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The Aviator (2004 film)

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The Aviator
File:The Aviator poster.JPG
Directed byMartin Scorsese
Written byJohn Logan
Produced byMichael Mann
Sandy Climan
Graham King
Charles Evans, Jr.
StarringLeonardo DiCaprio
Cate Blanchett
Alan Alda
Alec Baldwin
Kate Beckinsale
John C. Reilly
CinematographyRobert Richardson
Edited byThelma Schoonmaker
Music byHoward Shore
Production
companies
Forward Pass
Appian Way
Intermedia
Initial Entertainment Group
Miramax Films
Cappa Productions
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • December 25, 2004 (2004-12-25)
Running time
169 minutes
CountryTemplate:Film US
LanguageEnglish
Budget$110 million[1]
Box office$213,741,459

The Aviator is a 2004 American biographical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by John Logan, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio. It is the story of aviation pioneer Howard Hughes, drawn largely upon a biography by Charles Higham.[2]

The film centers on Hughes' life from the late 1920s to 1947, during which time he became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. The Aviator was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, winning five, including one for actress Cate Blanchett.

Plot

In 1914, nine-year-old Howard Hughes is being bathed by his mother. She warns him of disease, influenced by a flu outbreak, "You are not safe." Howard's later life will be greatly affected by his fear of disease.

By 1927, Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) has inherited a fortune, is living in California and is actively involved in the relatively new fields of motion pictures and aviation. He intends to direct the film Hell's Angels at the age of 22. He also hires Noah Dietrich (John C. Reilly) to run the Hughes Tool Company.

Hughes becomes obsessed with shooting the film realistically. As a result, it takes several years and an enormous amount of money to finish. When the film is finally completed in 1929, The Jazz Singer, the first partially-talking film, premieres. Hughes re-shoots Hell's Angels with sound, taking another year and $1.7 million. Despite press skepticism, Hell's Angels is a huge hit. Hughes also produces Scarface (1932) and The Outlaw (1943).

Hughes becomes romantically involved with actress Katharine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett). They live together and she helps alleviate the symptoms of his worsening obsessive-compulsive disorder. As Hughes' fame grows, he is linked to various beautiful starlets, inciting Hepburn's jealousy.

Through it all, Hughes' main passion remains the same: aviation. He purchases majority interest in Transcontinental & Western Air (TWA), the predecessor to Trans World Airlines. In 1935, he test flies the H-1 Racer, pushing it to a new speed record, but crashes in a beet field; "Fastest man on the planet," he boasts to Hepburn.

Three years later, he flies around the world in four days, shattering the previous record by three days. A competitor, Juan Trippe (Alec Baldwin), chairman of the board of rival Pan American Airlines, is determined not to let Hughes challenge his company's success. Trippe gets his crony, Senator Owen Brewster (Alan Alda), to introduce the Commercial Airline Bill, which would give Pan Am a monopoly on international air travel.

Hepburn and Hughes break up when she announces that she has fallen in love with fellow actor Spencer Tracy. Hughes soon has new love interests: first 15-year-old Faith Domergue (Kelli Garner), then actress Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale).

Hughes secures contracts with the Army Air Forces for two projects: a spy plane and a huge troop transport designed to circumvent the U-boat menace. By 1946, Hughes has only finished the XF-11 reconnaissance aircraft and is still building the H-4 Hercules ("Spruce Goose") flying boat.

Hughes' sanity begins to deteriorate, characterized by the repetition of phrases, and a phobia of dust and germs. That July, he takes the XF-11 for a test flight. One of the engines malfunctions, causing the aircraft to crash in Beverly Hills. He slowly recuperates from near-fatal injuries. Though the H-4 Hercules is canceled, he continues development with his own money. When he is discharged, he is told that he has to choose between funding the airline and his flying boat.

Hughes grows increasingly paranoid, planting microphones and tapping Gardner's phone lines to keep track of her. His own house is searched by the FBI for incriminating evidence of war profiteering. The incident creates a powerful psychological trauma for Hughes, with investigators handling his possessions and tracking dirt everywhere.

