'Aviator' flies high on DVD

Without any hesitation, I would automatically say that Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator" was the best film of last year. Never had I seen Scorsese so passionate in his filmmaking process since "Goodfellas" over a decade ago. Never had I seen a better performance from the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio or Cate Blanchett. And when "Aviator" came out in theaters in December, it was the best early Christmas present a guy like me could ask for.\n"The Aviator" tells the story of Howard Hughes, a man most commonly known for his later stages in life where he lived as a hermit in his Las Vegas penthouse with long hair and even longer fingernails. This is not the Hughes depicted in "Aviator." Instead, the biopic chronicles Hughes' life when he was making Hollywood movies such as "Hell's Angels" and "The Outlaw" and building airplanes that used aviation technology the world had never seen before, all while suffering from a progressing obsessive-compulsive disorder. The film details the many loves of Hughes (DiCaprio) including Katharine Hepburn (Blanchett) and Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale). We also find the story of Hughes to be one of many hardships due to numerous plane crashes which he suffered from greatly and a long battle against Senator Ralph Owen Brewster (Alan Alda) and Pan-Am exec Juan Trippe (Alec Baldwin).\nI've heard many people complain about how "Aviator" does not tell the full story of Howard Hughes, the aforementioned hermit period, and I would tell those people that there was no need to exploit such a time in Hughes' life because that was what he had become known for. No one knew of his genius when it came to being a perfectionist behind the camera and in the cockpit and that is what "Aviator" set out to do.\nThe sucess of "The Aviator" comes from Scorsese and his cast. Not only does Scorsese return to his graceful camera movements but he also pulls out a unique trick by filming certain periods of Hughes' life in Cinecolor and two-strip Technicolor to recreate the cinematic look of the movies of those eras. DiCaprio's performance is easily his career best and is equal parts astonishing and heartbreaking. Blanchett truly becomes Katharine Hepburn down to the slightest mannerism and Beckinsale is gorgeous as Ava Gardner. Alda also scores major points for being cold and calculating. \nThe two-disc DVD set houses the film with commentary by Scorsese, producer Michael Mann and editor Thelma Schoonmaker on the first disc while the second is loaded with supplements. There is a making-of and numerous featurettes which cover every aspect of the film, from musical score to costumes, from production design to visual effects. Two featurettes deal with discussing Hughes' OCD disorder, which provide insight into the disease and how DiCaprio learned to channel it. Much like the "Gangs of New York" DVD, there is a History Channel documentary which gives even more insight into Hughes' entire life. While I wish they would just bundle all these featurettes up into one entire making-of, the extras do total up to be around three hours in length, which I cannot complain about.\nWhile "Aviator" gathered eleven Oscar nominations and took home 5 statues, sadly Scorsese was yet again at a loss when it came to Best Director and Best Picture. But just because he didn't win any statues doesn't make this any lesser of a great film. It is one of Scorsese's finest moments, a film which his love for an era of filmmaking shines brightly, and it takes a place right up there with "Goodfellas," "Raging Bull" and "Taxi Driver." "The Aviator" is a true epic, one that will leave you fascinated and in awe of a man ahead of his time.