IMDb >
The Aviator (2004)
Watch It
Buy it at Amazon
Rent it at Blockbuster.com
Discuss in Boards More at IMDb Pro Add to My Movies Update Data
BETA
Discuss in Boards More at IMDb Pro Add to My Movies Update Data
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotesOverview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv scheduleAwards & Reviews
user commentsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsmessage boardPlot & Quotes
plot summarysynopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotesFun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQOther Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDeskPromotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo galleryExternal Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clipsThe Aviator (2004) More at IMDbPro »
| Photos (see all 93 | slideshow) | Videos (see all 10 NEW) |
Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
25 December 2004 (USA) moreTagline:
For some men, the sky was the limit. For him, it was just the beginning. morePlot:
A biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career, from the late 1920s to the mid-1940s. full summary | full synopsisAwards:
Won 5 Oscars. Another 45 wins & 64 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(213 articles)
Helen Mirren joins Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman in Red (From The Geek Files. 6 November 2009, 7:44 PM, PST)
Gerard Butler Joins Ralph Fiennes in Coriolanus
(From movies.about.com. 4 November 2009, 5:59 AM, PST)
User Comments:
Three Characters more (728 total)Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Leonardo DiCaprio | ... | Howard Hughes | |
| Cate Blanchett | ... | Katharine Hepburn | |
| Kate Beckinsale | ... | Ava Gardner | |
| John C. Reilly | ... | Noah Dietrich | |
| Alec Baldwin | ... | Juan Trippe | |
| Alan Alda | ... | Senator Ralph Owen Brewster | |
| Ian Holm | ... | Professor Fitz | |
| Danny Huston | ... | Jack Frye | |
| Gwen Stefani | ... | Jean Harlow | |
| Jude Law | ... | Errol Flynn | |
| Adam Scott | ... | Johnny Meyer | |
| Matt Ross | ... | Glenn Odekirk | |
| Kelli Garner | ... | Faith Domergue | |
| Frances Conroy | ... | Mrs. Hepburn | |
| Brent Spiner | ... | Robert Gross |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, sexual content, nudity, language and a crash sequence.Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
170 minLanguage:
EnglishAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 moreCertification:
Taiwan:PG-12 | Portugal:M/12 | Malaysia:U | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | France:U | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Chile:TE | Czech Republic:15 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Iceland:12 | Ireland:12 (video rating) | Ireland:15 (original rating) | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | UK:12A (original rating) | UK:12 (video rating) (2005) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #41156) | Indonesia:Dewasa | Sweden:11 | South Korea:15 | Denmark:11Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Four of the miniature airplanes used in creating the effects for the film are now on display at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, home of the real Howard Hughes HK-1 "Spruce Goose". Models on display include two of the biplanes from the "Hell's Angels" sequence, most of the XF-11 model, and the motion-control "Spruce Goose". The "Spruce Goose" model is remarkably detailed, and even includes scale puppets of Howard Hughes and Dr. Fritz. moreGoofs:
Continuity: As Hughes is on the phone ordering Reel 10 to be re-run, his right index finger is pointed. When he orders chocolate chip cookies in the next shot, the finger now touches his thumb in an "OK"-like gesture. moreQuotes:
[first lines]Allene Hughes: Q-u-a-r-a-n-t-i-n-e.
Young Howard Hughes: Quarantine. Q-u-a-r-a-n-t-i-n-e. Quarantine.
more
Soundtrack:
After You've Gone moreFAQ
Is "The Aviator" a true story?more
more (728 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Aviator (2004)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| Jamie Foxx vs. Leonardo DiCaprio | impossibledreamer |
| Whats up with Scorsese/DiCaprio movies? | bab_oldy |
| Gross Food | FloTheDoorWoman |
| opening scene | ErinWard |
| 2004 Oscar | Harrkar |
Recommendations
If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
Show more recommendations
|
|
|
|
|
| Die Blechtrommel | Valentino | Novecento | Across the Universe | Giant |
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
Related Links
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Biography section | IMDb USA section |
| Add this title to MyMovies |
















We all live in our own movies, and particularly like movies of people who do so more literally. Here are three in one film:
Martin Scorsese: My regular readers know that I have been very critical of his films. Sure, they are crafted well enough, but the world he created was not one worth visiting. His films until recently were of the Italian storytelling school which focuses on characters. Those characters do not inhabit their worlds as much as create them. Scorsese's camera, therefore, was affixed to people, almost by a visible thread.
But those of us who watch film seriously know that there is nothing but empty darkness just outside the camera's eye. There's no world, so there can be no God, or fate, or luck or whatever material you imagine fills the river of life. He knows it is a cheat as well and has said so. Just like many other fabulously successful filmmakers who know their work is hollow, in his later years he's tried to mature... to master a greater notion of creation.
"Gangs" was a success in this regard though an unfinished film because the Weinsteins pulled the plug. It marked a completely different approach to space and context, and I applauded it. Now he actually finishes a movie in the new style. Though this is a story of a man, it is no longer anchored to the man. The camera is now Orson Welles' camera with shots of the space with people in it. So obvious is some of this that when Hughes first retreats, he stays out a room that inexplicably (and unhistorically) has strings tied from hither and yon from objects. Take another look at that room and see all of Scorsese's old camera angles. I think we can welcome Scorsese now as the best new filmmaker of the year. This is as much his story as Hughes'.
Cate Blanchett: Cate is one of three actresses alive who can fold her acting, meaning that she can simultaneously deliver two characters in the same motions. She's at the top of her game here (while Julianne is devolving with an apparently thick husband). Hepburn was an amazing actress, deeply untalented in the conventional measures but capable of engineering her surroundings to suit. Her engineering of the "Philadelphia Story" persona is Hollywood legend. She engineered a character that worked, then stepped into it. The old Scorsese would have hired someone like Streep to play Hepburn and lumbered around after her.
The new Scorsese allows Cate to flower and willingly supports the folding: an actress (Cate) playing a character (Kate) who is playing a character. You can see all the conduits of control, all the taught strings at two levels. God, what a great time to be alive!
Howard Hughes: The movie gave the impression that Howard simply inherited his money. No so. He was a brilliant engineer who famously codesigned systems and the engineering organizations to support them. While most of us were barfing at frat parties, he designed a drill bit (often credited to his father) that is still the standard in the industry, together with a set of screw connections that has since become the international standard. That's where the money came from. And though he went loopy toward the end, he ensured that 100% of his wealth (yes, all assets were sold) went to endow the world's largest private research institute.
This was a passionate engineer in a world of monopolistic thugs (Gates take notice), truly what we like to think the "free market" is all about. The movie also ignores a key movie connection: He always intended the "Spruce Goose" to be made of wood, and because all US manufacturing assets were committed, he designed a production system that allowed small businesses, even backyard groups, to make pieces that would be floated down rivers and successively be glued into larger parts. This (what he called the "packet production system") was the first serious research into what we today call "virtual enterprises."
When the war ended, he sent his virtual enterprise experts into his film business where they used the system (freely giving away details) to destroy the vertically integrated studio system. Nearly all movies today use his virtual enterprise approach and the Weinsteins (producers of this very film) are the current masters of the system.
Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.