The Right Stuff

To think that this film did not do well at the box office almost seems ironic - as if the US and world audience wasn’t prepared for such a journey... and it easily could have been nothing more than a flop of a documentary. But the precision acting and scripting, along with stunning and creative visual effects makes even this longer-than-average movie seem to effortlessly ‘fly’ by. There’s something for everyone in this movie; history buffs and action adventure fans alike. I especially enjoyed the cameos of the amazing Chuck Yeager as the local air force dive bar bartender.

I remember when it came out but never watched it, now I have. It's good but 3+ hrs long so be rested and ready. I enjoyed the story of how the space program progressed because as a kid the events were so hyped we never knew how it came to be. These guys were treated like god's. This shows they were very human even if they had egos as big as space. They probably needed that much ego to sit on top of one of those candles and get their hind end blasted into space not knowing for sure they'd get back. Heros yes, but they are the definition of dare devils.

This, along with the miniseries, From the Earth to the Moon, is one of the most important films about the US space program. Much of it revolves around the Happy Bottom Riding Club and its proprietor, Pancho Barnes. There is a great deal of info available on Panch and her club on the Internet and, as it would provide some valuable and interesting background information, this writer strongly suggest that the viewer read up a bit and view some of the many photos before watching The Right Stuff. It really is not all that ancient. As of this writing, Chuck Yeager (played by Sam Sheaerd in this film) is still with us, as are a number of the original Mercury astronauts. As for the movie, it really is a great one, particularly as it shows the modern viewer where the space program came from and why it was such a significant part of the American culture of the baby boom era.

Love this movie. We dont make men like Yeager anymore.

This is one of the best movies I have ever seen, incredible on all levels.

I read the book several years ago and the movie is very close to the book...leaving out a few of the parts that wouldn't be appropriate for a movie. It's a great movie with alot of history buried into the movie...a definite must-have for a movie collection.

My List: 1. Amadeus 2. Star Wars ( Empire Strikes Back) 3. Aliens 4. Raging Bull 5. The Right Stuff

This review is an excerpt from my book “Killer B’s: The 237 Best Movies On Video You’ve (Probably) Never Seen,” which is available as an ebook on iBooks. If you enjoy this review, there are 236 more like it in the book (plus a whole lot more). Check it out! THE RIGHT STUFF: An undertaking as epic as our first steps off the planet certainly deserves an epic film. This is it. And yet it’s more than just a slice of history; it’s history put into perspective. On one hand, it’s the story of the “changing of the guard,” from rugged individualist, “lone cowboy” heroes like Yeager (who rigs a makeshift door handle for his jet plane from a broomstick minutes before a flight) to the Government-approved, high profile, hi-tech triumph of teamwork over individual accomplishment. In this sense, it’s an elegy to the passing of the jet torch from one era of rocket jockeys to the next generation, and it’s a wonderfully touching film. If Kaufmann were to recut the movie to include only Yeager’s story—his flying triumphs; his tender, unspoken understanding with his wife (Hershey); his wistful reactions to the accomplishments of the astronauts—he’d still have a fabulous feature, full of excitement and emotion. But the story of this historical transition composes only about a third of the film. The rest is devoted to the seven original astronauts. We go behind the scenes, behind the headlines, behind the hype, discovering that their story is rarely the PR dream “Life” magazine had us believe—but it’s all the more fascinating for being so fully human. The three hour-plus length of the film allows time to establish many of the seven as real personalities: Shepard, the joker; Glenn, the smarmy Boy Scout; “Gordo” Cooper, the hot dog hotshot, and so on. And we get some insight into the lives of the wives—and of the wive’s nightmares: Never provided with “lessons in bravery,” they’re forced to share their anxiety with the world, gracefully, all the while waiting with baited breath to discover whether they’ll ever see their men again. The ensemble acting is uniformly superb. It’s a very funny film as well. Jeff Goldblum and Harry Shearer wander through the second act like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, providing comic relief, for example. The Cape Canaveral antics of the men are a source of great amusement, as are the wretched tests—and only a serious film could pull off (so to speak) a sperm-sample scene as rasty as this one, or spend five minutes illustrating how Shepard almost scrubbed his historic first flight by “soiling himself.” Since it’s history, there are few surprises and little suspense—yet it’s never dull. As the human side of an epic adventure, there is great emotion, drama, humor and even a touch of tragedy. “The Right Stuff” is a majestic, triumphal, often exhilarating film—and as expansive a saga of the bright side of America as “The Godfather” trilogy is of our dark national shadow.

This is one of my favorite movies but unfortunately the picture quality in the 1080p version is very poor. It looks like the SD or 720p version has been up-scaled to 1080p. Watching it on a full HD screen, pixelation is evident. Knocking two starts of my rating due to this.

History does not support Mr. Wolfe's supposition and judgement of Gus Grissom,, whom he depicted as "Mr. Squirming Hatch-blower." The technical evaluation of the MR-2 spacecraft proved that a so-called "sneak circuit" could and in fact did cause the main hatch to blow without Grissom triggering the mechanism by pushing on the activation plunger -- had he done that, Grissom would have been injured when the squib fired. Grissom showed no such marks, bruises or lacerations. The NASA technical committee investigating the accident and loss of the spacecraft proved beyond a doubt Grissom's adherence to standard operating procedure with regard to the hatch: Wolfe had the evidence available to him before submitting his final draft of his book and chose to ignore the truth. Indeed, had Grissom been responsible for the accident, he would never have flown again as several other astronauts (such as Scott Carpenter) learned. Chris Kraft would have refused to fly Grissom again had he had the slightest doubt about Grissom's involvement in this accident. As such, the historical inaccuracy taints what was otherwise a technical masterpiece.