| The Right Stuff | | Cast : | Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn | | Director : | Philip Kaufman | | Studio : | Warner Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | October 21, 1983 | | DVD Released Date : | February 08, 2005 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 09, 2005 | | Summary | This Space for Rent! | Content
 | THE RIGHT STUFF chronicles the MERCURY space program like FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON did for the APOLLO program. And this 3 hour film could at times have been broken down into different episodes. Director Philip Kaufman has a great handle on the production, bouncing between high adventure, home spun drama and light comedy (Jeff Goldblum and Harry Shearer play roles worthy of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy). Surprisingly light and bouncy, the film avoids being a drama and comes in as a family adventure, one with enough Americana to be brought out every Fourth of July.
The pilots and astronauts put in a great ensemble performance with playwrite SAM SHEPHERD as Chuck Yeager and ED HARRIS as John Glenn giving a much needed depth to the film. Harris' portrayal of Glenn's marriage is one of great over-the-top understanding. The film is filled with a mix of actual NASA footage, miniatures and models (All well done but can't compare with things accomplished today...) This excellent film is at time a bit too quirky, like an overlong mystical visit with some aborogines and a cartoony Lyndon Johnson throwing a huge texas party which includes a rather long "fan dance".
The film transfer is nice but there is nothing extra and since the film is a long one, you do have to flip the disc over during play. This, along with APOLLO 13 and FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON will make for great rainy day Saturday matinee material. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 05, 2005 | | Summary | A Noble Failure | Content
| Philip Kaufman's effort to translate Tom Wolfe's writing to the screen suffers from the same problem as Bonfire of the Vanities: what comes through on the printed page as brilliant and witty prose becomes trite or just plain awkward as dialogue. To Kaufman's credit, he made a conscious decision to emulate Wolfe's style, preserving the flavor that makes the book so engaging, but he also bit off more than he could chew. By attempting to cram every anecdote from the book into his film (as well as adding a few of his own) he has made a movie that just goes on and on . . . and on. No fault in the performances; they're all superb. Ed Harris, Sam Shepard, Fred Ward and Dennis Quaid stand out in an exemplary cast. What bogs the film down is the lack of tight editing. Many sequences could have been tightened or eliminated altogether (the Australian Aborgines' fire somehow creating John Glenn's "fireflies" and the entire Sally Rand fan-dance sequence, to name two obvious examples). Kaufman deserves credit for his effort but ultimately falls short of creating the film The Right Stuff could have been. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 02, 2005 | | Summary | Funny and Informative and Irreverent and Respectful | Content
| This movie is really a nice job on so many levels. It's about test pilots and astronauts and the early days of the space race. It's about humor and risk and fear and courage and love.
I read Wolfe's "The Right Stuff" novel because I never knew the background stories behind selecting the astronauts etc. His mix of humor and drama surprised and intrigued me. Reading about Chuck Yeager led me to read Yeager's biography also, which I highly recommend.
The movie is a perfect multimedia complement to the book. They recreated the look and feel, excitement and anxiety of the Cold War Space Race 60's and added twists of humor and respectful but irreverent digs at how seriously everyone took things.
They found actors that LOOKED like 60's crew-cut clean-marine astronauts, and actresses that LOOKED like 60's pillbox-hat Jackie Kennedy wannabe's. They even found a Lyndon Johnson vice president and Sally Rand fan dancer!
So it's funny and informative and irreverent and respectful. Somehow, through all the foibles of being human, the spirit of pulling together and pulling it out comes through. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 13, 2005 | | Summary | Great for anyone! | Content
| I saw this movie in my AP US History class and I think that this is one of the most complete films concerning the modern-era space program, as the film captures our breaking of the sound barrier, the need for aerial speed, and finally, the space race with Russia. Dennis Quaid is wonderful in THE RIGHT STUFF, many parts had my entire class laughing.Great film for anyone looking for a fun movie about the space program. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 09, 2005 | | Summary | It earned everyone of its Academy Awards | Content
| I show this to my class to show what can be done if one puts ones heart and mind to a project. I have yet to met a class that did not like it. Especially when Gordo Cooper is woken to his blast off. A true classic which I think will stand the test of time! |
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