A Return To When Cinema Had “The Right Stuff”

Sam Shepard; Ed Harris; Dennis Quaid; Scott Glenn; Barbara Hershey; Jeff Goldblum; Levon Helm. These names represent both the famous and the legendary. Some are even immortalized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. All starred in the 1983 classic, The Right Stuff, a cinematic masterpiece based in aviation and space exploration that both encompasses and redefines patriotism, friendship, camaraderie, and the American spirit.

Based on the book of the same title by Tom Wolfe and directed by Philip Kaufman, The Right Stuff is most definitely among my top five favorite movies of all time, and I believe it deserves a great deal more renown than that which it has obtained. Indeed, though seemingly forgotten, this jewel of a film has aged seamlessly with extraordinary acting and special effects.

The movie spans the first 15 years of the U.S. space program, and it chronicles both the U.S.-Russia “Space Race” and the early pioneers of supersonic aviation. Since I was five years old, my favorite airplane was the orange Bell X-1 rocket plane – now hanging in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. – that was the first to break the sound barrier (Mach 1) on October 14, 1947. I was first drawn to The Right Stuff when I learned that the X-1 featured prominently in the film; however, though the X-1 remains my favorite plane, I now rewatch The Right Stuff to revisit its fantastic performances and its gritty, human storylines.

The Right Stuff opens in the Southern California desert as test pilot Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager (Sam Shepard) becomes the first to fly faster than sound in the X-1. The grounded, unbreakable friendships between Yeager, his Air Force partner, Jack Ridley (Levon Helm), and his wife, Glennis, quickly become evident. Scenes featuring Yeager and Glennis on horseback grant the film a personal, “salt of the earth” feel, and they offer a return to the post-war heartland of America.

The film’s emphasis on the camaraderie between characters is essential to its theme: that everyday men can be (and were) heroes. The Right Stuff effortlessly alternates between Yeager’s test pilot world in California and the Mercury astronauts’ first exploits – the first days of NASA – in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Leading the charge among the Mercury astronauts is Ed Harris as the handsome, talented, and widely popular John Glenn. The film thrives in depicting Glenn’s relationship with his loving wife, Annie (Mary Jo Deschanel), who possesses a clear stutter and speech impediment. Harris’ acting brilliance comes to full fruition when Glenn tells Annie that he will support her unequivocally if she stands her ground and sends the television cameras, as well as then-Vice President Lyndon Johnson (whose raging temper is portrayed hilariously by Donald Moffat) away.

In addition to the familial tumult of an astronaut’s life, the paradox between the glory and the peril of the job quickly becomes evident. The film’s special effects are sensational, especially during Glenn’s launch and his first few orbits. These scenes feature Glenn watching the beautiful sunrise over Earth before immediately having to reenter the hazardous atmosphere and risk burning up, hence the aforementioned paradox.

Over the course of the film, Yeager and his pal, Ridley, engage in a recurring line of dialogue. Yeager asks Ridley whether he has “any Beeman’s” chewing gum, to which Ridley replies, “Yeah, I might have me a stick,” before the two set out to prepare Yeager for his next, most daring flight. This humorous repetition in the face of mortal danger conveys the notion that friendship can conquer any life challenge, no matter the speed or altitude. The various pre-flight gum conversations, which are both quite funny and perfectly acted, can be viewed here.

In the end, the most triumphant aspect of The Right Stuff is its soundtrack, which I believe to be among the single most underrated movie scores of all time and possibly the greatest ever. Composed by the unrivaled Bill Conti (Rocky, The Karate Kid, For Your Eyes Only), the instrumentation is part-classical chef-d’oeuvre, part-50s rock-and-roll, and wholly American patriotism. Conti’s steady rises and descents – alternating crescendos and diminuendos – culminate in a fanfare for the ages. Conti’s main theme can be found here.

Clocking in at a lengthy three hours and 13 minutes, The Right Stuff it is not the sort of film that is commonplace today. However, while today’s viewers may flock to shorter, “shoot-em’-up” action films for mere entertainment, The Right Stuff is a movie that all viewers can enjoy – as both entertainment and an allegory on the human condition and the American spirit.

Nominated for eight Academy Awards in 1984, The Right Stuff won three: Best Original Music Score for Conti, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing. The film was nominated for Best Picture, and Sam Shepard was also nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Unanimously praised by critics – see its astounding 98 percent rating on aggregate review site, Rotten Tomatoes – The Right Stuff is a cinematic masterpiece that will not be forgotten, and that will continue to inspire Americans such as myself for generations to come.

 

Verdict: Though I would like my reviews to become more strict (critical), this film is too good for it not to receive a perfect grade of four stars.

Image Credits (in order of appearance):

1.) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086197/

2.) https://hiveminer.com/Tags/1,nasm/Timeline

3.)http://blog.al.com/breaking/2010/04/tomas_olfe_author_of_the_right.html

4.) https://docublogger.typepad.com/barn_movie/2017/01/film-critic-linda-cook-gives-4-out-of-4-stars-to-the-barn-raisers.html