane.

Both simulations are rerun and relayed to the hearing, this time allowing a 35-second pause before the plane is diverted. The simulated diversion to LaGuardia ends with the plane landing short of the runway, and to Teterboro with a crash into buildings before the airport. The board announces that analysis of the port engine, now recovered from the river, confirms Sully’s account that it was disabled by the bird strikes. The board concludes that Sullenberger acted correctly in selecting the best of the options available to him, which in the event saved the lives of everyone aboard.

Cast

Chesley Sullenberger (left) portrayed by Tom Hanks (right)
Tom Hanks as Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger
Blake Jones as Sully (16 years old)
Aaron Eckhart as Jeff Skiles
Laura Linney as Lorraine Sullenberger
Mike O’Malley as Charles Porter
Anna Gunn as Dr. Elizabeth Davis
Jamey Sheridan as Ben Edwards
Ann Cusack as Donna Dent
Autumn Reeser as Tess Sosa
Molly Hagan as Doreen Welsh
Holt McCallany as Mike Cleary
Chris Bauer as Larry Rooney
Patch Darragh as Patrick Harten
Jerry Ferrara as Michael Delaney
Max Adler as Jimmy Stefanik
Sam Huntington as Jeff Kolodjay
Michael Rapaport as Pete the Bartender
Wayne Bastrup as Brian Kelly
Valerie Mahaffey as Diane Higgins
Jeff Kober as L. T. Cook
Molly Bernard as Alison
Vince Lombardi, the captain of the first ferry to reach the downed plane, appears as himself. Katie Couric also appears as herself. David Letterman appears via archive footage from the night he interviewed the real crew of Flight 1549 which are digitally swapped with their film counterparts.