Is this worth watching - The Right Stuff (1984) Discussion

[–] duckofprey (1538) a year ago

Life expectancy for most people is over 70.
You can spare 180 minutes :-)

I liked it, but then I grew up in the 60s and the astronauts were my heroes.

Note that it starts out about Chuck Yeager, then gets into how the Mercury 7 came to be.

Give it a shot! :-)

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[–] Poozer91 (575) a year ago

Just got done watching it. I loved it! The three hours flew by. It sucks that this movie bombed at the box office. This should have been a hit. Thank you for the awesome recommendation.

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[–] thingmakersback (1194) a year ago

If you even remotely care about the early days of the manned space program and want to see a remarkable ensemble adventure placed firmly in that setting... Yeah! I think it's amazing.

And the effects (it is not effects heavy) are quite excellent, so they do not let it down.

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[–] MartyDeniro (4046) a year ago

Yes

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[–] Otter (24464) a year ago

Hell yeah! It's a great movie!

One of those rare historical films that is very accurate by the standards of historical movies, but which has a hell of a lot of fun with the subject matter. This is no stodgy hagiography, it's fun - loaded with adventure and humor and absurd things that actually happened, and courage and invention and awesomeness! Excellent direction and performances as well, this film made Ed Harris's career for a reason, and everyone in the large ensemble cast is fantastic. Highly, HIGHLY recommended.

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[–] ccr1633 (1424) a year ago

Couldn't agree more. Add to that some patented artistic touches by Philip Kaufman and you've got a unique film that is much more than mere biography. For instance, the strange connection between the Australian aborigine rituals and the firefly-like sparks that John Glenn claimed to have observed in orbit. Kaufman loads the film with these unusual spiritual connections between the western man's yearning to explore outer space (and for speed) and various mystical practices nominally rooted in the same quest to understand our place in the universe. As a biographical account this film is highly entertaining in that alone, but these extra flourishes Kaufman adds, not altogether different from what he did with Invasion of the Body Snatchers, are what thrusts this film far beyond Hollywood toward the outer rim of the cosmic microwave background. These touches probably also account for why The Right Stuff was a box office failure. I would guess that many people prefer a tale like this to be told more straightforwardly. Most likely Kaufman did his best to retain the flavor of Tom Wolfe's book, but I can't say as I never read it.

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[–] Otter (24464) a year ago

I'm old enough to have seen the movie in the theater, and FYI back in the day the buzz was that the film failed at the box office because it was seen as a promo for John Glenn's 1984 presidential campaign. But it made Ed Harris's career anyway, and has totally stood the test of time, and I hope it's made a profit over the years.

It's a terrific film in every possible way. We see these people inventing a whole new field of human endeavor before our eyes, in a way that's as entertaining as hell!

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[–] ccr1633 (1424) a year ago

That's interesting speculation about its box office failure, but I'm skeptical. Did that many people really care that the film might have been promoting Glenn's candidacy? Was he that unpopular by this time, or did a large swath of potential moviegoers object in principle? If it's the latter, then I have renewed hope for the USA. It's hard to imagine today's audiences caring at all, unless it starred a truly polarizing figure like Trump or Biden. Any other politician and probably 75% of the country wouldn't have a clue to begin with. The Right Stuff, starring Rand Paul as one of the seven original Mercury astronauts!

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[–] Otter (24464) a year ago

I have no idea whether the thing about Gleen's presidential campaign affecting the movie's box office is true, I can only report that it was said in the day. Because there's probably no real explanation for that, I mean, how to you explain billions of people individually choosing *not* to do something?

Anyway, the film is a fave of mine, I highly recommend it to anyone. It's just delightful!

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[–] [deleted] a year ago

It's actually 3+ hours without a lot of bullshit filler garbage. You may not sit at the edge of your seat but if you're really interest in the subject matter it's engaging.

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[–] ebhaynz (3537) a year ago

I'd say yes, it's a very good adaption of Wolfe's successful novel..it's also a good chunk of late 50's/mid 60's American History(military, space, and political).

So yes, if you're interested in the subject matter it's a good, long watch. It's because of this movie I read Wolfe's book, Yeager's book, and a lot of other military/space related books.

Finally, I'll say that yes, it's too long, but so is the book. There may be scenes that will be hard to figure out what's really going on, but then again that may add to the charm. Overall a rousing good semi-action movie!

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[–] ShogunofYonkers (72081) a year ago

I not only highly recommend the movie but the Tom Wolfe book it’s based upon is a great as well.

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[–] Gd5150 (11049) a year ago

Great movie.

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