The Aviator

[Atcham Tower]

A rather good film - I'm surprised nobody has commented on it yet. The computerised flying boat and the XF-11 are amazingly realistic. EXCEPT that when the Spruce Goose lifts off, there is no water pouring off the hull. Perhaps the graphics were too difficult - if not, somebody boobed! In the film, Hughes refers to it as the Hercules, a name he is said to have hated. The film's chronology is a bit adrift; it seems to jump back and forth a few years. Super G Connies in 1947 and one or two other anomalies. Hughes was a brilliant aeronautical engineer, a fact that seems to have been overlooked over the years, with media attention focussing on his sad end.

[bushpilot]

The movie was good, but they misreprented how experimental airplanes are tested....Imagine test pilots blasting across the plains at full speed on the first test flight, I never saw crap like that when I worked at Cessna as a flight line mechanic .:ugh:

[Yozzer]

Despite reviews to the contrary, I thought that the film was mis-cast. ie wrong people for the roles. I also thought that historical accuracy in lieu of entertainment limited the enjoyment of the film.
I wont be buying the DVD/Film when it comes out

[Human Factor]

So, did the single-seater racer have a canopy or not? :E :E :E

[Captain Airclues]

Human Factor

Yes (www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/hughes_h1.htm)

Airclues

[WHBM]

Having seen the film last night (and noticing that a couple of other flying buffs were also have been in the cinema, hanging on until the last credit to see who had helped out with the various scenes) I can only ask :

The scene where they are standing in front of several grounded TWA Super Constellations (in the 1960s Connie livery I believe !) looked just too realistic to be models. Where did they shoot this ?

The Racer looked pretty real, not always a model, as well. Did they adapt something to look like it ?

The XF-11 went from an 8-bladed prop to a contra-rotating one. The latter looked like a model or even computer simulation, but the former looked real enough. A full size mock-up ?

[Yozzer]

Trivia for
The Aviator (2004)
Michael Mann was originally going to direct the film, but having directed back-to-back biopics The Insider (1999) and Ali (2001), he decided to produce instead, and offered the script to Martin Scorsese.


This is the first feature film that Leonardo DiCaprio's production company "Appian Way" is involved with.


Nicole Kidman was also considered for the role of Katharine Hepburn. When the scheduled start date was delayed by several months, Cate Blanchett became available after finishing filming The Missing (2003/I) and Martin Scorsese claims that Blanchett had always been his first choice.


Barry Pepper was due to play Howard Hughes's chief engineer, Glenn Odekirk, but due to prior commitment and scheduling conflicts with the film Mr. Ripley's Return (2004), he had to drop out.


Jim Carrey was originally considered for the lead role as Howard Hughes.


Production was delayed in October 2003, when wildfires in southern California burned several sets.


Gwyneth Paltrow was originally signed on to play Ava Gardner but dropped out.


Freckles were painstakingly painted onto Cate Blanchett's face, arms, and chest to make her resemble 'Katherine Hepburn' .


Cate Blanchett had three different red-hair wigs for this film.


Director Scorsese requested that Cate Blanchett watch all of the first 15 films of Kate Hepburn to learn her mannerism and her poise.


In preparation for her role as Hepburn, Blanchett learned to play tennis and golf and took cold showers, something Hepburn is known for.


The budget for the costumes was $2 million.


Kate Beckinsale gained 20 pounds for her role.


Jane Lynch's scenes as Amelia Earhart were cut from the movie.


Several scenes feature actual footage from the western Howard Hughes produced, The Outlaw (1943).


Director Cameo: [Martin Scorsese] Voice of the projectionist Hughes talks to in the screening room.


Cate Blanchett felt that accurately reproducing Hepburn's distinctive upper class New Englander accent was crucial to her portrayal of this Hollywood icon. She did daily voice exercises with the film's voice coach Tim Monich (with whom Blanchett had worked previously on The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)), and also studied Hepburn's early films and documentaries about her to learn her mannerisms.


Scorsese designed each year in the film to look just the way a color film from that time period would look. Achieved mainly through digitally enhanced postproduction, Scorsese recreated the look of Cinecolor and two-strip Technicolor. Watch in particular for the scene where Hughes meets Errol Flynn in the club. Hughes is served precisely placed peas on a plate, and they appear blue or turquoise
just as they'd have looked in the primitive two-strip Technicolor process. As Hughes ages throughout the film, the color gets more sophisticated and full-bodied.

[Captain Airclues]

WHBM

There is a full scale flying replica (www.shanaberger.com/images/H-1_1.htm)

Airclues

[WHBM]

I've found answers to some of my questions, above, here :

http://www.dexigner.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=610

Looks like they didn't use the H-1 Racer replica (which CA's link says was destroyed in an accident in summer 2003 anyway).

