The Aviator Family Review

A biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s.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.—garykmcdBillionaire and aviation tycoon Howard Hughes is a successful public figure: a director of big-budget Hollywood movies such as "Hell's Angels (1930)", a passionate lover of Hollywood's leading ladies Katharine Hepburn and Ava Gardner, and an aviation pioneer who helps build TWA into a major airline. But in private, Hughes remains tormented, suffering from paralyzing phobias and depression. The higher he rises, the farther has to fall.—Jwelch5742Texan oil fortune heir Howard Hughes refuses to wisely invest and enjoy his millions, preferring to riskily spend on his passions: airplanes and Hollywood, so in the 1930s he produces an unprecedented air combat blockbuster Hell Angels which he keeps improving to staff's despair, with Katherine Hepburn as bonus lover. He moves on to improving airplane design and running airline TWA, the sole US-overseas challenger for PanAm. His germophobia gets utterly out of hand and test-piloting himself nearly breaks every bone is his body, but the worst challenge comes from senator Ralph Owen Brewster, who uses the FBI to threaten Hughes with ruin and public exposure as 'war profiteer' unless he accepts personal friend Juan Trippe's company PanAm being given a virtual monopoly on international flights.—KGF VissersSpanning nearly two decades in the life of billionaire entrepreneur, aeronautics visionary, bold Hollywood producer, and fearless pilot, Howard Hughes, Martin Scorsese's "Aviator" opens with the independent-minded tycoon investing large sums of money in Hell's Angels (1930), the most expensive silent film ever. Eccentric, charismatic, but also a chronic sufferer of obsessive-compulsive disorder, Howard Hughes became notorious for his romantic affairs with Hollywood iconic actresses Katharine Hepburn, Ava Gardner, Ginger Rogers, and Jean Harlow. As an intrepid pilot, Howard Hughes broke every flying record, created TWA, had a near-death experience while test-piloting the XF-11 military reconnaissance aircraft, and locked horns with Maine Senator Owen Brewster and Pan Am in a legal battle over exclusivity on international air travel. However, Hughes' inner demons and aggressive phobias threatened his entire fortune, putting his life at risk.—Nick Riganas1 moreAll