The Aviator

Categories: Aviation films | 2004 films | Drama films | Biographical films | Best Picture Oscar Nominee | Best Actor Oscar Nominee (film) | Best Supporting Actor Oscar Nominee (film) | Best Supporting Actress Oscar (film) | Films directed by Martin Scorsese

The Aviator
Image:The Aviator poster.JPG
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Written by John Logan
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio,
Cate Blanchett,
Kate Beckinsale
Produced by Chris Brigham
Distributed by Warner Brothers
Release date December 17 2004
Runtime 169 min.
Language English
Budget
IMDb page

The Aviator is a 2004 biographical drama film, directed by Martin Scorsese. It was distributed by Miramax, and like many of Scorsese's films, was tipped for numerous Academy Awards before its release. Roger Ebert, a respected American film reviewer, described the film and its subject Howard Hughes in these terms:

"What a sad man. What brief glory. What an enthralling film, 166 minutes, and it races past. There's a match here between Scorsese and his subject, perhaps because the director's own life journey allows him to see Howard Hughes with insight, sympathy -- and, up to a point, with admiration. This is one of the year's best films."

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Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The movie is a biopic of the aviation pioneer Howard Hughes (played by Leonardo DiCaprio). It follows his life from the late 1920s through the 1940s, a time when Hughes was directing and producing Hollywood movies as well as test piloting his own groundbreaking new aircraft.

Orphaned at 17, Hughes was the son of a Texan inventor, who left him most of his tool company upon his death. At the time, he was a college student at Rice University. From there, he moved to Los Angeles to become a movie producer, helping fledging actors launch their careers, such as Jean Harlow (Gwen Stefani), whom he cast in Hell's Angels. He also produced Scarface. Later in his career, he branched out into other industries, such as electronics, and most significantly aviation. His company Hughes Aircraft was responsible for the Hercules, aka the Spruce Goose. Hughes's mental deterioration with his obsessive-compulsive behavior is a major plot thread through the film.

The movie also details Hughes's romances with Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale) and Katharine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett), and his battles with Pan Am's Juan Trippe (Alec Baldwin), who has allegedly bribed Maine senator Owen Brewster (Alan Alda) into granting Pan Am a coercive monopoly on international air travel. It should be noted that Hughes admits to having Congressmen in his pocket, too, which he did in real life.

In an early portion of the movie, the color blue appears in a number of unexpected places. Scorsese had some of the images altered to change green to blue in order to partially simulate early two-tone Technicolor movies. These color effects were done by Legend Films.

The film takes the usual biopic liberties. Ella Rice is not seen or mentioned although he was married to her during the making of Hell's Angels. A flaky mentions to Hughes that the board of trustees are alarmed by his spending on Hell's Angels; in reality, he had become an emanicipated minor and did not answer to a board of trustees. Hughes had brown eyes, but DiCaprio does not wear brown contact lenses. In his review, Rex Reed observed that the Hughes in the movie bore little resemblence to the Hughes those who he actually knew.

Tagline: Some men dream the future. He built it.

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Awards and nominations

The Aviator was nominated for six Golden Globes, winning three: Best Picture - Drama, Best Actor - Drama (Leonardo DiCaprio), and Best Original Score (Howard Shore). The Aviator won the BAFTA Award for Best Picture and Cate Blanchett won the BAFTA for Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Katharine Hepburn. It was also nominated for eleven Academy Awards, more than any other film released in 2004. It won in 5 categories: Best Supporting Actress, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Costume Design. Its full list of Oscar nominations and awards came in the following categories (Winning awards in bold):

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Main cast

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External links

es:El aviador fr:Aviator it:The Aviator ja:アビエイター nl:The Aviator pl:Aviator pt:The Aviator sv:The Aviator