The realistic Connies were all done by clever techniques. What a shame they started with the wrong aircraft model and livery though !

[treadigraph]

As WHBM says, the H-1 replica crashed in the summer of 2003 on its way back from Oshkosh, killing owner/builder Jim Wright. Don't know whether they intended to use it for the film or not, but I would have assumed so.

I have to say that I don't see Leonardo de Caprio as ideal Howard Hughes material, but then again Tom Hanks, excellent actor though he is, never seemed like the best choice for Jim Lovell to me either - but Apollo 13 was a great film!

I look foward to seeing the Aviator when it comes out on DVD, unless I unexpectedly go transatlantic while the airlines are showing it...

[david viewing]

I saw this in Vegas, a very fuzzy print, not as good as the HDTVs being demonstrated down the road at the CES.

While I recognise the considerable effort they have made in researching the scenes (exact dialogue in the Senate hearings for instance) I find the computer generated aircraft profoundly unrealistic.

To my mind, the racer scenes are as artificial as the aircraft in 'Pearl Harbor' or indeed aircraft in any of these CGI films. I think that the aircraft move unconvincingly and look poor in close up. Do others agree, or is it just me?

They were also able to control their thirst for realism. They had the flying boat soaring overhead at 1500' or so ... if only.

Looks like we are stuck with this make believe CGI world from now on, no more flying replicas like the ill fated 'Phoenix'. Heaven forbid what they will do with the remake of 'Magnificent Men'

[Lou Scannon]

Liked the very short reference to Howard Hughes not liking the Japs ever since they stole his design ( they built it and called it the Zero).

Didn't like the aerial computer generated images. They allowed the "viewpoint" to manoeuvre in a really unrealistic way instead of appearing to be the work of a camera mounted on another aircraft. Even my 11 year old grandson thought that the flying bits didn't look realistic.

Len de-Capitated got to look more amd more like HH as the film progressed.

[Hank195]

It would have been great to see the Jim Wight's H-1 replica in the movie. Very sad that such a fine aircraft and its owner met such a tragic end. A good bit of detail of the fabrication of the second H-1, in flight photos and information of the accident can be found at Hughes H-1 Replica (http://www.wrightools.com/hughes/)

[Lu Zuckerman]

I don’t know if the real H-1 is in a museum but when I worked at Hughes on the Apache program several others and I were taken on a tour of the Chain gun ® test facility. After getting our eardrums blasted we were taken to a small building nearby. It was quite dark inside and there were several hard mockups of the H-369 and 269. In the background there was a larger form covered with a tarpaulin. They pulled the tarp off and turned on the lights. There in all its’ glory was the H-1.

:E :E

[av8boy]

I saw it Saturday night. I went because of the aviation premise and because I find HH to be a pretty darned interesting character. If I had continued to limit my interest to the aviation aspects, I'd have been disappointed (see "knowing suspension of disbelief"). However, I was quickly taken-in by the mental-health aspects, and came away thinking that this was one of the saddest movies I'd ever seen. Nothing like having your brain turn against you, but leave enough cognitive ability to KNOW your brain is turning against you.

I guess I wouldn't call it an "aviation" flick. In short, two general observations: I was surprised at how well I thought LDiC did playing HH, and I always thought Juan was an OK guy. Guess I wasn't paying attention...

Dave

[The Swinging Monkey]

I'm afraid I was so impressed with it, that I fell asleep after about 10 minutes and woke up several hours later!
Pretty much sums up what I thought of it!

Kind regards
TSM

[Wunper]

Lu

The original H1 is on display in the Smithsonian. There are some nice pictures of it in the book "At the controls" ISBN 1-84037-346-6 here is a link to it on display

http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/hughes_h1.htm


Cheers

W

[Spodman]

Freckles were painstakingly painted onto Cate Blanchett's face, arms, and chest... I expect the queue for this job started in Omaha...:p

[The Greaser]

A truly boring and awful film. Now I know why I never waste my money on the cinema.

[Human Factor]

Jumping back to my post on the previous page, now we know the H-1 had a canopy.

Oops. :rolleyes:

[tinpis]

Saw a preview last night.

A load of tawdry bollox.


:mad:


H1 non hollywood model (http://www.wrightools.com/hughes/pictures/pl1.jpg)

[Taildragger]

WHBM.... Ref the fleet of connies on the apron...in reality there was only one...The ex Travolta/Vern Raeburn one, and some 5 year old geek who could work a computer did the rest.!!

Tinpis ... Tawdry Bollox. My dear chap, and I thought you were a Pilot who appreciated atmospheric stuff. Sniff sniff.

[boris]

Unlike the monkey, I didn't actually fall asleep as I have been suffering from non-acute insomnia of late. How I wish I was cured.

[tinpis]

Geezaz...another preview with the presenters wringing their hands in praise of the film.

This dross is 3 hours long???? :ugh: