Rent The Right Stuff (1983)

Rocket Fuel and Self-Regard - The Right Stuff review by griggs

Some films don’t just tell you a story — they stand up, square their shoulders, and salute themselves mid-scene. This one can be a bit like that: big, hearty, pro-America myth-making, delivered with such craft you almost forgive the occasional whiff of self-congratulation.

It’s also seriously well made. The flying sequences have that clean, physical snap modern CGI sometimes forgets, and the whole thing has the confidence of a movie that knows it’s building a national legend. The trouble is it keeps building it. At a certain point the runtime starts to feel like endurance training, which is thematically appropriate but not always thrilling as a viewer.

Still, I had a good time with it. You can see its fingerprints all over later crowd-pleasers — the cockpit bravado of Top Gun, the wide-eyed awe that eventually fuels films like Interstellar. The Right Stuff is impressive, enjoyable, and just a touch too pleased with itself.

A good story, well told. - The Right Stuff review by ND

I love this film. It's long, 3 hours, but it never drags. The actors are all good, as are their performances. If you like aircraft, adventure and just plain going fast, you'll love it.

Brilliant Air and Rocket Scenes - The Right Stuff review by CD

Once you get past the sluggish start and rather irritating mannerisms and drawl, this is a wonderful film.  The lead characters and actors are very likeable and the main action scenes are superb.  It is also fascinating to see a view (albeit in a movie but hopefully based on some reality) of behind the scenes, particularly the trials and tests for the pilots/astronauts, the dynamic with their wives and families, and the media and political circus around the 1960s’  US rocket program. It is striking as well to see the lack of diversity in whom was even considered for the space program in the 1960s.  Best seen in a couple of sittings as it is quite a long film, but really enjoyable.