The Right Stuff: SE

Being an older film and winner of four Academy Awards, most likely everyone knows that this is the dramatic story of the American side of the Space Race. Set from the late ’40s right through until the mid ’60s, The Right Stuff documents the stories of the seven astronauts who made up the first Americans in space, and Chuck Yeager, the first man to travel beyond the Sound Barrier.

"No bucks – No Buck Rogers."

It’s an historic document, told with a richness of detail and more than a little patriotism, but it has layers beneath its glossy outer. The film meticulously tells of the inner turmoil that fueled these men, the nation who stood firmly behind them and the women who worried while their husbands risked their lives for science. With a galaxy of stars in the leading roles and an impressive ensemble cast, the story does tend to lose itself a little as it struggles to include everyone. Some important characters are pushed back whilst some not-so-important ones take the spotlight, and whilst this shows the balance aimed for by the filmmakers, it unbalances the rhythm of the stories.

Other subplots are handed to us with very little information to formulate an ending, and others are a little too heavy handed in their telling, giving us far more than we need. It would no doubt be an incredible task to organise so many parallel stories and have them all be told in the exact manner necessary, and it is obvious that director Philip Kaufman has done his best to portray everything that needs to be told. Unfortunately, this makes the movie run longer than it needs to. Early character development is slow to get moving and even unnecessary in some regards, not helping the viewer become attached to the major storyline.

That having been said, the story is an exciting one and well tethered to factual description and recreated visuals. Clever camerawork makes models appear extraordinarily lifelike and they are employed in some unusually edited scenes of air and space flight. This is also a testament to intelligent filmmaking, where tried and tested methods are thrown out and experimental angles and shots make the viewer see the film, and thereby the time’s new technology, with fresh eyes. Another real highlight are the scenes shot in Australia, drawing a comparison to the incredible ultra-modernity of the Space Age and the ancient connection with the universe of the Australian Aborigines. Naturally, there had to be a couple of verses of Waltzing Matilda thrown in for good measure, but it didn’t last too long, thank God.

Whilst being 16:9 enhanced, this film screens in the 1.78:1 format which suits it well enough. For much of the film artefacts are visible, but for the most part they’re virtually unseen. However, against all those clear blue sky backgrounds, the small and unseen can appear much larger and much more apparent. There is also a nasty black scar running vertically down the screen around the 1:15:02 mark, which lasts for 15 to 20 seconds. Whilst it isn’t massive, it is quite plain and runs an inordinately long time.

Soon after this at the 1:37:40 mark is the ugliest layer change I’ve ever seen. Quite grisly, but it isn’t mid-word or anything. The shot is a rocket ship on a launch pad, so there’s nothing critical happening, but the change is quite apparent.

Shadows and blacks are strange in parts of this film. Early shots of space tend to lean toward the greenish, yet later in the film appear greyish. Mostly blacks remain relatively black, but there are these instances and others, particularly in space and bluescreen shots, where the special effects are more than apparent. This is an unfortunate part of this movie, featuring as many great (and usually well done), special effects as it does. Flesh tones and colour levels are well conveyed, which helps bring the era to realistic life. File footage of rockets launching and such is used to good effect and appears fairly clean, considering. Sometimes it is even difficult to tell the recreated from the actual footage of the time, particularly when the file stuff is so clean. Editing is used cleverly in times like these as well, which again puts us comfortably in the era.

There's really not much going for it in terms of audio. A Dolby Digital 5.1 remix is all we get and it struggles at times when rockets are launching, planes are busting sound barriers or helicopters are rescuing astronauts. Muffling of heavier sound effects occurs at times and even during parades and brass band music. Whilst this isn’t a major flaw, and certainly not unlistenable, the moments it occurs are a little disconcerting. Particularly as the film won two Oscars for sound and another for 'Best Original Score'. Musically, the sound works okay; it has its faults, but it is fine for the most part. (I shouldn’t say it’d win anything for sound this time around though.)

For the dialogue, the mix is entirely adequate, with no real discernible flaws. The characters all sound nice and clear, even during crowded scenes where there are background talkers and sub-characters interacting. There are multitudes of crowded scenes in this film and I’m glad to say that in 98 percent of cases the conversation is clear. That’s a relief when so much technology is being discussed or the many subplots are being played out.

There’s a huge bag of extras in this two-disc set. The first disc contains the feature, plus a simple text page covering the awards the film has won.

First up on Disc Two there are two Audio Commentaries, the first featuring the cast, the second the filmmakers. Each one runs with the same 24 minutes of selected footage, and whilst interesting and informative, neither will really blow your skirt up. There then follows three short Documentaries which can be played separately or together, and run for a total of 48 minutes. Realizing The Right Stuff discusses production and visuals and T 20 Years and Counting shows the ramifications of the special effects and how they’ve echoed through the last 20 years (My pick for best doco). Lastly, there’s The Real Men With the Right Stuff, a biography piece about the actual astronauts.

11 odd minutes of Deleted Scenes are interesting, but are run together and not placed into the film’s context, so they lose any impact they may or may not have. Next is an Interactive Timeline to Space, which holds little chunks of information relating to major events in space research to date. This is current up until February 2003 when space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas.

John Glenn – American Hero is a touching reflection on this man and the impact he has had on the American people that runs for an hour and a half. This is a very sweet documentary, but does tend to get a little syrupy at times, so if you have diabetes, beware. Lastly, there is the good old Theatrical Trailer which runs a staggering three and a half minutes, but when considering the length of the film, seems appropriate.

A popular and well-made film that should have had a little more love lavished on it bringing it to DVD. Whilst still being a great film and containing some awesome extra features, a better soundtrack would have been a nice sweetener and a little remastering wouldn’t have hurt. It also runs just a tiny bit too long, floundering in the start where it should have been more stringently edited to grab the viewer, but well worth sticking with for the final two hours when it really warms up.

Still, it’s a good film, skillfully made with love, respect and humour. The massive grab bag of information on the second disc adds value to the package and will no doubt entertain for many hours. For anyone who lived through this time it is an excellent reminder and for anyone like me, who didn’t, it’s a fascinating document on events that formed technology we take for granted today.