The Aviator (2004)
81%RT Audience Score: 79%
Awards & Nominations: Won 5 Oscars
85 wins & 131 nominations total
With a rich sense of period detail, The Aviator succeeds thanks to typically assured direction from Martin Scorsese and a strong performance from Leonardo DiCaprio, who charts Howard Hughes’ descent from eccentric billionaire to reclusive madman
The Aviator is a movie that will make you feel like you’re flying high with Howard Hughes himself. With an all-star cast and Martin Scorsese at the helm, this biopic is a love letter to old Hollywood that will leave you feeling both inspired and entertained. Leonardo DiCaprio and Cate Blanchett give standout performances that will make you forget you’re watching actors and not the real-life figures they’re portraying. So buckle up and get ready for a wild ride through the life of one of America’s most fascinating and eccentric figures.
Production Company(ies)
Plattform Produktion Film i Väst Essential Filmproduktion, GmbH,
Distributor
Miramax Films
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
RMS Queen Mary – 1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, sexual content, nudity, language and a crash sequence
Year of Release
2004
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:DTS Dolby Digital SDDS
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:2h 46m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 25, 2004 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 24, 2005
Genre(s)
Biography
Keyword(s)
starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, directed by Martin Scorsese, written by John Logan, biography, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Namrata Joshi, Nell Minow, Richard Corliss, David Ansen, Geoff Andrew, Jim Schembri, Sean Axmaker, Danielle Solzman, Victor Pineyro, David Walsh, James Croot, Murtada Elfadl, produced by Michael Mann, Chris Brigham, Sandy Climan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Charles Evans Jr., Graham King, PG-13, Howard Hughes, Katharine Hepburn, Ava Gardner, Noah Dietrich, Juan Trippe, Sen Ralph Owen Brewster
Worldwide gross: $213,719,942
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $337,140,305
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 447
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 36,765,573
US/Canada gross: $102,610,330
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $161,866,401
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 479
US/Canada opening weekend: $858,021
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $1,353,516
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,248
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $110,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $173,523,505
Production budget ranking: 169
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $93,442,408
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $70,174,392
ROI to date (est.): 26%
ROI ranking: 1,260
Cate Blanchett – Katharine Hepburn
Kate Beckinsale – Ava Gardner
John C. Reilly – Noah Dietrich
Alec Baldwin – Juan Trippe
Alan Alda – Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster
Director – Martin Scorsese
Producers – Michael Mann, Chris Brigham, Sandy Climan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Charles Evans Jr., Graham King
Writer – John Logan
Director(s)
Martin Scorsese
Writer(s)
John Logan
Producer(s)
Michael Mann, Chris Brigham, Sandy Climan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Charles Evans Jr., Graham King
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 5 Oscars
85 wins & 131 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Achievement in Art Direction Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Cinematography Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Costume Design Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Editing Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Winners
All Critics (227) | Top Critics (59) | Fresh (196) | Rotten (31)
The Aviator does make for a rather fascinating and compelling stand-alone story about an industrious, fastidious, obsessive man…
January 8, 2019 | Rating: 2/4
Namrata Joshi
Outlook
TOP CRITIC
Good but not great, and not for younger kids.
December 28, 2010 | Rating: 3/5
Nell Minow
Common Sense Media
TOP CRITIC
This handsome movie is an oddly well-behaved one to come from the preternaturally energetic Scorsese.
February 3, 2010
Richard Corliss
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
This almost-great epic has one foot in legend: it’s a vision of an American titan that could have sprung from the insides of Hughes’s own obsessive, perfectionist head.
November 1, 2007
David Ansen
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
Despite a pacy, technically brilliant but otherwise slightly ordinary first half-hour or so, Scorsese’s Howard Hughes movie is his best since The Age of Innocence.
June 24, 2006
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Scorsese gives us a lot more than the Charles Foster Kane of the clouds. He keeps focus on Hughes, the dreamer, who continually reached out, grabbed the future and pulled it toward him.
January 17, 2006
Jim Schembri
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
Martin Scorseses epic biography of the life of Howard Hughes is his love-letter to the old-Hollywood bio-pic. This is high-style filmmaking wrapped up in a tormented hero whose soaring flights of greatness are matched by the mortal pull of his devils…
March 12, 2022
Sean Axmaker
Stream on Demand
The Aviator soars high because of both Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio.
January 4, 2022
Danielle Solzman
Solzy at the Movies
Bringing Hughes’ life to the big screen was a task for giants. The film doesn’t feel like an Scorsese movie, it has an audacious editing, homaging the Hollywood era it takes place on. DiCaprio and Blanchett are simply spectacular. [Full review in Spanish]
March 1, 2021 | Rating: 8/10
Victor Pineyro
Seventh Art Studio
What prominent individual’s life could not be made to shine or at least improved markedly if all the unpleasant portions were subtracted?
February 15, 2021
David Walsh
World Socialist Web Site
At the epicentre of this movie maelstrom is an assured and adroit performance by Leonardo DiCaprio.
December 1, 2020 | Rating: 4.5/5
James Croot
Stuff.co.nz
What constitutes risk in acting? What Blanchett does here as Hepburn, daring to take on an icon in the same medium for which she was known and celebrated.
May 11, 2020 | Rating: B+
Murtada Elfadl
Sundays with Cate…
Plot
Biopic of billionaire Howard Hughes, starting with his early filmmaking years as owner of R.K.O. Pictures, but mostly focusing on his role in designing and promoting new aircraft. Hughes was a risk-taker spending several fortunes on designing experimental aircraft and eventually founding TWA as a rival to Pan Am airlines owned by his great rival Juan Trippe. When Trippe’s politico Senator Ralph Owen Brewster accuses Hughes of being a war profiteer, it’s Hughes who gains the upper hand. Hughes also had many women in his life including a long relationship with Katharine Hepburn. From an early age, however, Hughes was also germophobic and would have severe bouts of mental illness.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The Aviator features a star-studded cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, and Alec Baldwin.
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