Director Clint Eastwood (left) with Hanks. [Photo provided to China Daily]

When serving in the US Army at 21, Eastwood had a particular experience connecting him with the movie. He caught a free naval flight from Seattle to Alameda, but the plane went down off Point Reyes, California. And he found himself in the waters of the Pacific and had to swim a few miles toward the shore.

Sully has a glittering cast: Tom Hanks stars as the hero and Aaron Eckhart plays Sully's co-pilot Jeff Skiles.

As one of only two actors in history to win back-to-back Best Actor Academy Awards, Hanks again shows why he deserves his accolades.

"At some points I forgot he's Hanks but took him to be the real Sullenberger. His authoritative performance is amazing," says Wang Xiaoyang, a viewer who was at the Beijing preview last week.

Hanks won his first Oscar in 1994 for Philadelphia, and in the following year he took home his second Oscar for Forrest Gump.

But even Hanks, who has the talent to take audiences into the character's world, says he felt intimidated to play a real-life hero. "Sully is an accomplished pilot from every perspective... No one has ever trained for an incident like that," says Hanks.

xufan@chinadaily.com.cn