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Critique of, "The Aviator" by Martin Scorsese

George_Washington

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I have recently purchased this film on DVD and I thought I would write a brief review of it.

What a wonderful film this is.

The movie, which I thought should have rightfully won Scorsese best director for, is great. I personally think Scorsese was snubbed but that's another story. Anyway, the film is about the famous genius, billiionare, and lover, Howard Hughes.

Hughes came from humble origins in Texas and then his life became something of legend. He became an ace pilot, broke flying records, and made a fortune from oil.

The thing that's so great about this film is that it has a deep, political message that embodies the American spirit, individualism, and really puts liberals and communists in their places, lol. Hughes emerged into greatness from hard work and dedication. He wasn't a perfect man or a Saint by any means. But he had heart and soul.

The political message behind this movie is that in America, people from humble beginnings can become successful. In the Aviator, Hughes faced many opposition and most of it came from, "aristocratic" liberals from New England. Hughes encountered descrimination from Katherine Hepburn's preppy New England family. Hughes and TWA airlines also face opposition from politicans and businessmen from New England that wanted to make a monopoly on the airline industry using Pan Am.

But Hughes, a very tough Texan and capitalist, never let them touch him. You got to respect a guy like that. Hughes never took crap from anybody. His spirit was like steel.

At one point, Senator Brewster from Maine hauled Hughes into court because Hughes argued for a free market, something that would have stifled Brewster's socialistic plans. But Hughes totally kicked *** in court and was like a rock. He out worded and out classed the liberals like probably no one in the 20th century ever had besides Ronald Reagan.

In my opinion, Hughes was a role model for free markets and capitalism.
 
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He was good until he started collecting his urine in jars. Is that a conservative thing?

Just kidding.

I really dug that movie and Scorsese can do no wrong in my book. The court scenes in that movie were immaculate. Does Scorsese have a commentary audio track on the DVD?
 
shuamort said:
He was good until he started collecting his urine in jars. Is that a conservative thing?

Of course. Us people with conservative leanings do stuff like that all the time. We also see and hear things that aren't there a lot. At least I do. Although actually it can be quite entertaining. Last night I thought I made love to Kate Beckinsale, until my psychiatrist told me I was hallucinating. Damn it...


Just kidding.

I really dug that movie and Scorsese can do no wrong in my book. The court scenes in that movie were immaculate. Does Scorsese have a commentary audio track on the DVD?

Yep! There are also a lot of other things like a history channel doc. on Hughes.
 
Here's an interesting find:

History in the Movies:
This Hughes is so larger-than life that I'm amazed his life hasn't been mined by Hollywood before now. But does The Aviator present a real or a fictionalized Howard Hughes? Here's a guide to sort it out.

Q. Since it's not covered in the film, how did Hughes get so rich?
A. It was his daddy's money, created in the decidedly unglamorous field of drill bit production. Howard grew up in luxury in Texas, then lost both parents as a teenager. Young, independent, and filthy rich (the perfect candidate for a reality series, today) he was lured to Hollywood at twenty to try his hand at filmmaking.

As the film suggests, Howard Hughes was far better at spending money than making it. But he hired astute business managers, who capably built up Hughes's assets faster than Hughes could spend them on planes and movies.
Born to a wealthy family? I wouldn't really call that humble beginnings.
 
shuamort said:
Here's an interesting find:

History in the Movies:

Born to a wealthy family? I wouldn't really call that humble beginnings.

That website is totally biased and speaking from just one point of view. Hughes's father lived modestly before he had acquired that wealth, despite having gone to Harvard. Back in the early 20th century, the average tuition at Harvard was only like $1500 per year, lol. Of course wages were a lot lower back then but still. Even after he had acquired his fortune, the Hughes family still wasn't as wealthy or prestigious as the Hepburn family was, to the best of my knowledge. Back then Texas wasn't nearly as wealthy overall as say, New England was. A lot of the richest people in America were still in New England and many of them looked down at Texans. I mean Hughes Senior wasn't nearly as wealthy as say Rockafeller was, who was out of New York.

The truth is, Hughes did inherit money but nothing to the extent of what he had amassed. Hughes did lose money at times but he also gained a lot of revenue as well. The contributions he made to the film industry and aviation are numerous and vast. He also took many risks throughout his business career, as the film illustrates, that would have left him strapped but he managed to come through.

When Hughes died in the early 70's, he had over 1 billion dollars and was the richest man in America at that time! I'm serious, the History Channel segment on the DVD explains this. He bought a lot of real estate in Las Vegas and grew Hughes Electronics into a vast empire. I don't think some of the information you'll find on the Internet is really all that accurate. You should purchase the DVD, dude.
 
Yes, but just because they didn't live like the Northeasterners, Hepburns, et al, doesn't mean that he's from "humble beginnings". Lincoln was from humble beginnings, for instance. Hughes came from privilege and wealth.
Profession: Family business: Uncle Rupert supervised Howard's part of the estate and interests in the Hughes Tool Company until he was twenty-one. Family quarrels led Howard to have company lawyers buy out his relatives. A Houston judge and friend of his late father's granted Howard legal adulthood on December 26, 1924, allowing him to take over the tool company.
Most people from humble beginnings do not inherit an estate. YMMV.
 
shuamort said:
Yes, but just because they didn't live like the Northeasterners, Hepburns, et al, doesn't mean that he's from "humble beginnings". Lincoln was from humble beginnings, for instance. Hughes came from privilege and wealth.

Most people from humble beginnings do not inherit an estate. YMMV.

I'm talking about before Hughes Senior became very wealthy when Howard was a kid. Remember the opening scene from the Aviator? When Howard was a kid and his mother was giving him a bath? They had lived modestly at that point.

Dude, at that time New England (including New York) was by far the wealthiest region of the country. Recall how devastated the south was after the Civil War. At that time, there just weren't that many wealthy people in Texas. Actually at that time, probably Europe was still the wealthiest overall.
 
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