IMDb > The Right Stuff (1983)
The Right Stuff
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The Right Stuff (1983) More at IMDbPro »

Videos (see all 3 NEW)
The Right Stuff (1983) -- The original US Mercury 7 astronauts and their macho, seat-of-the-pants approach to the space program.
The Right Stuff (1983) -- ZuGuide.com - Trailer (Flash)
The Right Stuff (1983) -- MattTrailer.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
7.9/10   22,954 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 18% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Philip Kaufman
Writers:
Tom Wolfe (book)
Philip Kaufman (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Right Stuff on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
21 October 1983 (USA) more
Tagline:
They were ordinary men and women who shared a common ambition and what they achieved together captured the imagination of the world [UK Theatrical] more
Plot:
The original US Mercury 7 astronauts and their macho, seat-of-the-pants approach to the space program. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Won 4 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 11 nominations more
User Comments:
Real Heroes, And An Era That Went By All Too Fast more (145 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

Runtime:
193 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English | Russian
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Allegedly composer Bill Conti wrote about three different scores for this film. The first consisting of his own original work. The second one being one that featured Holst's The Planets as inspiration. The final score purely copied the film's temp track which was primarily The Planet's peace under the condition that if 'Philip Kaufman' used that portion of the score he would've had to credit Gustav Holst, the real composer of the music knowing that he was plagiarizing it for Kaufman's benefit and did not want to take credit for something that was written by someone else. They had a compromise in the end, using the middle score that Conti wrote inspired by Holst, and the incorporation of "Wild Blue Yonder" during the Yeagher's Triumph sequence and Henry Mancini's White Dawn track stayed in the film. Conti would go on to win for Best Original score despite the fact that it was somewhat of an adaptation of The Planets. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: During some of the failed shuttle launches at Cape Canaveral, what the ground crew are watching is clearly footage of the real events and not an actual explosion. The picture quality is noticeably different and grainier. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Narrator: There was a demon that lived in the air. They said whoever challenged him would die. Their controls would freeze up, their planes would buffet wildly, and they would disintegrate. The demon lived at Mach 1 on the meter, seven hundred and fifty miles an hour, where the air could no longer move out of the way. He lived behind a barrier through which they said no man could ever pass. They called it the sound barrier.
more
Movie Connections:
Spoofed in Disaster! (2005) more
Soundtrack:
The U.S. Air Force more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
23 out of 25 people found the following comment useful.
Real Heroes, And An Era That Went By All Too Fast, 27 May 2006
8/10
Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

An interesting insight into the United States' space program, beginning with the exploits of fighter pilot Chuck Yeager (Sam Shephard) and concluding with the dramatic flights of the first astronauts.

Those astronauts - the Mercury 7 pilots - are a varied group of aviators and they are all pretty interesting guys. John Glenn (Ed Harris) gets favorable treatment in here among the group. Gordon Cooper might be the wildest with the cocky and humorous Dennis Quaid playing him. Overall, it's a good cast including not just the fliers but their wives. I also enjoyed Scott Glenn as Alan Shepard and Barbara Hershey as Yeager's wife.

Yeager's feats were perhaps the most interesting and they set a fast tone to this 3-hour film as we witness him breaking several sound-barrier records prior to the formation of the astronaut team. Then we are treated to a long-but-interesting segment of how those first astronauts were trained.

The only unnecessary and ludicrous parts of this film were the ones on Lyndon Johnson, where they made him into a total fool. It was as if the screen writers had a personal vendetta against him, to make him look almost like a cartoon figure. And the bit with the Australian Aborigines smacks too much of Hollywood's love affair with tribal religions. I sincerely doubt some sparks from a fire on earth could be seen miles and miles above in space.

At any rate, this was an informative look at a period in our history than came-and-went way too fast. Sad to say, most people know very little about those first astronauts, who were true heroes. At least this film gives them their due, as well as to Yeager, who deserved this tribute, too

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Message Boards

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The Right Stuff's historical verasity JRBARRETT101
Bill Conti's music now available on CD fawvincent
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Shepherd and Glenn ralsalongi
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This or Apollo 13? Svennisnoken
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