The Right Stuff

Rating:
Summary: A unique film about unique events involving unique persons
Review: The Right Stuff is a unique film about unique events involving unique persons. It has an atmosphere, style and intelligence you can't get out of your mind. The casting is perfect. The story is thrusting onward without a minute wasted (and it's 3+ hours), no cliches and bleeding hearts. But my heart was bleeding when it was over because I could have taken 3 hours more. It's ranking with 2001 and Once upon a time in America in my top-3. For all interested in jets Chuck Yeager is the ultimate hero. The first part of the film is centered around his breaking of the sound barrier and the intensity is breathtaking in every way.

Rating:
Summary: one of the underrated movies of the eighties
Review: This movie is one of those which had a great deal of "hype" surrounding it when it came out--most of which was well-deserved. Why it failed to be a hit is something I cannot understand--it had an excellent cast and was one of the best-written films I've ever seen. At any rate, the DVD version of "The Right Stuff" is quite wonderful--the video is crisp and if you have the proper sound system, you'll feel like you're at Cape Canaveral!

Rating:
Summary: Film combines heroism, patriotism and sense of awe
Review: At three hours, this movie has so much to offer that the time flies by. A tremendous ensemble cast with Sam Shepphard, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, Scott Glenn to name a few. The flying sequences are incredible and the human interest stories are varied and riveting. This is a story of true American heroes and if you were around during Mercury, you will remember that era with pride. This is a must see.

Rating:
Summary: FABULOUS
Review: "The Right Stuff", based on Tom Wolfe's book and directed by Phillip Kaufman, was a wonderful American story about the Mercury space program that told the tale of U.S. pilots just brimming with gusto, bravado and...the right stuff.

STEVEN TRAVERS
AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"
[e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: well done
Review: Hollywood has mostly ignored one of the most dramatic events of the modern age, the space program. It's been willing to lavish millions on sci-fi and fantasy but has been meager in detailing the real drama. Tom Wolfe's marvelous book has been captured in this film with the same blend of irony, whimsy, humor and real drama.
The astronauts were accidental heroes, men who never expected to be elevated to such a public Olympus. They were never what the PR machine promoted but they got the job done and eventually earned the heroic status they were automatically granted by the propaganda machine of the time.
An interesting film that genuinely manages to distill out the essence of the 'right stuff.'

Rating:
Summary: HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM....
Review: A couple of years ago, when this film first came out on DVD I complained that it was not in "true" widescreen, only 1.85 instead of 2.35. Then when they came out with the two-disc DVD in "2.35" I BOUGHT IT! I discovered that it was STILL IN 1.85. I complained to Amazon. That was the first review I had ever written to Amazon. Amazon chose not to show my review. Why?, I wondered. Still not sure. I'll wait to see if they print this one.

Only the first few minutes--the devil in the sky section--appeared that it might turn into 2.35----it didn't. Now I own two copies of virtually the same movie.

(I'm giving the movie three stars--not for the actual movie, which is GREAT and deserves 5 stars+----but only the DVD.)

I was so shocked to see that it STILL IS ONLY 1.85 not the 2.35 indicated by AMAZON!!! The box doesn't even define it: only shows "widescreen preserving the original theatrical presentation" stuff.

WHAT GIVES??? I KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.

If anyone out there knows what's going on, please reply! If this movie was only shot in 1.85----that's cool. I can handle it. BUT, if it was shot in 2.35 (as I thought it was), Houston, we have a problem!

Please respond and let me KNOW THE TRUTH!

Thanks.

Rating:
Summary: Good But Rating Needs Looking At!
Review: I was very impressed with this movie and the concept of it. However some parts are really un-historical.

The biggest problem I had with this movie is the fact that the rating does not at all reflect the content of this movie. Unsure what the error in this was but for parents you need not show this to younger kids. In my opinion by todays standards this would be an "R" rating. Multiple uses of the F word. Along with some other swear words. Some full side body nudity. And a few other things that I won't go into detail in.

