Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Clint Eastwood defends scenes of planes crashing into skyscrapers in Sully, due out 9/11 anniversary weekend

The film tells the true story of pilot Chesley Sullenberger and his famous Hudson River landing

Jess Denham
Wednesday 07 September 2016 14:04 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Clint Eastwood has defended scenes of passenger planes crashing into New York skyscrapers in his new movie Sully, which hits cinemas over the 9/11 anniversary weekend.

The Oscar-winning director explained at the drama’s premiere that the sequences were designed to show “what could have happened” had US pilot Chesley Sullenberger not successfully landed his plane in the Hudson River in January 2009, saving the lives of all 155 people on board after a flock of geese disabled the engines.

“It’s just a bad dream sequence and what could have happened if he didn’t make the right decision,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “The spirit it gave back the city, even though it was a tragic loss of a plane, there was no tragic loss of life.”


Screenwriter Todd Komarnicki added that Sully, which stars Tom Hanks in the lead, is the “inverted story of 9/11” and that by featuring scenes that remind Americans of the 2001 terrorist atrocity, it “reclaims the narrative laid on [them] by people who are enemies of [their] country”.

Eastwood and Komarnikci have dismissed the timing of Sully’s release as “totally coincidental” as a result of Imax screens being full over the summer and occupied by Star Wars at Christmas.

Sully arrives in the UK on 2 December.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in