On A List of Movie Reviews

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The Aviator (1985)

Rate: 7
Viewed: 6/25

Aviator85
6/25: It'll be easy to mistake The Aviator for a biopic about Howard Hughes, but the story is completely different.

Another is the director isn't George Miller of Mad Max fame; it's just a guy who happens to have the same name. Therefore, expectations have been lowered, causing people to miss out on a nice period picture starring Christopher Reeve, Rosanna Arquette, and Jack Warden that's similar to The Purple Plain and Alive as far as surviving a plane crash is concerned. Six wolves are used to provide an additional element of battling nature.

I watched The Bostonians recently and thought Christopher Reeve was being utilized the wrong way. Hence, he has a nice comeback here that's more heroic without stiffening up. Prior to the filming, Christopher Reeve was already a licensed aviator with over 2,000 hours of flying experience, so this was a natural project for him. In one scene, it's easy to tell he actually took off on a plane without any cuts. The rest, they filmed him in air from a helicopter.

Rosanna Arquette is a good actress and I like her, but here, she plays a total bitch. It's difficult to put up with her bratty attitude for a long while. If there's a major reason why people hate the movie, this is it. At least, Christopher Reeve balances her out by giving a credible performance along with the nice scenery which was shot on location in Croatia and Slovenia. Jack Warden steals one scene when he goes into a monologue that includes his leg being made out of Philippine mahogany.

All in all, fans of Christopher Reeve will like The Aviator, but Rosanna Arquette...oh, boy.