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The Aviator

post #1 of 17
4/21/08 at 6:49am
Thread Starter 
I'd somehow managed to miss this film until it was on the BBC last night and wanted to write down my thoughts.

Full disclosure:- I have to admit that my Scorsese knowledge is sorely lacking (having only seen Goodfella's and The Colour of Money) So I am by no means an expert on his work but out of the three I have seen It is my favorate.

Dicapreo did an amazing job of portraying a man who was both a genius and in many ways borderline insane. I am constantly impressed with his acting in each film I see him in.

I found the use of very famous actors to play older screen idols to be interesting. At first I thought this would be distracting but the portrayal of Katharine Hepburn and Ava Gardner were strong enough to dispel that for me. Although, having said that a couple of the smaller ones were a bit dodgy.

I think as a snapshot of Howard Hughes Life the film did a very good job. It was by no means supposed to be his whole life but while concentrating on a certain part it also gave us snippets of what was to come.

Personally I loved it but would love to read other chewer's thoughts?
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post #2 of 17
4/21/08 at 6:54am
It was on the BBC last night? Shit... I haven't seen it yet either, but it's on the to-see list.

Think I was watching Temple of Doom on DVD. Bugger.
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post #3 of 17
4/21/08 at 8:31am
I love this film. I 've come under attack for this before, but I prefer it to both Gangs of New York and The Departed (although that one is pretty close in quality). Its a joyously well crafted movie. I love the shifts in colour scheme and effects work, particularly during the Hells' Angels sequences. And I think DiCaprio did his best work for years here.

Its a great film, one I loved whole-heartedly from the first time I saw it. As an account of that period of Hughes' life? I don't know. But as a work of entertainment, near flawless.
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post #4 of 17
4/21/08 at 3:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sackley View Post
I love this film. I 've come under attack for this before, but I prefer it to both Gangs of New York and The Departed (although that one is pretty close in quality). Its a joyously well crafted movie. I love the shifts in colour scheme and effects work, particularly during the Hells' Angels sequences. And I think DiCaprio did his best work for years here.

Its a great film, one I loved whole-heartedly from the first time I saw it. As an account of that period of Hughes' life? I don't know. But as a work of entertainment, near flawless.
Y'know what sold me on this movie? DiCaprio looking at a blueprint, and the aircraft coming alive in his mind's eye. I thought it was a brilliant depiction of the engineering mind at work, and I've never seen its equal.
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post #5 of 17
4/22/08 at 4:38am
Really love this flick. Blanchett and Beckinsale do good work portraying real life people, and little cameos like Jude Law as Errol Flynn weren't distracting. The CG is a little off in the scenes where DiCaprio is filming from the plane, but both of the major scenes when he's piloting (the experimental aircraft that runs out of fuel & the crash in Beverly Hills) are really fantastic.

Also, for a PG-13 movie that was allowed to use the word 'fuck' only once, they picked the absolute best time to use it. I really love Baldwin in just about anything, and he seems to work well with Scorcese - here's hoping there's a good, meaty role for him in one of Scorcese's future projects...
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post #6 of 17
4/22/08 at 5:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sackley View Post
I love this film. I 've come under attack for this before, but I prefer it to both Gangs of New York and The Departed (although that one is pretty close in quality). Its a joyously well crafted movie. I love the shifts in colour scheme and effects work, particularly during the Hells' Angels sequences. And I think DiCaprio did his best work for years here.

Its a great film, one I loved whole-heartedly from the first time I saw it. As an account of that period of Hughes' life? I don't know. But as a work of entertainment, near flawless.
I agree completely with you on this one minus your taking this over The Departed. Still like that one more, but maybe that's only because I haven't seen this since it's theatrical release, and I watched The Departed a week ago. I'll remedy the Aviator situation and see how I feel then.
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post #7 of 17
4/22/08 at 8:41am
If we were going off the Baldwin factor, The Departed wins hands down. I guess The Aviator was just more of a surprise for me as it didn't look that great and it bowled me over, whereas I knew exactly what The Departed was about, but it looked amazing nonetheless. But hey, let's not argue. They're both great films.
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post #8 of 17
3/7/10 at 10:02am
I really dig this movie. Hughes is a fantastic character to feature, and I like how the movie takes on the issue of the man's acheivements being driven, or made possible in some way, by his madness, and how it's not the case that he is only able to create when his illness subsides. Parts of it are thrilling on a visceral level (the plane crash, the filming of Hell's Angels) and a more subtle level (the thumbprinted glass, Ava bringing Howard out of his derangement, if only for a while). Watching DiCaprio in this also served to remove some of the taste of his performance in Revolutionary Road, he does a great job shouldering this movie, in a really difficult role to pull off. Blanchett is luminous, and the majority of supporting players do a memorable job without knocking the film off-balance.

