THE AVIATOR

Did it appear suitable for 11 and 13 year olds?

--

Roger Long



"Tom Fleischman" wrote in message
rthlink.net...
I saw a screening of "The Aviator" , Martin Scorsese's biography of
Howard Hughes, with Leonardo DeCaprio, is due to be released in
December.

Hughes is a fascinating charater, but this movie is also a great
aviation movie. The film focuses on Hughes life between 1927, when he
directed his first movie "Hell's Angels", to 1947 when he successfully
flew the H-4 "Hercules" (Spruce Goose) and then went into seculsion.

There are some great flying sequences, including a speed trial of his
H-1 racer, and a spectacular squence when Hughes crashes his prototype
spyplane, the XF-11, into Beverly Hills.

Look for it in your local theater on December 17th. You won't be
disappointed.

Too bad they borrowed (stole) the title from the great book/movie by
Ernest Gann. Starred Christopher Reeve. Great flying scenes.

Tom Fleischman wrote:
I saw a screening of "The Aviator" , Martin Scorsese's biography of
Howard Hughes, with Leonardo DeCaprio, is due to be released in
December.

Hughes is a fascinating charater, but this movie is also a great
aviation movie. The film focuses on Hughes life between 1927, when he
directed his first movie "Hell's Angels", to 1947 when he successfully
flew the H-4 "Hercules" (Spruce Goose) and then went into seculsion.

There are some great flying sequences, including a speed trial of his
H-1 racer, and a spectacular squence when Hughes crashes his prototype
spyplane, the XF-11, into Beverly Hills.

Look for it in your local theater on December 17th. You won't be
disappointed.

In article ink.net,
Tom Fleischman wrote:

I saw a screening of "The Aviator" , Martin Scorsese's biography of
Howard Hughes, with Leonardo DeCaprio, is due to be released in
December.

Hughes is a fascinating charater, but this movie is also a great
aviation movie. The film focuses on Hughes life between 1927, when he
directed his first movie "Hell's Angels", to 1947 when he successfully
flew the H-4 "Hercules" (Spruce Goose) and then went into seculsion.

There are some great flying sequences, including a speed trial of his
H-1 racer, and a spectacular squence when Hughes crashes his prototype
spyplane, the XF-11, into Beverly Hills.

Look for it in your local theater on December 17th. You won't be
disappointed.



Somehow, I have trouble with DeCaprio playing Hughes, as DeCaprio is a
little, short guy, while Hughes was very tall and lean. I understand
that some of the comp-generated scnes are spectacular. Too bad that the
Ó-1 reproduction was lost two years ago. It was BEAUTIFUL!

Actually, DeCaprio is quite tall and lanky. He is over 6 feet. I also
had my doubts about the casting before I saw the movie, but DeCaprio
gives an absolutely amazing performance, perhaps the best of his
career. He is absolutely convincing as Hughes.

According to a quick Google search, DiCaprio is 6' 0" tall, and 180 pounds.

Strange, I didn't think Kate Winslet was all that tall, yet she appeared to
be as tall (or taller) than Leo in the movie "Titanic." Yet her height is
listed as just 5' 8".

S'pose Hollywood might be stretching Leo's stats a bit?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:aR5hd.280138$wV.218539@attbi_s54...
According to a quick Google search, DiCaprio is 6' 0" tall, and 180
pounds.

So, not "over 6 feet". But certainly tall and lanky (though perhaps that's
a redundant statement...IMHO, "lanky" implies "tall").

Strange, I didn't think Kate Winslet was all that tall, yet she appeared
to be as tall (or taller) than Leo in the movie "Titanic." Yet her height
is listed as just 5' 8".

She may well be.

S'pose Hollywood might be stretching Leo's stats a bit?

What Hollywood does is set up shots to make things look the way they want
them to look. Lest you forget (as you seem to have), movies are about
*illusion*. I am amused that you could use a movie like Titanic (where, I
hope, you did not think you saw a real live cruise ship sink in the frigid
North Atlantic) to call into question DiCaprio's actual height.

Common tricks, going back to the very first movies, include designing set
pieces (such as doorways, windows, and other everyday reference points) to
be lower than real life, to make the actor(s) appear larger than life, as
well as elevating one actor (e.g. Winslet) to make her appear nearly as tall
as another (e.g. DiCaprio).

I think it's at least as likely, and probably more so, that the truth
Hollywood is stretching is what you see on the screen, not what you read in
a bio (though, I'll admit the bios may or may not be accurate as well).

