The Right Stuff

PG

Released Sep 9, 1983

3h 13m

History

Drama

List

96%

53 Reviews

Tomatometer

90%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

This adaptation of the non-fiction novel by Tom Wolfe chronicles the first 15 years of America's space program. By focusing on the lives of the Mercury astronauts, including John Glenn (Ed Harris) and Alan Shepard (Scott Glenn), the film recounts the dangers and frustrations experienced by those involved with NASA's earliest achievements. It also depicts their family lives and the personal crises they endured during an era of great political turmoil and technological innovation.

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Critics Consensus

The Right Stuff packs a lot of movie into its hefty running time, spinning a colorful, fact-based story out of consistently engaging characters in the midst of epochal events.

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Gary B

The Right Stuff captures the spirit of risk, achievement and heroism like no other movie I can remember. A big part of that is the rousing musical score by Bill Conti, which I wish could be bottled and sold as an energy drink. But it's really the film's offbeatness that sets it apart. There's never been another movie like it. Forty years later, it still seems fresh, like a song no one's been able to copy.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/06/24

Full Review

Alec B

Lots of people have chronicled great feats of human ingenuity but few (if any) have done so while consistently maintaining a satirical and borderline surreal tone. It's hard to imagine that Kaufman was allowed bizarre flights of fancy (the bumbling government agents played by Jeff Goldblum and Harry Shearer, the press corps played by an improvisational comedy troupe, etc.) in a movie that features Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier and John Glenn orbiting the earth.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

12/14/23

Full Review

Kai K

This movie showed how American astronauts lived, and it did that well, but it had a lot of unnecessary scenes that did not help develop the plot.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/04/23

Full Review

Jerod S

The space race and the men who entered it. Looking back into the late 40s-60s, breaking the sound barrier and family relationships. It's a hefty 3 hour film that's still worth it.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

07/31/23

Full Review

Liquid A

An unbelievably amazing movie. It's just so well done. Everything about it is incredible. The cast, the acting, cinematography, oh man, wow.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/21/23

Full Review

Gareth v

An entertaining and compelling biopic that at times becomes a slog with it's 3 hour plus running time.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

06/20/23

Full Review

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Philip Kaufman

Director

Sam Shepard

Capt

Scott Glenn

Capt. Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr., Mercury Astronaut

Ed Harris

Maj. John Herschel Glenn Jr., Mercury Astronaut

Dennis Quaid

Gordon Cooper

Fred Ward

Gus Grissom

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Richard Roeper

Chicago Sun-Times

It still thrills with its expert casting and dazzling visuals.

Oct 28, 2023

Full Review

Pauline Kael

New Yorker

The Right Stuff gives off a pleasurable hum: it’s the writer-director Philip Kaufman’s enjoyment of the subject, the actors, and moviemaking itself.

Sep 13, 2023

Full Review

Adam Nayman

The Ringer

Where 2001: A Space Odyssey depicted astronauts (and mankind) as being at the mercy of some higher, alien intelligence, The Right Stuff finds its characters imposing their will on the unknown.

Mar 27, 2020

Full Review

Alan Jones

Starburst

This timely delve into the past - warts and all - to uncover the roots of a future we are now participating in has a basic ingredient that so many films lately have lacked. And that is integrity

Aug 1, 2022

Full Review

Taylor Baker

Drink in the Movies

Episode 12: Away We Go

Rated: 90/100

Sep 1, 2021

Full Review

Diego Galán

El Pais (Spain)

The Right Stuff is so clumsily shot and has such a simple structure that boredom can threaten to drown the viewer's patience. [Full Review in Spanish]

Feb 7, 2020

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

This adaptation of the non-fiction novel by Tom Wolfe chronicles the first 15 years of America's space program. By focusing on the lives of the Mercury astronauts, including John Glenn (Ed Harris) and Alan Shepard (Scott Glenn), the film recounts the dangers and frustrations experienced by those involved with NASA's earliest achievements. It also depicts their family lives and the personal crises they endured during an era of great political turmoil and technological innovation.

Director: Philip Kaufman
Producer: James D. Brubaker
Screenwriter: Philip Kaufman, Tom Wolfe
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: The Ladd Company
Rating: PG
Genre: History, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 9, 1983, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 15, 2008
Runtime: 3h 13m
Sound Mix: Surround, Magnetic Stereo 6 Track, Dolby
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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