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The Aviator (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:204
Fresh:179
Rotten:25
Average Rating:7.8/10
Consensus: Highly evocative of the period, Scorcese's biopic of Howard Hughes is being hailed as another excellent film from the master.
Runtime: 2 hrs 50 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Martin Scorsese's THE AVIATOR is a lavish spectacle of a motion picture that harks back to Hollywood's Golden Era in telling the story of Howard Hughes, one of 20th-century America's most... Martin Scorsese's THE AVIATOR is a lavish spectacle of a motion picture that harks back to Hollywood's Golden Era in telling the story of Howard Hughes, one of 20th-century America's most pioneering and influential figures. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the eccentric billionaire, Scorsese's biopic concentrates on Hughes's life between the 1920s and '40s, when he made striking contributions to both the film and aviation industries. At only 25 years of age, Hughes directed the most expensive film ever made up to that point, HELL'S ANGELS (1930), which Scorsese gleefully recreates here in all its sprawling, audacious glory. At the same time, he became known as an unabashed playboy, bedding the likes of Jean Harlow (singer Gwen Stefani), Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale), and Katherine Hepburn (a brilliant Cate Blanchett). In the mid-'30s, he turned his attention to the aviation industry, where he quickly became world-renowned for shattering speed and distance records. He also continued to test the limits of flight technology, building bigger, faster, and stronger aircrafts. All the while, he struggled with an obsessive-compulsive disorder that sent him into a full-fledged tailspin after a near-fatal plane crash. The film concludes with Hughes being called before the Senate in 1947 to defend himself against the nefarious Senator Owen Brewster (Alan Alda), who accused Hughes of taking money from the United States government during wartime. Stunningly photographed by Robert Richardson, Scorsese's nearly three-hour drama features an impassioned performance by DiCaprio, who is also credited as an executive producer. Although she appears in less than a third of the film, Blanchett delivers a performance that cements her status as one of the finest actresses ever to appear on the big screen. [More]
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly, Alan Alda, Alec Baldwin, Gwen Stefani, Jude Law, Danny Huston, Ian Holm, Adam Scott, Willem Dafoe, Loudon Wainwright, Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, Kelli Garner, J. C. Mackenzie
Director: Martin Scorsese
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriter: John Logan
Producer: Michael Mann, Charles Evans, Graham King
Composer: Howard Shore
Studio: Miramax Films
Reviews for The Aviator
A little clunky, and firmly in the realm of cinematic fantasy, The Aviator is, nevertheless, a return-to-form for Scorsese.
The production design throughout the film is astonishing, particularly in Scorsese's ... loving recreation of the Hollywood nightclub scene, complete with bizarre-looking singers and dancing girls
This is conservative, well-crafted, Oscar-friendly fare; rarely bold, but extremely well-told.
Scorsese uses camera angles, editing choices, playful colours, visual effects and his remarkable cast to maximum effect
All tabloid style gloss accessorized with brassy special effects, and bloated storytelling based loosely on period gossip.
It's almost predictable in the way it delivers the cinematic goods, yet there's no denying that it is a compelling and entertaining look at a larger-than-life individual.
The Aviator feels like old-fashioned Hollywood with a bracing jolt of Scorsese's cinematic flair
It's a measure of The Aviator's complexity and ambiguity that it can be read equally as a celebration of rugged, capitalist individualism and as a leftist critique of cutthroat free-market competition.
Latest News for The Aviator
October 23, 2007:
Scorsese, DiCaprio Reuniting for Shutter Island
Their first three collaborations netted copious amounts of Oscar love and box-office receipts, so it isn't surprising that Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio are in no hurry... More...
October 11, 2007:
Will Smith and Michael Mann are Empire Builders
Will Smith and Michael Mann are reuniting to build an Empire for Columbia Pictures. More...
April 18, 2007:
Kate Beckinsale as "Barbarella"?
This word arrives by way of a British gossip column, so you know what to do with it, but here's the dirt: Kate Beckinsale is apparently being considered for the lead role in... More...
March 26, 2007:
Scorsese and DiCaprio, Together Again for the Fourth Time
It's a hectic time for both Leonardo DiCaprio and his own personal svengali, Martin Scorsese; though both are currently super busy, movie-making bees, they'll make time... More...
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