It's a movie that is ageing well, and I hope as the years go by this isn't put in the 'minor Scorsese' pile.
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post #9 of 17
3/30/10 at 5:43pm
BTW, he was not "mad" or "insane" he had OCD

I'll return more to comment on the film later (I need to work on adding stuff to my NETFLIX QUEUE right now cause I let it empty out) but saw alot of posters refering to Hughes that way and I didn't feel that was accurate
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post #10 of 17
3/30/10 at 7:04pm
I just love how much fun this movie is. Sure, there's some darker elements, and they're all used brilliantly, but Scorsese made the extremely wise choice to focus on a man in his glory days, and he's clearly having a blast recreating the glitz and glamor of Hollywood's Golden Age. The CGI effects look a little wonky at certain points, but they're utilized incredibly in the flight sequences. The practical effects are also great, and merge well with the CGI, especially in the harrowing crash sequence.

Hughes is such an audacious figure that I couldn't help but be compelled, and DiCaprio is a revelation here. I had always admired his work before, but he completely owns this movie. He also doesn't overact the OCD stuff, which can be tempting for an actor, but DiCaprio really seems like he actually has those problems. The "show me all the blueprints" scene is a perfect example of this: his voice doesn't change or rise in pitch, but stays flat and mechanical, like a broken record. Also, that scene is one of the best examples of going from "kind of funny" to "FUCKING TERRIFYING" ever.
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post #11 of 17
3/30/10 at 9:25pm
I love this movie with a fucking passion. This was really the first movie where I started buying DiCaprio as an adult actor playing an adult character(he was still playing the young guy in both CATCH ME IF YOU CAN and GANGS).
I think he's terrific in this movie, probably my favorite role he's ever played.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS:

-"Don't talk down on me!" scene
-The already mentioned blueprints scene
-"Wave of the future"
-The entire courtroom scene... I normally HATE courtroom scenes in movies
-The whole burning of the clothes sequence, with the song called Nightmare playing to great use

Love this fucking movie. Probably in my top ten. Probably.
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post #12 of 17
3/31/10 at 6:42am
The Hepburn family dinner scene is AMAZING in its editing. Love love love it.
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post #13 of 17
3/31/10 at 7:10am
Easily my favorite Scorcese picture since Goodfellas. I can't say anything everyone else hasn't already said. My hope is that 10 years from now Scorcese and DiCaprio revisit the later years of Hughes' life. Not that there has ever been any indication that such a thing has ever been considered but I can dream can't I?
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post #14 of 17
1/6/11 at 2:46pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdrianDyka View Post

It's a movie that is ageing well, and I hope as the years go by this isn't put in the 'minor Scorsese' pile.


I agree, time is going to be great for The Aviator. I think it's the best Scorsese/DiCaprio have collaborated on(The Departed is my favorite of theirs, but has more flaws). The Aviator is their best effort, and I think should have won Best Picture, and there is no doubt Marty should have gotten his first Director Oscar for this. He managed the hell out of this movie - a crowning achievement.

 

Despite Leo's boyish looks becoming distracting, especially in the final scenes with the Hercules/Spruce Goose, he was Howard Hughes here and this role established him as a great actor.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Merriweather View Post

The Hepburn family dinner scene is AMAZING in its editing. Love love love it.


Love.

 

"We don't care about money here." "That's because you have it."

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post #15 of 17
4/6/11 at 9:53pm

The Aviator is an excellent movie and my personal favorite of Scorcese and DiCaprio's collaborations. It's just an extremely well made, solid and outright entertaining movie. Now, it's no where near Scorcese's best work (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas) but it's, IMHO, the most satisfying movie he's made outside of his masterworks. At the beginning, DiCaprio seems like he's trying too hard and looks like he's 17 years old but by the end of the flick he's totally settled into the role and nails it. It's yet another of the Academy's crimes that this movie didn't sweep the awards that year and I have no fucking clue what those stupid cocksuckers were thinking when they gave it to that overrated piece of shit Million Dollar Baby.  

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post #16 of 17
5/4/11 at 5:51am

its a good but a phsyco movie.....leonardo the caprio did amazing role in it.....................

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post #17 of 17
5/8/11 at 12:09am

While it may not be Scorsese's best feature, I often claim it as my favorite from him due in simple part to DiCaprio's captivating portrayal of Howard Hughes. It's a memorable piece of cinema indeed from its acting and direction. I do always recommended it to those who have not yet had the opportunity to witness it.

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