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A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Right Stuff -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

cb1

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this movie is in my top ten for sure.

I can't wait to see this in all its glory.
 

David_B_K

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Walter Kittel said:
I grew up near Houston during that time era and yes the space program was a big deal in the '60s. I still fondly recall Jules Bergman's (Jules - what a great name for a science reporter) coverage of the program.

- Walter.
Same for me. I avidly watched all the TV coverage I could of the space program. The ABC team of Frank Reynolds and Jules Bergman was always my go-to team. Jules Bergman seemed to know everything about science and space travel! I also built the Revell model kits of NASA spacecraft (however, there were never many kits available for Project Mercury).

I don't know if the film is in my top ten or not. I can't even bring myself to limit my favorites to ten. I know it is one of the best films I've seen from 1980 onwards. It is also one of the few films I've seen in which I could sense about halfway through my first viewing that I was in the presence of a classic.
 

zoetmb

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I also originally saw this movie in 70mm Dolby 6-track in New York (probably at the old Beekman, since it didn't play at the preferred 70mm theaters like the Ziegfeld, Orpheum or Astor Plaza) and loved every minute of it, including (maybe especially) the mixed tone.

If they took this movie totally seriously and filled it with a bunch of known Hollywood actors, it would have been like "The Towering Inferno" or some garbage like that. I thought the film was brilliant and look forward to seeing it on BD.

I remember at the time, John Glenn's handlers were initially troubled by the film's release - they thought it would hurt his political aspirations. But surveys demonstrated that people who saw the film thought more highly of Glenn after seeing the film - especially women who liked the way the Glenn character defended his wife in the movie.

I believe that Tom Wolfe's book (or excerpts from it) was originally published in Rolling Stone.

I never understood the love for "Terms of Endearment" and even though Nicholson's performance was praised, I felt like he walked through the picture. Maybe the Academy got confused since he played an ex-astronaut.
 

John Stockton

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My only gripe with this film is a technical one. Why did Philip Kaufman shoot this flat 1.85 instead of scope 2.35 ???
 
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Mr Harris I agree totally! I also saw it at the Plitt Century Plaza on a trip to L.A. It is my number 5 favorite film of all time. I love everything about it, but I really loved the score by Bill Conti. I also remember it was the first time I paid more for parking than the movie.
 

John Stockton

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The Plitt Century Plaza in LA is one of those gems that will be missed forever. The picture below is from 1984 right after the installation of the HPS-4000 sound system.

Sadly this beautiful auditorium was cut up in 1987 and ultimately torn down in 2004.


large.jpg
 

JPCinema

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The Plitt used to have 3 day movie marathons.....I went to the epic movie marathon ...and also the musical movie marathon. What an incredible theater to sit for days and classic films on the giant screen!
It is where I saw THE RIGHT STUFF on opening day with maybe 50 other people...."Where are the crowds?, I thought.
 

Charles Smith

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I have no idea why I didn't go up there to see it. I had moved to Redondo Beach but still drove into Hollywood, etc., for things. For some reason, I settled for the Del Amo mall!
 

JoshZ

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Dennis Nicholls said:
Probably because of the use of so much 1.33 documentary footage from NASA.
An excellent point. I'll also point out that (as far as I'm aware) all of Kaufman's other movies have been 1.85:1 or narrower. He seems to be one of those directors who's just not comfortable shooting at 2.35:1. Some aren't.
 

Stephen_J_H

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If I were to hazard a guess at why Kaufman has a preference for shooting flat, I would boil it down to a preference for spherical lenses, since the only film in his filmography at a ratio greater than 1.85:1 is Fearless Frank, which is documented at IMDb as being shot in Techniscope.
 

ahollis

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Charles Smith said:
I have no idea why I didn't go up there to see it. I had moved to Redondo Beach but still drove into Hollywood, etc., for things. For some reason, I settled for the Del Amo mall!
Ouch
 

Charles Smith

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Tell me about it.

I checked, and it's too late to enter my temporary insanity plea.
 

rich_d

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Charles Smith said:
I have no idea why I didn't go up there to see it. I had moved to Redondo Beach but still drove into Hollywood, etc., for things. For some reason, I settled for the Del Amo mall!
Small world, I stayed in Redondo Beach for a couple months while on assignment back in the 80's ... we'll have to chat about that at some point.

Back on topic, I love The Right Stuff. A smart, interesting, courageous and funny film. I know when I saw it in the cinema some of the humor went over people's head. That's not a reflection on the film as it is the audience. For example, when Alan Shepard is told to "hold it" after hours of delay, they go to a few visuals such as a running hose and poured coffee (if memory serves). THEN Mrs. Shepard remarks that her husband had four cups of coffee that morning and a woman near me goes "oh" ... as the problem becomes apparent after missing the humor. My guess is "subtlety" is not her middle name.
 

Geoff_D

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"My name...is José....Jiménez", I do like Scott Glenn in this movie. Thanks for the write-up RAH, I didn't know about the 96KHz audio.
 

Charles Smith

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I think the "hold it" sequence is a prime example of the film visually capturing the hilarious spirit of Wolfe's own literary brilliance in this book.
 

Dennis Nicholls

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I like the humor when Henry Luce is talking to the astronauts, and initially won't let Grissom go by "Gus" - until he learns Grissom's middle name is Ivan. That's just in the film by the way - I bought a copy of the book and read it to see whether Luce actually said that. It's not in the book at all.
 

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