“The Right Stuff” is an epic historical drama movie chronicling the first fifteen years of America’s space program, including depiction of the first test pilots and their achievements as well as glimpses into their personal lives. Director-screenwriter Philip Kaufman (“Invasion of the Body Snatchers” 1978) put together a comprehensive film about early NASA, which has a fast-moving three hour and twelve minute running time, adapted from the 1978 novel of the same name by Tom Wolfe.
The large cast delivered acceptable performances which includes Sam Shepard as Chuck Yeager, Fred Ward as Virgil Grissom, Dennis Quaid as Gordon Cooper, Ed Harris as John Glenn, Lance Henriksen as Walter Schirra, Scott Paulin as Donald Slayton, Scott Beach as Wernher von Braun, Donald Moffat as Senator Lyndon Johnson, and Robert Beer as President Dwight Eisenhower. Other actors are Barbara Hershey, Veronica Cartwright, Kim Stanley, Jeff Goldblum, Harry Shearer, Kathy Baker, Royal Dano, John Dehner, Chuck Yeager, Pamela Reed, and Eric Sevareid as himself. This was Kim Stanley’s final motion picture appearance.
The watchable movie “The Right Stuff” was a box office bomb for The Ladd Company and Warner Bros. Pictures. The Ladd Company essentially went out of business as a result. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning four: Best Original Score (Bill Conti), Best Film Editing, Best Sound, and Best Sound Effects Editing. The four non-winners were Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Shepard), Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography (Caleb Deschanel).
The Right Stuff (1983)
cinema
My Review
“The Right Stuff” is an epic historical drama movie chronicling the first fifteen years of America’s space program, including depiction of the first test pilots and their achievements as well as glimpses into their personal lives. Director-screenwriter Philip Kaufman (“Invasion of the Body Snatchers” 1978) put together a comprehensive film about early NASA, which has a fast-moving three hour and twelve minute running time, adapted from the 1978 novel of the same name by Tom Wolfe.
The large cast delivered acceptable performances which includes Sam Shepard as Chuck Yeager, Fred Ward as Virgil Grissom, Dennis Quaid as Gordon Cooper, Ed Harris as John Glenn, Lance Henriksen as Walter Schirra, Scott Paulin as Donald Slayton, Scott Beach as Wernher von Braun, Donald Moffat as Senator Lyndon Johnson, and Robert Beer as President Dwight Eisenhower. Other actors are Barbara Hershey, Veronica Cartwright, Kim Stanley, Jeff Goldblum, Harry Shearer, Kathy Baker, Royal Dano, John Dehner, Chuck Yeager, Pamela Reed, and Eric Sevareid as himself. This was Kim Stanley’s final motion picture appearance.
The watchable movie “The Right Stuff” was a box office bomb for The Ladd Company and Warner Bros. Pictures. The Ladd Company essentially went out of business as a result. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning four: Best Original Score (Bill Conti), Best Film Editing, Best Sound, and Best Sound Effects Editing. The four non-winners were Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Shepard), Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography (Caleb Deschanel).