OK, I’ll resort to a cheap, Gene Shalit-style, poster-ready praise line: The Aviator flies high!

Martin Scorsese’s epic biopic never crashes like Howard Hughes’ (Leonardo DiCaprio) test plane does during one of the film’s most gripping sequences. Hughes, of course, was a 20th century billionaire who made his mark in both Hollywood and the airline industry before succumbing to crippling OCD and hypochondria to become a total recluse by the time he died in 1976.

In this epic biopic, we join Hughes as a young buck blowing his inherited fortune on a never-ending money pit of a dogfight movie, Hell’s Angels.

The most expensive movie made at that time, it’s a big smash and Hughes starts romancing Hollywood ladies, including Kate Hepburn (Oscar shoo-in Cate Blanchett) and Ava Gardner (a deliciously tart Kate Beckinsale), and decides to revolutionize air travel by buying Trans World Airlines and building groundbreaking military airplanes. These latter activities rile Pan Am honcho Juan Trippe (Alec Baldwin), who, with a crooked Senator, Owen Brewster (Alan Alda), tries to usurp Hughes’ growing empire. As the battle gets nasty Hughes comes crashing down both literally – during a fiery test flight that leaves him badly burned – and figuratively. Can Hughes overcome his personal demons and professional calamities in time to save TWA and prove his mettle as a man?

This is a superb Scorsese work in many regards, showcasing the director’s command of visuals – manipulating colors to reflect different eras, breathtaking use of digital effects, potent compositions – and his work with actors. A passion project for DiCaprio, who became interested in Hughes in 1995, he inhabits his character fully, although I will say his perpetually teenage looks become distracting when Hughes is middle-aged. Still, it’s one of DeCaprio’s best and most adult performances. Blanchett’s channeling of Hepburn is delightful, as is a cameo by Jude Law as Errol Flynn. Apparently taken with the Wainwright clan, Scorsese gives Rufus, sister Martha and father Loudon musical appearances. This flight has a few bumps – stiff Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow, and a not entirely successful change of pacing through the second half – but it’s a glorious top-notch, high altitude ride.