Clint Eastwood has defended the ‘Sully’ scene which depicts planes crashing into Manhattan skyscrapers.
The 86-year-old filmmaker insists it was important to include the dream sequence in the movie – which stars Tom Hanks as Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger, the pilot who landed a commercial aircraft in the Hudson River in January 2009 – despite comparisons to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
He explained: "It’s just a bad dream sequence, and what could have happened if he didn’t make the right decision.
"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 echoed the sentiment that the tale is the "inverted story of 9/11," and allows Americans to "reclaim that narrative."
He added: "That narrative was laid on us by people who are enemies of our country; this is a story of heroism in New York City."
And the writer insists the release of the film on the 15th anniversary of the terrorist atrocity is purely a coincidence caused by logistics.
He explained: "It’s totally coincidental because of limited Imax screens … didn’t have room in the summer and Christmas is all ‘Star Wars’. Very ironic."
Meanwhile, Tom, 60, can understand how the pilot felt when he was landing the plane.
He told The Hollywood Reporter: "His reputation was at stake.
"This man had done his job perfectly for 4 million passengers, and, as he says in the movie, his entire career was going to be judged on 208 seconds, as opposed to the thousands and thousands of hours he did his job perfectly."
Clint Eastwood defends Sully crash dream
