When my wife and I visited Maui for the first time, we spent a week in Hawaii and a week in Los Angeles. The LA visit included a few days at Universal, the tapings of The Tonight Show and a few sitcoms, exploring Beverley Hills, and a drive to Long Beach, where we planned to tour both the Queen Mary moored dockside, and the Spruce Goose housed in a vast domelike hanger alongside the huge ship. Alas, I was unaware that the plane had been sold and disassembled only weeks before for its long trip to the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

This remarkable airplane was six times larger than anything in the sky during the year it was built. Even today it impresses. A Boeing 747 jumbo jet has a wingspan of 211 feet; the Spruce Goose has a wingspan one inch shy of 320 feet. Its tail extends 79 feet toward the sky; the 747's is only 69 feet tall. The Spruce Goose is a tad shorter than a 747, but at 219 feet, by only a modest 13 feet. Built in 1947, powered by eight prop engines, and made predominantly of birch (with small amounts of maple, poplar, balsa, and spruce), it is as impressive as the remarkable man who had it built, Howard Hughes. And in 2004, director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter John Logan celebrated his life in The Aviator.

Hughes's fate is the stuff of legend. A germophobe, he spent the last years of his life isolated from outside contact. It was reported widely that at the time of his death he had long disheveled hair and beard, and long fingernails, uncut for years. His is the sad story of one of the richest men in the world dying in a mix of luxury and squalor, suffering from a mental condition undiagnosed. Ah, but his journey was fascinating, a tale that would have been rejected as utter rubbish had it been written as fiction. And in a film with a running time of nearly three hours, Scorsese and Logan were only able to touch upon the highlights of his compelling story.

At eighteen, Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) inherited a controlling interest in the Hughes Tool Company; several years later, he bought out his relatives and became the sole owner. Drawn to film, Hughes moved to Hollywood in 1925 and became a producer; enjoying early success, his Two Arabian Nights won an academy award. In 1930, Hughes wrote and directed Hell's Angels, a film about World War I aerial combat. The expensive production evolved into a huge financial gamble and the most expensive film to have been made to that date. It became a huge box-office success and cemented Hughes's place in Hollywood. He became a Hollywood lothario, dating stars and starlets, including Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale), Jean Harlow (Gwen Stefani), and perhaps most significantly, the love of his life, Katharine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett).

As he made Hell's Angels, Hughes's interest in aircraft escalated. He founded Hughes Aircraft Company and had built and piloted some of the world's most advanced airplanes, breaking speed and endurance records along the way. During World War II, Hughes, like all aircraft manufacturers, became involved in the design and development of military aircraft. He was awarded two contracts, each worth about $20 million. He was to develop a very fast reconnaissance aircraft, a machine that very nearly cost him his life, and a vast wooden cargo seaplane to carry over thirty tons of men and vehicles (including tanks) transoceanic. Much to his annoyance, the latter would become known as the Spruce Goose.

He briefly returned to filmmaking, directing and producing The Outlaw, for which he famously had his engineers design a bra for the amply endowed Jane Russell to emphasize her generous cleavage.

His peacetime efforts in aviation included commercial ventures, pursuing transcontinental and transoceanic routes and having Lockheed design a high altitude, pressurized passenger aircraft. His TWA came into direct competition with Juan Trippe's (Alec Baldwin) Pan American Airways, and in direct conflict with a sleazy Senator named Ralph Owen Brewster (Alan Alda), who would appear to be in Trippe's pocket. Hughes appeared before a congressional committee and triumphed. But these biographical snippets do not convey the high drama conveyed with such great aplomb in this film.

Martin Scorsese cleverly avoids the darkest years of Hughes's life and his ultimate descent. But as we're thrust into his ascension, the film does portray the origins of the obsessive-compulsive disorder that would dominate his decline. Scorsese creates a wonderful sense of period, an immersion into the first half of the 20th century replete with convincing minutia and subtle detail.

Leonardo DiCaprio is surprisingly effective as he explores Hughes's meteoric and bold rise while infused with inner demons that gnaw away at his psyche. (He may not resemble Hughes - I think George Clooney more closely resembles the young Hughes - but he manages to capture the bravado, perfectionism, and troubled compulsions.) Cate Blanchett's Katharine Hepburn is pure delight. Portraying such an icon is fraught with risk, but she avoids caricature to deliver a subtle and convincing tribute to that wonderfully independent and energetic woman.

It's clear that CGI had to be a key element to reproducing some of the flying sequences and a number of special effect houses (most notably Sony Pictures Imageworks) delivered convincing sequences, particularly the two WWII aircraft Hughes was contracted to deliver. I suspect the Spruce Goose was airborne longer and higher in the film than in reality (up to 70 feet for no more then 40 seconds), but it still gave me Goosebumps to watch that enormous craft lift from the water.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

