Deliberate mistake: During the flight Hughes takes with Katherine Hepburn, they talk to each other in normal, conversational voices. A twin-piston-engined aircraft of that vintage (or any vintage for that matter) is LOUD. We should be able to hear roaring engines, and the two should have to shout at each other to be heard.
The Aviator (2004)
1 deliberate mistake
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Cate Blanchett, John C. Reilly, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Beckinsale, Ian Holm
Continuity mistake: In the dining scene where Howard Hughes' girlfriend has a sundae sitting in front of her, the cherry which is on top of the sundae changes positions in several different shots. First, the stem is turned towards the left, a few shots later, it is turned towards the right, then left again. It also shows up in the bottom of the dish, then in the next shot, it is back on top of the sundae.
Ava Gardner: You listened to my phone calls?
Howard Hughes: No! No! No! Honey I would never do that! I'd never do that! I... I just read the transcripts, that's all.
Trivia: At the Academy Awards, Cate Blanchett became the first Oscar winner to win her award for playing another Oscar winner.
Question: The colors in this film are otherworldly, (almost like the colors in a black and white movie that has been artificially colorized) and could not have been natural or achieved with any net or filter. I'm fairly certain that there is no method of stylized pre-exposure, and digital colorization, while possible, would have been painstaking on such a grand scale. How did they accomplish it?
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Answer: The first sections of the film are shot in two-strip and three-strip technicolor, a common practice in the early versions of color filmmaking that were happening at the time. The scene on the golf course between Howard and Kate Hepburn is a prime example. As far as the later sections of the film, never underestimate the power of digital effects. :)