In a sentenceGetting into space looks difficult enough without having to be a national hero in the afternoon
Chuck Yeager (Alan Shepard) works as a test pilot as the American space programme begins to turn pilots into public figures. Among the Mercury astronauts are Alan Shepard (John Glenn), John Glenn (Ed Harris) and Gordon Cooper (Dennis Quaid), men whose training and ambitions become part of a national spectacle. Philip Kaufman’s film follows the demands of flying, the rivalry between men pushing their limits and the attention that comes with being held up as a hero. Their families also face the risks and pressures of careers that leave little room for ordinary domestic life.
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Philip Kaufman’s account of test pilots and the Mercury astronauts is a stirring, funny film, even when its satire becomes heavy-handed. Alan Shepard’s Chuck Yeager deserves every minute the film gives him.
The Right Stuff takes an unusually generous view of people who want to do something dangerous well. Philip Kaufman’s film about test pilots and the Mercury astronauts has room for vanity, competition and the absurdity of public adoration, without making courage look foolish. We recommend it warmly, with a warning that the comedy sometimes becomes laboured. Its 193 minutes give the flying, the training and the strain on families time to matter, although Kaufman does not make every minute feel necessary.
Alan Shepard’s Chuck Yeager supplies much of the film’s authority. His restraint gives us room to appreciate the skill and self-possession without being told how impressive they are, and he makes a dangerous occupation seem like work someone intends to do properly. Ed Harris as John Glenn, John Glenn as Alan Shepard and Dennis Quaid as Gordon Cooper keep the astronaut ensemble from becoming a procession of solemn worthies. Still, Shepard is the actor we most want Kaufman to stay with.
Caleb Deschanel’s cinematography gives the flying a clarity that lets us appreciate the pilots’ skill. We found ourselves tensing during the flights because the footage makes the danger so credible. Geoffrey Kirkland’s production design gives the hardware a solidity that supports that response; it feels like equipment for demanding work, not a display put there for our admiration. The scale is pleasurable, and Kaufman gives us time to enjoy the flying while keeping us interested in the pilots.
Five editors share the credit: Tom Rolf, Douglas Stewart, Stephen A. Rotter, Glenn Farr and Lisa Fruchtman. Their work keeps the switches between risk, family strain and publicity intelligible, a considerable service in a film with so many people to follow. Bill Conti’s music allows itself the enthusiasm that the men often hold back, and we are happy to be carried along by it. At times the score and the spectacle press the same point too firmly; the bravery is already apparent, and it needs less musical encouragement than it gets.
The family material gives Kaufman’s screenplay something more difficult to handle than professional rivalry. Barbara Hershey as Glennis Yeager, Veronica Cartwright as Betty Grissom and Pamela Reed as Trudy Cooper make the strain of living beside this work worth our attention. Their performances resist the comfortable assumption that loving a brave man makes the consequences easy to bear. Even so, the balance remains uneven: the film is more interested in the men doing the dangerous work than in the women who have to live with it.
Kaufman adapts Tom Wolfe with an appetite for the ridiculous, particularly the publicity surrounding the astronauts. The fuss occasionally goes on after we have understood the joke, and the quieter performances begin to seem more persuasive by comparison. As a film about pioneers, The Right Stuff draws on the Western’s respect for competence and its interest in men who say little about themselves. That helps explain why Yeager is such a strong presence, though the film’s affection for him also makes the noisier passages feel a little overdone.
Set aside the full evening for this one. An interest in aircraft is optional, though a tolerance for broad comedy will help. We would make the tea before pressing play.
The reviews are unanimous, with all fourteen critics positive and most placing the film near the top of their range. The praise clusters on Philip Kaufman’s handling of Tom Wolfe’s book: keeping its irreverent, ironic view of hero-making while still honouring the astronauts’ bravery. Sam Shepard’s Chuck Yeager is singled out again and again as the film’s quiet centre, and the flight footage is repeatedly called convincing enough to make speed and altitude feel dangerous. Several later critics treat it as the template every subsequent astronaut film has followed.
The reservations are few and concern shape rather than substance. The New Yorker finds it a stirring but untidy film with structural weaknesses and little coherence, while Empire thinks it lacks a clear directorial voice and survives on its inherent drama, photography and score. Nobody disputes that the three hours are earned. The spread is narrow, from warm to rapturous, and even the dissenters still recommend it.
Ebert calls the film one of the best recent American movies for its ambitious scope blending adventure, satire and social commentary, and for its strong performances that announce Kaufman's arrival as a major director.
Read the full review →The critic calls Kaufman's epic stirring and dynamic, noting how it ties the astronauts' quests for glory and personal fulfillment to the thrill of pushing limits and the fear of being second best. Special admiration is reserved for Yeager as the true pioneer, with the film blending irony, humor, and poignancy in its portrayal of the space race.
Read the full review →The review lauds Kaufman's adaptation for its subversive, ironic take on hero-making and the space program, preserving the irreverent tone of Wolfe's book while celebrating the astronauts' bravery and Yeager's quiet heroism. It highlights the film's blend of intimacy, grandeur, and revisionist history as one of the decade's richest achievements.
Read the full review →Philip Kaufman's 1983 film is a terrific historical drama about the early US space race and Mercury Seven astronauts, accurately reflective of complex reality while being beautifully filmed with wit, energy and balance. It singles out the authentic portrayal of test pilot Chuck Yeager and the pressures on the astronauts for particular praise.
Read the full review →The critic praises the film as a vivid and personal American epic that humanizes the Mercury astronauts and test pilots through their training, risks, and family struggles. Philip Kaufman's script and direction are credited for balancing heroism with toughness and humor while showcasing spectacular flight footage.
Read the full review →Canby describes the adaptation as a rousing, funny film that is probably the brightest and best rookie/cadet movie ever made, singling out Sam Shepard's Yeager as the commanding figure and the remarkably convincing flight footage.
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Apollo 13Another absorbing account of skilled people solving problems while everyone else watches.
The First of the Few · not reviewed yetAircraft design and stubborn conviction, with a quieter sense of national purpose.
The Wages of FearDangerous work, male rivalry and machinery that refuses to forgive a mistake.
The Dish · not reviewed yetA gentler space programme comedy, attentive to the people outside the photographs.
Wings · not reviewed yetA former pilot’s earthbound life gives the longing for flight a different weight.
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