I find Warner transfers quite satisfying and this disc does not disappoint. Despite the long runtime that must have forced more compression that is normally found on Warner DVDs, I found the images to be quite nice. The film's theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is presented in anamorphic video. The transfer is sharp and detailed without any problematic edge halos. Small object detail and finely grained textures are excellent. Color accuracy is spot-on based on very natural skin tones. Shadow detail is also quite nice. I didn't notice any macroblocking or mosquito noise. This is a lovely looking transfer.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is quite good, but predominantly front centric. Only during the action sequences are the surround channels active. The mix may use them sparingly, but when they are active, they are very effective. Deep bass is present and will challenge your subwoofer. Sound effects have a fine dynamic range and attack times. The dramatic score by Howard Shore is pleasantly conveyed across a broad soundstage and with a satisfying sense of presence. The dialog is distortion-free throughout.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Martin Scorsese, editor Thelma Schoonmaker, and producer Michael Mann may be heard in a feature-length commentary. They seem to have been recorded separately and their comments edited together. Scorsese is famous for his love of the medium, his enthusiasm for film, his positive approach, and his encyclopedic knowledge. All shine during this commentary. For several hours, he drew me into his cinematic world, a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Schoonmaker and Mann offer their own insights. The track is entertaining and informative. This is the only supplement on disc one; the remaining supplements - full screen or non-anamorphic widescreen - are reserved for disc two.

The first is a Deleted Scene (1:39), Howard Tells Ava About His Car Accident. It isn't clear why this scene was cut. Perhaps the filmmakers wanted to avoid creating the impression that Hughes was cold and indifferent about the lives of others. I found the scene poignant.

Next is a featurette (11:39) entitled A Life Without Limits: The Making of The Aviator. Director Martin Scorsese, screenwriter John Logan, producer Graham King, and actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Alec Baldwin, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, Gwen Stefani, John C. Reilly, and Alan Alda participate. This is as close to an EPK short as you can get on this disc. Mutual backslapping dominates the piece, particularly the stars' admiration for their director. There is little that is insightful here.

The Role of Howard Hughes in Aviation History (14:40) is an excellent featurette that credits Hughes's contributions to aviation technology. Several experts and authors in the field define his contributions and support the fictional narrative of the film with some historical insight. Interesting stuff.

Perhaps the best supplement on this disc is a History Channel documentary entitled Modern Marvels: Howard Hughes (43:34). This is a biographical feature that concentrates on Hughes's technical life. We follow the progression of his career and the development of the advancements in technology that sprang from his mind and that of his aerospace company's engineers. It's here that you'll truly come to appreciate his foresight and creativity, set in the context of historical reporting rather than a fictional portrayal (that could have been embellished). Well done.

Next is a discussion featurette of the mental aberration that plagued Hughes and tainted his life, The Affliction of Howard Hughes: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (14:09). DiCaprio, Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, and biographers Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele define the affliction and try to convey its impact at a time when the malady was unknown and no treatment was available. Also heard are several OCD sufferers who help us understand more completely the nature of the illness.

OCD Panel Discussion (14:53) continues the topic. DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Howard Hughes's widow, Terry Moore, and Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, participate. Although the nature of the affliction is also discussed here, the emphasis is on how that affliction was portrayed in the film. I was fascinated to learn that when an actor manages to replicate OCD behavior, brain scans reveal that his or her cerebral activity is also replicated. Amazing - now that's method acting.

An Evening with Leonardo DiCaprio and Alan Alda (28:06) is a pleasant exchange between the two actors during a session before a live audience. It resembles the kind of comments and Q&A one might find after a screening of the film, and there does seem to be a curtained stage behind them that might have hidden a screen. Those who enjoy watching The Actor's Studio on cable will certainly enjoy this supplement.

In the featurette called The Visual Effects of The Aviator (12:01), visual effects supervisor Robert Legato describes the special effects used for all the aircraft that enhanced the production, and more. Subtle CGI effects - you know, the effects that you didn't notice - are also touched upon. The highlight of the piece for me involves the blend of practical and CGI work that recreated the flight of the Spruce Goose.

The next three short featurettes highlight behind the scenes skills. For the production design, Constructing The Aviator: The Work of Dante Ferretti (6:00) places the emphasis on how the highly detailed reproduction of the period was accomplished. Similarly, Costuming The Aviator: The Work of Sandy Powell (3:35) is a featurette that highlights the costume design. And in The Age of Glamour: The Hair and Makeup of The Aviator (8:08), makeup artist Morag Ross and hair stylist Kathryn Blondell describe their participation in the film.

In Scoring The Aviator: The Work of Howard Shore (7:14), the composer discusses his process and how he was able to blend the director's desire to incorporate classical music with his own orchestral creations. As a film score buff, I'm always delighted when a fine composer is given the opportunity to share his approach.

The Wainwright Family - Loudon, Rufus and Martha (5:07) introduces us to the three members of the Wainwright family who appeared in the film as the only three featured singers heard. I have to admit that I found this particular short to be a bit much, a drilldown into minutia. You may find it of modest interest.

Next is a promo for the film's soundtrack CD, The Aviator Soundtrack Spot (0:18). I somehow missed Shore's scoring work on The Aviator when it was released and now that I've seen the film, I'm inclined to pick it up. But this promo isn't for Shore's orchestral work; it's for the songs from the period. Keep in mind that the score is available on a different CD.

Finally, we have a Stills Gallery. This is a remarkably generous collection of 177 photos from behind the scenes, portraits, publicity shots, and perhaps continuity photos.

The 170-minute film is organized into thirty-two chapters.

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?

There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.

Final Thoughts

This is a thoroughly enjoyable biopic of a fascinating icon of the twentieth century. The film offers superb production values, excellent performances, and fine direction. The transfer is terrific considering the film's length, and the supplements are very generous. Highly recommended.

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