My opinion Good Movie, Not For Kids!

Rating:
Summary: Good Entertainment, But Not Factual At Times...
Review: As a huge fan of the manned space program, I recall being most anxious to see this film when it was released. I was somewhat disappointed, I suppose, at some of the historical inaccuracies in it. Alan Shephard's name wasn't withheld until the last moment, nor was John Glenn's flight ever scheduled for 7 orbits. (NASA controlers did inform Glenn that "he was go for at least 7 orbits." This however, only meant that his orbital trajectory was good enough to sustain, without correction, to last for 7 orbits. The flight was scheduled from the beginning, for 3.) But looking at the film from purely an entertaining point of view, I probably should have given it at least a four. I particularly enjoyed Scott Glenn and Dennis Quaid. And many other things were accurate...I believe NASA went ahead with the Atlas before they were comfortable in doing so. Probably the second riskiest thing NASA ever did was launch Glenn into orbit on top of the Atlas when they did. And the selection process was quite exhausting, to say the least. I enjoyed the scenes from early Edwards AFB, how all the Yeagers and Crossfields were in a tight little clique, and how hard it was for the new "hot dogs" to gain acceptance from them. Even though the movie was long, there was so much more that could have been dealt with. Scott Carpenter's flight would have been right up the alley for this movie. He was so enchanted with what he was involved in that he lost track of why he was supposed to be there and exhausted his fuel supply. Making a manual retro-fire, he missed his landing area by over 300 miles, and a nation was held captive to the television waiting for news on the fate of Carpenter. Wneh he was finally located, he was in his raft like he was on a Sunday afternoon trip down the local creek, wondering what all the fuss was over. If you're a stickler for detail, then a made-for-tv movie called "Moon Shot" many be more for you. But all in all, I enjoyed The Right Stuff enough that I bought it for my collection.

Rating:
Summary: well done
Review: Hollywood has mostly ignored one of the most dramatic events of the modern age, the space program. It's been willing to lavish millions on sci-fi and fantasy but has been meager in detailing the real drama. Tom Wolfe's marvelous book has been captured in this film with the same blend of irony, whimsy, humor and real drama.
The astronauts were accidental heroes, men who never expected to be elevated to such a public Olympus. They were never what the PR machine promoted but they got the job done and eventually earned the heroic status they were automatically granted by the propaganda machine of the time.
An interesting film that genuinely manages to distill out the essence of the 'right stuff.'

Rating:
Summary: The Greatest American Epic
Review: The fact that "The Right Stuff" lost the Oscar for best picture to "Terms Of Endearment" is beyond me; this movie should have won. The fact that it wasn't a hit at the box office back in 1983 is also beyond me. We are talking about what I think it's the best American epic in all the sense of the word.
It's strange that a Venezuelan-born like me should talk about a movie like this, but I feel that "The Right Stuff" should have been a classic -well, it is for me. The story of the "Mercury" astronauts is portrayed marvelously by Philip Kaufman's direction, showcased beautifully by Caleb Deschanel's stylish photography, and supported by an incredible cast including Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Barbara Hershey, Sam Shepard, Pamela Reed, Kim Stanley, and Veronica Cartwright.
In fact, I remember when I was watching that movie at home, and my late father asked me if a man that appeared on the screen was astronaut John Glenn because he looked just like him. Of course I told him he was an actor who was playing his role. That said, it's incredible to see how Ed Harris is perfectly cast as Glenn.
And I don't want to forget one of the reasons why I love this movie, and that's Bill Conti's spectacular music score. Of course it may sound a little like Holst's "The Planets", but I usually weep every time I listen to the main theme.
I'm glad that a special edition DVD of "The Right Stuff" has been released, with fantastic extras that include new interviews with the cast and crew, deleted scenes, and an incredible documentary on John Glenn. I'm also glad about it because I think that this movie should be rightfully appreciated not only because it deals with historical events like the breaking of the sound barrier and the first American astronauts, but also because, as I said before, this is a classic.