The Aviator
Movie, 2004, The 2000s, Set in Howard Hughes
The Aviator is #19 of 26 in release order and #19 of 26 in chronological order in the Martin Scorsese.
The story
A biopic depicting the life of filmmaker and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes from 1927 to 1947, during which time he became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate, while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.
The Aviator recap
The Aviator (2004) follows Howard Hughes from 1927 to 1947 as he makes films, sets flying records and builds an airline while his compulsions worsen. Martin Scorsese directs from John Logan's script. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Hughes, Cate Blanchett plays Katharine Hepburn, Kate Beckinsale plays Ava Gardner, John C. Reilly plays his business manager Noah Dietrich, and Alan Alda plays Senator Owen Brewster. Hughes pours his inherited fortune into the war film Hell's Angels, reshooting it for sound. He dates Hepburn, who leaves him for Spencer Tracy. He sets a speed record in his H-1 racer, flies around the world, and buys TWA, which puts him in the sights of Pan Am chief Juan Trippe (Alec Baldwin). He takes wartime contracts for a spy plane and a huge wooden flying boat, the H-4 Hercules. Testing the XF-11, he crashes into Beverly Hills and is badly hurt. Blanchett won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. It falls between Gangs of New York and The Departed.
The Aviator ending explained
The Aviator ends just after Hughes's triumph. Recovering from a breakdown in which he locked himself in a screening room for months, he is groomed by Ava Gardner for a Senate hearing, turns the tables on Brewster and defeats his bill. He then flies the giant H-4 Hercules for a short hop. Talking with his engineers about jet airliners, he starts repeating "the way of the future" over and over, and is hidden in a washroom while he imagines his mother bathing him as a child.
Post-credits scenes
No. The Aviator has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch The Aviator
The Aviator is streaming on fuboTV, Paramount+, Kanopy, and Hoopla in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.5/10, Rotten Tomatoes 86%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Gangs of New York, before The Departed.
- Chronological order: after Gangs of New York, before The Departed.
Cast
- Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes
- Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn
- Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner
- John C. Reilly as Noah Dietrich
- Alec Baldwin as Juan Trippe
- Alan Alda as Senator Ralph Owen Brewster
- Ian Holm as Professor Fitz
- Danny Huston as Jack Frye
- Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow
- Jude Law as Errol Flynn
- Adam Scott as Johnny Meyer
- Matt Ross as Glenn Odekirk
Directed by Martin Scorsese.