I fell in love with Clint Eastwood after watching the Dollars trilogy because he was so exceptional as the man with no name! That mean-looking squint and the way he carried himself made it clear that he was leading man material. His filmography is packed with gritty westerns, action-packed thrillers, and introspective dramas.
And if that wasn’t enough, people were surprised to know that he’s just as brilliant behind the lens. He’s won Oscars, stirred up political conversations, and pushed cinematic boundaries. So when Eastwood directed Sully, a biographical drama based on a real-life aviation miracle, it was obvious that the result would pack a punch!
Sully: The Clint Eastwood movie, airlines didn’t want us to watch
When Sully landed in theaters in 2016, it quickly earned praise for the way it captured aviation’s most miraculous moment. With Clint Eastwood at the helm and Tom Hanks in the lead as Captain Sullenberger, the movie dramatized the events of January 15, 2009, when US Airways Flight 1549 lost both its engines shortly after takeoff.
In this moment of disaster, Sullenberger made the split-second decision to ditch the plane in the Hudson River, and saved all 155 passengers on board. So as impactful as the movie was, it ended up being banned in some airlines’ in-flight entertainment systems, and I don’t really blame them (via SlashFilm).
Watching a movie about a plane going down, even when everyone survives, isn’t exactly the comfort viewing experience one would want to have. Moreover, American Airlines, which helped Sully during production, chose to leave it off their catalog. I wouldn’t say the feature is traumatic, but it can spark a very primal fear of death when you’re mid-air.
Clint Eastwood’s Sully was true to the crash but not to the fallout
What makes Sully so compelling isn’t just the stressful crash sequence, but the aftermath. Clint Eastwood is indeed a master at portraying aftershocks of trauma, and Tom Hanks did an amazing job of depicting what the actual pilot must have gone through.
The real Sullenberger has also acknowledged that he struggled the most during the investigation (via Collider). He lost thirteen pounds, could not focus, and had difficulty sleeping. But Sully takes creative liberties when portraying the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), where the board members seem borderline antagonists.
I wonder if that was another reason to ban the movie, because it’s possible that the organization was simply upset with their depiction. Sully is indeed a tribute to human resilience and a testament to one man’s grace and presence of mind under pressure. But, I still wouldn’t watch it on a plane.
You can watch Sully on HBO Max (USA).
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