the aviator ed.speciale ((dvd) italian import) italian import

I watched this film twice back to back , admittedly i had seen it at the cinema , and think it is better suited to a large screen showing , i thought Scorcese,s interpretation was brilliant , resonant of a "old style film " every scene has a purpose , basically to give you an insight into the genius of Howard Hughes , i dont think that is an exagerration as his combination of business acumen , vision,and sheer daring , must amount to genius .
he would override his best emgineers when insisting on some aspect of aeroplane design , he put his money where his mouth was , and when it came to putting his ideas to the test , he was the first one to take the plane for a test flight !
likewise in business he would morgatge his entire wealth on some businees venture .
the film also shows his ruthless streak with anyone that crossed him .
And then when all seemed invincible, his descent into madness .
For me such an examination of a fascinating life was simply gripping .
My favourite film of 2005
;-)

This is a superb little summary of Howard Hughes life and times and should appeal to all and sundry, though it may be not as exciting as some action/adventure lovers would wish.

Good performances from virtually all concerned (especially main stars DiCaprio, Cate Blanchette, Kate Beckinsale, Alan Alda) combine with a great all-round family-friendly story to make a 4-5* film.

The documentary (as opposed to "making of" etc) extras are superb and give more insight into the man who, thanks to his own ability and the money from his father's development of a modern oil-drilling bit, broke the world air-speed record, built the largest plane in the world out of wood (the Hercules transport sea-plane), made the first multi-million dollar movie (Hell's Angels 1930 at $4 million), bought TWA and became the richest man in the world.

Into everything technical, the film and extras show that you have Howard Hughes to thank for a myriad of modern technologies like fast, above the clouds, pressurised-cabin long-haul flight, hydraulic aircraft control systems, satellite communications, computer guidance systems and even to some extent jet-engine development. At most points he just seemed to correctly recognise exactly where the future lay before most others. Even GB Prime Minister Winston Churchill was indirectly involved with him.

A congress committee brought about by a rival airline tried but failed to screw him for taking the tax-payers' money during WW2 and not coming up with the goods when all and sundry were doing exactly the same for much more vast sums of money.

The great man died in 1976 as a result of the effects of his obsessive, compulsive disorder, never of course then diagnosed as such, which had become an ever-increasing problem since the 1930s, having become a recluse last photographed in public in 1952. His estate took years to sort out.

This is all superb stuff indeed and most highly recommended to all.

I saw this movie, not really expecting it to live up to it's unpublicised hype as usually when a film gets the critics attention it is well made but boring. This movie gripped me from the start to the end and was without a doubt the best film I've seen in years. In fact, I would not go to the cinema for weeks after because I knew that nothing could live up to it. The portrayal of obsessive compulsive Hughes was matched by the obsessive compulsive filming. Look out for the colours being changed in the nightclub to emphasise the blue and red on the screen (including blue peas). Admire the Art Deco attention to detail even on stairwells and floors. I was all set to hate Cate Blanchett as Katherine Hepburn but she was brilliant and very convincing - you forgot she was Cate. The time flew through this movie and I could happily have watched the rest of Hughes story. It inspired me to find out more about Howard Hughes and found some even more wonderful stories about him - I wanted more...