The Aviator [VHS]

Brilliant film charting the life of Howard Hughes. Brilliant acting from Leonardo DiCaprio. Although it is quite a long film, best part of 2 hrs, you get so engrossed in the storyline you don't notice the time. Leonardo has done his research when depicting Hughes' OCD, he portrays it well and helps us to see how this debilitating condition can take over a persons life. Well worth watching again and again.

Absolutely awesome and one of Scorcese's powerhouse masterpieces. DiCaprio gives an awesome performance as Howard Hughes, the supporting cast are also fantastic. The cinematography is truly magnificent, masterfully edited and graded. The build up to the thrilling trial scenes are excellent with a stand out plane crash scene in old Beverly Hills. This is a must see movie for fans of cinema and great storytelling.

Although it is over 2 hours and 40 minutes, it almost feels quite short because of what's not in the film. It doesn't explore Howard Hughes' relationship with Cary Grant, nor Jean Simmons' reaction to him making a pass at her. What it does do is explore his relationship with Katherine Hepburn and Ava Gardner. There is also a good scene where he crashes on the rooftop of suburban houses in LA. It takes you through the painful process of descending at speed, the impact of crashing, the panic of trying to escape, and the terror of facing a ball of fire coming towards you. It's quite a good film, but I feel that there needs to be a film on Cary Grant and perhaps Bernard Herrmann as parts of the music sounded Herrmann-esque.

No need for this to almost be touching two hours - just not enough to hold ones attention for that long in the instaera.Leo is pretty good - consistent actor.Howard Hughes made out to be a bit smarter than he actually was - in reality he was probably the worst businessman of the 20th C.

First the negatives - Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes is a spectacular failure, not because he acts badly but because he just looks too damned young throughout the film to carry off the required gravitas needed for the role. No real history of Howard Hughes' technical genius is given. We get a small portion of where the OCD started but nothing about his fortune or his understanding of plane design. finally I don't think the film actually does justice to what he actually achieved. Other than that, the film is actually very good, they try to get the main facts of his life in the film (maybe a little disjointed but just read up about him and it all makes sense) and I actually think Leo does a good job of acting. Yes you do get a slight feeling of being cheated at the end because you just want so much more information and background but as with any film it needs to be edited to fit into a sensible timeframe. All in all maybe a little too much editing, maybe too little emphasis on the achievements of the man but a really good film

The Aviator was a real surprise. I was expecting another aimless and repetitive Scorsese ramble at best, and was dreading far worse from John Logan's presence as screenwriter (this is the same John Logan who wrote Bats, The Time Machine and Star Trek Nemesis). Instead it turned out to be one of the very best films of the past year, managing to mix and match the epic public aspirations and the private hell of Hughes remarkably successfully. Not just a movie-buff's outing, the darkness is always present (who'd have thought bathrooms could be so terrifying?), always threatening, and the film's final image of Hughes horribly trapped in his obsession is genuinely disturbing. DeCaprio's performance was superb, catching the public face of Hughes so convincingly that he sold the film's interpretation of his private one and serving as a reminder of why he used to be regarded as a great actor before Titanic turned him into a much reviled icon for the resentful boyfriends of smitten teenage girls. It's impossible to think of another actor of his generation giving such a fearless performance.Excellent supporting performances too, especially Alan Alda, John C. Reilley and, most surprisingly, Kate Beckinsale, who overcomes being physically far too slight for Ava Gardner by capturing her strength surprisingly well. Jude Law made a bit of a pig's ear of Errol Flynn, though: they should have hired Nathanial Parker, who does a pretty neat Errol instead. Fabulous cinematography from Robert Richardson, capturing the evolution of color processes from the relevant eras with real skill and subtlety. And looking at how much more impressive Scorsese's version of the dogfights in Hell's Angels were than the real thing - not to mention that astonishing, almost apocalyptic crash sequence - it's a shame he wasn't around in 1930 to make it for real!Extras are plentiful, but irritatingly laid out.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable film which captures the eccentric, exciting but, ultimately sad character of Howard Hughes, a man who seemed to have everything. Although the special CGI effects occasionally leave a lot to be desired, it does encapsulate the excitement of flying, having lots of money and designing and running an airline.Hughes, played well by Leonardo diCaprio, is shown to be a very talented aircraft designer, test pilot and film-maker, even if he did have some obsessions.I particularly enjoyed Cate Blanchett's portrayal of Katharine Hepburn, one of his serious loves, and the accuracy with which she captured her voice. The scene defending "The Outlaw" is also highly amusing, both in its content and its portrayal.Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator" is a very enjoyable film which deals sympathetically with one of the legendary characters of his own profession, the aircraft industry and the financial markets. The scenes dealing with Hughes's life-long obsession with cleanliness are very moving, particularly as it increases and the final scenes are deeply poignant.Recommended