Pete

Peter Duniho wrote:

Common tricks, going back to the very first movies, include designing set
pieces (such as doorways, windows, and other everyday reference points) to
be lower than real life, to make the actor(s) appear larger than life, as
well as elevating one actor (e.g. Winslet) to make her appear nearly as tall
as another (e.g. DiCaprio).

I recall that, for the movie "Camelot", they built an elevated ramp for the wedding
scene so that Richard Harris (a relatively short man) would be the same height as
Vanessa Redgrave (who's much taller). For the march down the aisle, they filmed both
actors well above the waist.

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:aR5hd.280138$wV.218539@attbi_s54...
According to a quick Google search, DiCaprio is 6' 0" tall, and 180
pounds.

So, not "over 6 feet". But certainly tall and lanky (though perhaps
that's
a redundant statement...IMHO, "lanky" implies "tall").

Strange, I didn't think Kate Winslet was all that tall, yet she appeared
to be as tall (or taller) than Leo in the movie "Titanic." Yet her
height
is listed as just 5' 8".

She may well be.

S'pose Hollywood might be stretching Leo's stats a bit?

What Hollywood does is set up shots to make things look the way they want
them to look. Lest you forget (as you seem to have), movies are about
*illusion*. I am amused that you could use a movie like Titanic (where, I
hope, you did not think you saw a real live cruise ship sink in the frigid
North Atlantic) to call into question DiCaprio's actual height.

That dumbest of all dumb movies has caused me to question anything and
everything that will ever come out of hollywood. And they even gave it
awards. Unbelievable! It will be decades before I ever spend a penny to
watch anything that comes out of hollywood.

That made me feel good.

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...

Common tricks, going back to the very first movies, include designing set
pieces (such as doorways, windows, and other everyday reference points) to
be lower than real life, to make the actor(s) appear larger than life, as
well as elevating one actor (e.g. Winslet) to make her appear nearly as
tall
as another (e.g. DiCaprio).

I think it's at least as likely, and probably more so, that the truth
Hollywood is stretching is what you see on the screen, not what you read
in
a bio (though, I'll admit the bios may or may not be accurate as well).

Pete

To see examples of these tricks, look at any Tom Cruise movie. He's rather
short for a guy, but he plays these larger-than-life type characters. One of
the major tricks to make people look taller than someone else is to film
from behind the shorter person and position the camera low, looking up at
the actors' faces. I guess they may also film above and behind the taller
actor.

-Trent

Forced perspective is a great trick. It was used extensively in the Lord of
the Rings films to make the Hobbits and Dwarfs appear a lot smaller than the
other characters. In the "Special Features" section of the DVD's they show
how it was done. Really impressive results. Pieces of the sets and props
were made different sizes so two actors could be interacting in the same set
and appear significantly different sizes.

The most common way of making two actors appear the same height is to just
put one on a platform and shoot from waist up. I understand that Alan Ladd
was pretty short, but none of his fans ever knew it.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

I don't have to like Bush and Cheney (Or Kerry, for that matter) to love
America

"Trent Moorehead" wrote in message
...

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...

Common tricks, going back to the very first movies, include designing
set
pieces (such as doorways, windows, and other everyday reference points)
to
be lower than real life, to make the actor(s) appear larger than life,
as
well as elevating one actor (e.g. Winslet) to make her appear nearly as
tall
as another (e.g. DiCaprio).

I think it's at least as likely, and probably more so, that the truth
Hollywood is stretching is what you see on the screen, not what you read
in
a bio (though, I'll admit the bios may or may not be accurate as well).

Pete

To see examples of these tricks, look at any Tom Cruise movie. He's rather
short for a guy, but he plays these larger-than-life type characters. One
of
the major tricks to make people look taller than someone else is to film
from behind the shorter person and position the camera low, looking up at
the actors' faces. I guess they may also film above and behind the taller
actor.

-Trent

Jay Honeck wrote:

According to a quick Google search, DiCaprio is 6' 0" tall, and 180 pounds.

Strange, I didn't think Kate Winslet was all that tall, yet she appeared to
be as tall (or taller) than Leo in the movie "Titanic." Yet her height is
listed as just 5' 8".

S'pose Hollywood might be stretching Leo's stats a bit?


Tom Cruise is only 5'7" and Nicole Kidman is 5'11", Hollywood has no
problem manipulating such perceptions on screen.

--
Chris W
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to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-- Benjamin Franklin, 1759 Historical Review of Pennsylvania