The Aviator (movie)

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grassrootsflying

Well-Known Member
Just saw the aviator christmas day. The Aviator, a biopic about howad hughes, was well done and directed, but I had a huge problem with the casting. Dicaprio with Scorsese worked great in Gangs of NY, but Dicaprio is too young to be dating cate blancett (kathryn hepburn) and in the scenes where howard h was an older man who wore a mustache, Dicaprio looks like a kid wearing a fake mustache. Cate Blancett's ovracting performance was almost too close to what you think that hepburn really would have been like that it is almost an imitation, distracting from her otherwise excellent performance. Airplane scenes were well done, but why didn't they spend an extra $20 to fix the lighting problems that make the fake looking CGI airplanes look realistic? Cameos galore! 1/3 Baldwin brothers, kate beckinsdale, will dafoe, alan alda (from MASH for you kids), jude law, gwen stefani?!, John C reily.
If you knew a lot about hughes before seeing the movie, it might make it less interesting. Well put together with great actors, but doesn't really work, as I got the feeling that a lot of scenes were cut out. As a pilot, the crash scenes were pretty unnerving and hard to watch but really conveyed in separate scenes, both the easy gliding landing to a field and the horrible shredding crash into a populated area. All in all, not as good as Gangs of NY, but better than Christmas with the Kranks.(little known fact, also directed by scorsese!) .phhhhbt.
PS If anyone wants to buy my PS2 copy of "Sky Odyssey" in original case, no scratches, for $11 including shipping, send me a PM. Pretty fun older flying game.
 
I got a book about the aviator for Christmas. I will zip thru that and see the movie to see how factual the movie really is.
 
The movie was pretty long(3hrs.) and had some slow parts. I was ready to walk out of the theater about halfway thru. Save your money and time and wait till it comes out on DVD.
 
Okay... saw it yesterday and thought it was a long movie but it was a good movie. Just a few questrion though. I didn't know that Howard Hughes filmed Scarface?
So what's up with the movie of the same name starting Al Pacino? In the movie (The Aviator) Scarface was filmed in like the 40's. Was the movie of the same name staring Pacino a remake or an all together different movie?

Matthew
 
I liked it. Didn't love it, but liked it.

During the crash scene (the second one, the spy plane) my girlfriend wasn't too pleased. She almost ripped my arm off in fear. Not very pretty, was it?
 
Is the movie true to the life of H.H.? (As in an accurate bio)

Or do they take a lot of liberties to make it a good movie?
 
My mom saw the movie and is currently reading his biography. She says the movie does not make him out to be nearly as much of a pervert as he really is. It also ignored the sexual abuse he suffered as a child...but she says his mom was nuts, and a lot of the movie is censored stuff from the book.
 
Oh he was definately f-ing crazy not at all surprised to find out he was sexually molested it explains alot. I found the movie to be both good and entertaining.
Oscar worthy ummmm no but a good effort by Leonardo. I kept thinking to myself he has really become an acomplished actor.
I also learned alot bout the industry at the time. And didn't know that prior to Hughes takeover of Trans World TWA didn't stand for anything and was just letters. I came away thinking wow what a big fight for control of the skies and both airlines aren't even around anymore today. Anyhoo anyone know the answer to my aforementioned question bout Scarface?

-Matthew
 
TAT (Transcontintental Air Transport) ----> TWA (Transcontinental & Western Air) -----> TWA (Trans World Airlines)
 
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Okay... saw it yesterday and thought it was a long movie but it was a good movie. Just a few questrion though. I didn't know that Howard Hughes filmed Scarface?
So what's up with the movie of the same name starting Al Pacino? In the movie (The Aviator) Scarface was filmed in like the 40's. Was the movie of the same name staring Pacino a remake or an all together different movie?

Matthew

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The Scarface of the 80's (starring Al Pacino) was based upon the Scarface of the 40's...they were just going for a more updated feel.
 
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Or do they take a lot of liberties to make it a good movie?

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I liked it, but they did take a few liberties. For one, Hughes and Hepburn were not NEAR as involved as they were in the movie. He was obsessed with her, and everytime he proposed she turned him down. Not sure if he ever met her parents or if they ever really lived together. They kinda hinted on his what amounts to hunting teenage girls that just moved to Hollywood. That scene where the chick keeps ramming his car is straight out of his bio.

They do hint at the fact that his mother is a total nutjob in the first five minutes, but not enough. She was terrified of him getting sick, hence the whole q-u-a-r-a-n-t-i-n-e. And yes, he really did re-shoot Hell's Angels for sound after they had wrapped filming. Although his collapse into a darkened room and having people follow an exact schedule to come in didn't happen until later in his life. He never recovered from that, and he died in that room.

Now, the movie itself I really liked. It wasn't Scorcese's best work. There were some really smooth directing hints in it, but it seemed more like a series of neat shots strung together for close to 3 hours instead of a fluid directing style. DeCaprio seems to really be growing as an actor, and I think he'll at least get a nomination for best actror. Titanic damn near ruined his career. Before that he had already been nominated for an oscar. Anyone that hasn't seen him in anything before Titantic/Romeo + Juliet should check out Marvin's Room or What's Eating Gilbert Grape. I'd like to see Blanchet get a best actress nod, since she was spot on as Hepburn. I'd be surprised if the movie itself got a best picture nomination, but it's been a pretty thin field for those quality movies over the past year.
 
Saw it last night. Not a bad movie, but a bit too long as far as I'm concerned. I am thinking of finding a good HH biography to see how different his life was from what the film portrayed.

Although it isn't stated, the impression is left regarding the sexual abuse during the opening scene of the film. After all, why is a kid that old being bathed by his mother?

I also didn't realize how crooked Juan Trippe was in his quest to spread Pan Am over the world ...
 
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I also didn't realize how crooked Juan Trippe was in his quest to spread Pan Am over the world ...

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That's assigning a lot of accuracy to a movie. Crooked? What Trippe accomplished in establishing a global airline, which necessitated dealing with all the politics here and around the world, was nothing short of a miracle. I don't know that someone who was too worried about playing fair or stepping on toes could have accomplished it.
 
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