In private, Brewster offers to drop the charges if Hughes will support his bill and sell TWA to Trippe, an offer Hughes flatly rejects. Hughes sinks into a deep depression, shutting himself in his screening room and growing ever detached from reality; terrified of germs, he urinates into empty milk bottles. Hepburn tries, but is unable to help him. A visit from Trippe results in a Hughes vow from behind closed doors that he will never sell TWA, so Trippe has Brewster subpoena Hughes for a Senate investigation, confident that the reclusive Hughes will not show up.

The H-4 Hercules "Spruce Goose" transport.

After nearly three months, Ava Gardner personally grooms and dresses Hughes, preparing him for the hearing chaired by Brewster. To the surprise of many, Hughes does appear. Reinvigorated, he effectively defends himself against Brewster's charges and accuses Trippe of essentially bribing the senator.

To disprove Brewster's contention that the Hercules was a costly boondoggle, Hughes successfully test flies the flying boat himself. After the flight, he talks to Dietrich and his engineer, Glenn Odekirk (Matt Ross), about a new jetliner for TWA [N 1] He seems free of his inner demons, but then he begins repeating "the way of the future" over and over again. Dietrich and Odekirk quickly hide Hughes in a restroom, then Dietrich goes to fetch a doctor. Alone, Hughes has a flashback to his boyhood, being washed by his mother, and resolving he would fly the fastest aircraft ever built, make the biggest movies ever and become the richest man in the world.

Cast

As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified):[3]

Production

Style

File:Aviator colours.jpg
Hughes crashes in a field; screenshot showing the simulated bipack color film used in scenes depicting events before 1935.

For the first 50 minutes of the film, scenes appear in shades of only red and cyan blue; green objects are rendered as blue. This was done, according to Scorsese, to emulate the look of early bipack color movies, in particular the Multicolor process, which Hughes himself owned, emulating the available technology of the era. Similarly, many of the scenes depicting events occurring after 1935 are treated to emulate the saturated appearance of three-strip Technicolor. Other scenes were stock footage colorized and incorporated into the film. The color effects were created by Legend Films.

Movie models

In Aviator, scale models were used to duplicate many of the flying scenes. When Martin Scorsese began planning his aviation epic, a decision was made to film flying sequences with scale models rather than CGI special effects. The critical reaction to the CGI models in Pearl Harbor (2001) had been a crucial factor in Scorsese's decision to use full-scale static and scale models in this case. The building and filming of the flying models proved both cost-effective and timely.[4]

The primary scale models were the Spruce Goose and the XF-11; both miniatures were designed and fabricated over a period of several months by New Deal Studios.[5] The 375 lb (170 kg) Spruce Goose model had a wingspan of 20 ft (6.1 m) while the 750 lb (340 kg) XF-11 had a 25 ft (7.6 m) wingspan. Each was built as a motion control miniature used for "beauty shots" of the model taking off and in flight as well as in dry dock and under construction at the miniature Hughes Hangar built as well by New Deal Studios. The XF-11 was reverse engineered from photographs and some rare drawings and then modeled in Rhinoceros 3D by the New Deal art department. These 3D models of the Spruce Goose as well as the XF-11 were then used for patterns and construction drawings for the model makers. In addition to the aircraft, the homes that the XF-11 crashes into were fabricated at 1:4 scale to match the 1:4 scale XF-11. The model was rigged to be crashed and break up several times for different shots.

Additional castings of the Spruce Goose flying boat and XF-11 models were provided for new radio controlled flying versions assembled by the team of model builders from Aero Telemetry.[N 2] The Aero Telemetry team was given only three months to complete three models including the 450 lb H-1 Racer, with an 18 ft (5.5 m) wingspan, that had to stand-in for the full scale replica that was destroyed in a crash, shortly before principal photography began.[6]

The models were shot on location at Long Beach and other California sites from helicopter or raft platforms.[4] The short but much heralded flight of Hughes’ HK-1 Hercules on 2 November 1947 was realistically recreated in the Port of Long Beach. The motion control Spruce Goose and Hughes Hangar miniatures built by New Deal Studios are presently on display at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, with the original Hughes HK-1 "Spruce Goose".

