The Right Stuff

[dangermousie]

Mr. Mousie and I just finished watching The Right Stuff, a 1980s movie adaptation of one of my favorite books, Tom Wolfe's non-fiction account of the first Americans in space and the start of the space program.

I loved the movie, but I think it was more, much more, than because it was a well-made movie. It just touched so many very personal things for me: my love of science fiction and the way I believed when I was a kid in the 80s that when I was grown-up there would be people living in space and space travel. My childhood, childish dream to be a cosmonaut (if Valentina Tereshkova could do it, why not me?), even my near-certainty, when a child, that I would be a sicentist, or lead a life full of hair-raising adventure. But above all, of all these enormous spaceman-type possibilities out there, entirely within reach. The movie made me feel a wide-eyed kid again - it had that sense of excitement. It brought my childhood back to me.

I have no idea how well the movie would work for other people. As I said, its effect on me was tied with so many personal things. But I did love it and recommend it.

Oh, and on a more shallow note, I have such a crush on Sam Shepard's Chuck Yeager - who the movie (and the book) portrayed as the truest test pilot of them all, in a sense - someone who did not go for the space program which did not involve much test piloting even if it involved a lot of glamor, but who stuck to doing what he loved and did best - flying.

And now I need to go read some scifi. Probably Stanislaw Lem.

Comments

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen that movie in years, and I still remember adoring it. *happysigh*

My dad made us watch it when we were little (made, because at that age, a three-hour movie didn't exactly hold our attention, though I think we did enjoy it). I used to have a VHS taped off tv copy that never actually got re-watched.

And I did want to be an astronaut when I was young. I thought it was awesome--it helped that for a short time, my dad worked for the space program and so we were right there, though I will freely admit, after you've seen a couple shuttle launches, they sort of get a little boring. Night launches will always be awesome.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

So jealous - I have never ever seen any launches.

[clairiere.livejournal.com]

Oh The Right Stuff is one of my all-time favorites. I came across by accident on cable but fell in love head over heels. (I now own the 2-disc 20th anniversary special edition.) What reeled me in was the humor and satire (such a stark contrast to the other space program-based movies or TV adaptations), but I fell in love with everyone & everything by the end of the film. It's just so pitch-perfect in every way, a film which has you in stitches with its comedy and takes your breath away with its lyricism... sometimes you wonder how was it ever 'made.'

Oh, and on a more shallow note, I have such a crush on Sam Shepard's Chuck Yeager - who the movie (and the book) portrayed as the truest test pilot of them all, in a sense - someone who did not go for the space program which did not involve much test piloting even if it involved a lot of glamor, but who stuck to doing what he loved and did best - flying.

I think everyone had a crush on Sam Shepard/Yeager, even the other test pilots. And although he and Barbara Hershey didn't share many scenes, they were very believable as a hot couple.

But The Right Stuff is truly a team effort, hard to imagine another film with such a well-rounded cast: Shepard, Hershey, Dennis Quaid, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Fred Ward, Pamela Reed, Veronica Cartwright, Jeff Goldblum, Harry Shearer, ...

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I own that dvd edition too. Such a perfect movie - I wonder how it could have lost Best Pic.