Clint Eastwood nailed it again. Except for the fact that the projector failed three times during the climax, this was a great film. It's easiest to compare to 'Flight', a similar, but fictional, airline-disaster movie; in Flight though, it's all about how skilled the pilot is despite affairs and substance abuse. Sully is about a regular Joe doing his job well. Nothing is over-dramaticized, and the flow of the story is compelling even though everybody already knows how it ends. Toms Hanks is amazing as usual, and the highlight of the film is how the crash is portrayed from multiple perspectives: the pilots, the crew/passengers, ATC, and then in simulation trials and a few alternative outcomes seen through nightmares. The only real downside is that the NTSB (the agency that investigates the crash) are turned into almost cartoonishly-evil government lackeys that accuse Captain Sullenberger of incompetence, despite their role of support in reality. Anna Gunn's (Breaking Bad's Skyler White) character is the worst of the panel.

Rating scales are arbitrary, and no film is perfect, but if 10 = must see and 0 = avoid at all costs, this is definitely a 10/10.

rating scales are only arbitrary so long as you fail to delineate exactly what each rating signifies--i'd qualify anything above a 7/10 to be "must-see," and reserve 10/10s for works that transcend the artform and become "more than a film"--the kind of experience that changes your whole perspective on life or some crazy shit like that

anyway, our compatibility of taste when it comes to movies has been hit-or-miss but i do like clint eastwood so i could maybe check this out

You're right: 'subjective' would be a better term than 'arbitrary'. I prefer a descriptive qualification rather than a numerical one. This film surely won't change your life.

The Dark Knight Rises is the best plane crash movie.