Distribution

The film had several distributors worldwide. For example, it was distributed in the U.S. (theatrical), UK, and Germany by Miramax Films, and in Latin America, Australia, and on U.S. DVD by Warner Bros. Pictures.

20th Century Fox held the Spanish rights.

Reception

The film received highly positive reviews with the review tallying website Rotten Tomatoes reporting that 180 out of the 203 reviews they tallied were positive for a score of 87% and certification of "Fresh".[7] At another review aggregator site Metacritic, the film scored a 77 average out of 100, based on 41 reviews.[8] The film grossed $102 million at the U.S. box office and $111 million at the foreign box office. Film critic Roger Ebert described the film and its subject, Howard Hughes, in these terms:[9]

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.

Mark Sells of The Reel Deal gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "an intricate character study of fame and misfortune."[10]

Box office

USA US$ 102,610,330 (48.0%)
Other US$ 111,131,129 (52.0%)
World US$ 213,741,459

Awards

Main article: List of awards won by The Aviator
Academy Awards record
1. Supporting Actress (Cate Blanchett)
2. Editing
3. Cinematography
4. Art Direction
5. Costume Design
Golden Globe Awards record
1. Picture - Drama
2. Drama Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio)
3. Original Score
BAFTA Awards record
1. Picture
2. Supporting Actress (Cate Blanchett)
3. Production Design
4. Make-up/Hair

The Aviator was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, and won five, including Best Supporting Actress for Cate Blanchett. It also won the BAFTA Award for Best Film.

Home media

The film was released in DVD in a two-disc-set in widescreen and full screen versions. The first disc includes commentary with director Martin Scorsese. The second disc includes "The Making of The Aviator", "Deleted Scenes" as well as 11 other special features.

The film was later released in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD on November 6, 2007.

See also

References

Notes
  1. ^ Hughes tested and tried to purchase license rights for the Avro C102 Jetliner, although it is never mentioned specifically in the film.
  2. ^ Aero Telemetry’s primary business was in building UAVs and satellite telemetry systems for the government and defense contractors.
Citations
  1. ^ "The Aviator (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  2. ^ Vanneman, Alan. "The Aviator: Marty and Leo Do Howard." Bright Lights Film Journal, Issue 47, February 2005. Retrieved: May 3, 2009.
  3. ^ "Full cast and crew for 'The Aviator' (2004)." IMDb. Retrieved: January 11, 2011.
  4. ^ a b Cobb, Jerry. "Movie Models are the real stars of 'The Aviator'." 'CNBC, February 25, 2005. Retrieved: March 1, 2008.
  5. ^ New Deal Studios. NewDealStudios.com. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  6. ^ Baker, Mark. "Cottage Grove pilot dies in replica of historic plane." The Register-Guard, August 6, 2003. Retrieved: March 5, 2009.
  7. ^ "The Aviator Movie Reviews, Pictures." Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved: November 17, 2009.
  8. ^ "The Aviator Reviews, Ratings, Credits." Metacritic. Retrieved" August 4, 2008.
  9. ^ Ebert, Roger. "Review: The Aviator (PG-13)." Chicago Sun-Times, December 24, 2004. Retrieved: January 11, 2011.
  10. ^ Sells, Mark. "The Aviator: Review". The Reel Deal.
Bibliography
  • Higham, Charles. Howard Hughes: The Secret Life. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2004. ISBN 978-0312329976.
  • Maguglin, Robert O. Howard Hughes, His Achievements & Legacy: the Authorized Pictorial Biography. Long Beach, California: Wrather Port Properties, 1984. ISBN 0-86679-014-4.
  • Marrett, George J. Howard Hughes: Aviator. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2004. ISBN 1-59114-510-4.
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