The Right Stuff review

 Number 384 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 1983 historical drama film 'The Right Stuff.'

The Right Stuff portrays the true story of the Mercury Seven - a group of Navy, Marine and Test pilots who were picked for Project Mercury - the US first manned space mission. It also tells the story of Captain Chuck Yeager (Sam Shephard) - the first person to fly at supersonic speed. The astronauts consist of Air Force captains Virgil 'Gus' Grissom (Fred Ward) Gordon "Gordo" Cooper (Dennis Quaid,) Donald "Deke" Slayton (Scott Paulin,) Marine corps pilot John Glenn (Ed Harris) and Navy pilots Alan Shepard (Scott Glenn,) Walter Schirra (Lance Henriksen) and Scott Carpenter (Charles Frank.)

Coming in at 192 minutes, this is an epic film in every sense of the word. Yes, it was depicting a monumental moment in not just American history, but the history of mankind, but did the film need to be so long? It is a slow-paced film that dragged in a lot of places and was also somewhat lacking in conflict and tension. Of course, you can argue there was never going to be that much dramatic tension in the film - we know that Project Mercury was ultimately a success, but still the film was boring and bloated.

Originally, William Goldman was hired to write the script, but he completely ignored the contributions of Chuck Yeager. Director Philip Kaufman and producer Irvin Wrinkler disagreed with this and instead Kaufman used his own script. That's why we see Chuck Yeager at the beginning of the film making history. After many failures to break the sound barrier, he does what nobody else has done before.

From here we get a loose sketch of the different main characters who soon blended into each other. I can only really remember John Glenn, due to Ed Harris' stardom, and Gus Grissom, for reasons I'll explain later. 

I understand that Kaufman and Wrinkler had to stick to the historical record, which might explain why there wasn't too much drama, but more things could have gone. Perhaps they could have taken some more creative license to amp up the tension. True there were scenes of the pilot's wives worried about their safety, but these were little more than minor inconveniences. As a whole the female characters were overshadowed by the men. They could have contributed more to the film.

The most drama came from Grissom's space flight where he lands in the ocean and possibly panicking blows the hatch early leading to the spacecraft flooding and ending up on the seabed. As such he is denied the same prestige awarded to Alan Shepard. 

Although this storyline did face some criticism for unfairly portraying Grissom as a coward, instead of acknowledging a mechanical fault with the spacecraft, it certainly injected a shot of life into this film. It also made Grissom one of the more memorable and sympathetic characters.

No doubt, the Right Stuff was portraying one of the most important moments in not only the history of space travel, but also the history of the mankind, but it could have done so in a shorter, more engaging way. The Right Stuff for Project Mercury? Sure. The right stuff for an entertaining film? Not so much.

October Sky review

 Number 493 on the top 1000 films of all time is Joe Johnston's biographical drama - October Sky.

Based on the true story, October Sky follows four teenage boys in Coalwood, West Virginia, who after being inspired by the Sputnik launch, decide to enter their county's science fair with their own rocket programme. The group is led by Homer Hickham (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is assisted by his friends Roy Lee Cooke (William Lee Scott) Sherman O'Dell (Chad Lindberg) the nerdy Quentin Wilson (Chris Owen) and their teacher Miss Riley (Laura Dern.) However, the group faces stiff resistance especially from Homer's father John (Chris Cooper) who is adamant that his son follows in his footsteps of working in the local coal mine.

Since starting this challenge, I have always tried to refrain from comparing films. I believe you should judge each film in its own right. But a comparison here would be appropriate. The last film I reviewed was the Breakfast Club. But where the Breakfast Club failed, October Sky succeeded as a great coming-of-age film. It had heart, drama and plenty of laughs.

Our group of boys faced innumerable challenges, but they resolve to never give up and eventually achieve their dream. And in the process, they all grow up. It is quickly established that the most common career path is to work in the coal mine, but Homer refuses to accept this. This steely determination made him a likeable protagonist. Even when it looked like all hope was lost, he continued working toward his dream.

And Jake Gyllenhaal did the part justice. This was his first leading role and he displayed an impressive maturity for such a young age. His tension with his father was one of the driving conflicts behind the film. And Gyllenhaal and Chris Cooper are very good together. Sure their relationship borders on the melo-dramatic - especially nearing the end, but it was no less effective. In essence, it was a clashing of generations - the old man bound by tradition and the young buck wanting to make his own way.

All in all, I did enjoy this film. It balanced humour with heartbreak. And, no doubt, it was a major contributor to Jake Gyllenhaal's current status as one of Hollywood's leading men.