For decades, everyone assumed that Gus Grissom screwed up Mercury 2 and blew the hatch, causing his capsule to sink. This movie (and the book it was based on) adopted this as conventional wisdom. Grissom died a couple years later (in the fire that was mentioned in "Apollo 13"), so out of respect nobody said anything. In 2010, undersea explorer Robert Ballard, the guy who discovered the Titanic, found his sunken capsule at the bottom of the ocean, and photos showed that the hatch frame had bent on landing and likely caused the hatch to deform and explode prematurely, and therefore it was not Grissom's fault.
NASA was well aware it was a malfunction, although in other circles Grissom received a lot of criticism.. NASA made him the lead pilot in both the Gemini and Apollo programs, which is a clear indicator of how they viewed him..
A recent study of the event concluded that static electricity, discharged by a pole extended from the rescue helicopter, set off the mercury fulminate in the explosive bolts and sank the capsule. There is photographic evidence and published warnings by NASA about the possibility.
It was thought that Grissom somehow accidentally hit the emergency lever that blew the hatch. On Schirra’s flight, after splashdown, he intentionally hit the lever with his hand. He was able to get the hatch to blow, but not without causing severe bruising to his hand. Since Grissom had no bruises, that proved he did not accidentally blow the hatch. Grissom was well thought of at NASA. Had he not died in the Apollo 1 fire, he likely would have been the first man to walk on the moon.
A few years ago, I saw a panel discussion with some of the astronauts of the time, and they had a very derogatory attitude toward this movie. Thye did not consider it an honest portrayal of those days. BTW I did read the book, well before seeing the movie, but I don't recall how it treated Grissom. In recent years, I've become very suspicious of the whole New Journalism movement, of which Tom Wolfe was generally considered a part. The central focus seems to be portraying attitudes, rather than sticking to facts. But so far this is just a suspicion, though I hope to investigate it more closely before long.
With Grissom's Liberty Bell 7 flight in mind, engineers designing the Apollo spacecraft opted to omit an explosive hatch and instead install a manual hatch which could only be opened by ground crew. It took the ground crew *five minutes* to get the hatches opened through the smoke and fire and most likely prevented Grissom and his crewmates, Edward White and Roger Chaffee, from getting out of Apollo 1.
- Brigadier General Chuck Yeager passed in December of 2020 and he was played by Sam Shepherd, who besides being an actor (Oscar-nominated for this performance) was also an award-winning playwright. Glennis Yeager was played by Barbara Hershey, who has been in many films. The X-1 that Yeager flew to break Mach1 was named for his wife (The Glamourous Glennis). Yeager was actually in the film...he was the old bartender in a hat in Pancho's, the bar in the first part of the movie. You can see him at 17:09 in the video. - Senator John Glenn (D-Ohio) was played by Ed Harris. Glenn returned to space in his 80s on the space shuttle after retiring from his US Senate seat. Harris has been in so many wonderful things...he's one of my favorite actors. Annie Glenn was played by Mary Jo Deschanel, and her husband Caleb was the cinematographer for the film...and they are the parents of Emily Deschanel (aka Dr. Temperance Brennan from the series 'Bones') and Zooey Deschanel ('Elf', 'Almost Famous', and 'The New Girl'). - Alan Shepherd, the first Mercury Astronaut in space, was played by Scott Glenn. Glenn has been in many films...but I think you really recognize him as FBI Special Agent Jack Crawford in 'The Silence of the Lambs' with Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, and as Captain Bart Mancuso of the USS Dallas in 'The Hunt For Red October'. Shepherd was the original commander of Apollo 13, but he was bumped due to an inner ear infection so Jim Lovell became the Apollo 13 commander...and you know that story. However, when Apollo 14 went up, Shepherd was in command and he and Edgar Mitchell walked on the moon...Shepherd was 47, the oldest man to walk on the moon. - Wally Schirra was played by Lance Henrikson, who played the android Bishop in 'Aliens'. - Scott Carpenter was played by Charles Frank, and Deke Slayton was played by Scott Paulin. Both Frank and Paulin are character actors in the realm of "that-guy-in-that-thing". Tons of credits, never stars, just journeyman actors. Deke Slayton was in charge of the astronauts at NASA during the Apollo program. - Gus Grissom was played by Fred Ward. A couple of my favorite films Ward was in are 'Remo Williams - The Adventure Begins', 'Dangerous Beauty' (where he plays a nobleman in Venice during the Renaissance...a supporting role, but a really romantic film), and 'Henry & June', playing the writer Henry Miller, opposite Uma Thurman as June Miller, and Maria de Medeiros as Anais Nin. The film was the very first film given the NC-17 rating, which replaced the dreaded X rating due to intense sexual situations and adult themes for mainstream films. Considering that Henry Miller and Anais Nin are well known for their erotic writings it is no surprise. That film was also directed by 'The Right Stuff' director Philip Kaufman. = Gordon Cooper was played by Dennis Quaid, who was the only one of the actors to achieve leading man status in Hollywood. Cooper was the last Mercury astronaut in space, and he was also part of the Gemini program, flying in Gemini 5, and was the backup commander of Apollo 10. Cooper was also the youngest of the Mercury astronauts. - Ridley was played by Levon Helm (who was also the narrator)...Helm was mainly a drummer-singer-songwriter who did films. He is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Band. He was in the film 'Coal Miner's Daughter' as the father of country music legend Loretta Lynn (played by Sissy Spacek in her Oscar-winning role). Yep, Beeman's is a gum that is still available.
Here's some other trivia: The narrator of the movie was the same actor, Levon Helm, who played Jack Ridley, Yeager's crew chief and close friend who always loaned him a stick of Beeman's gun before each flight, for luck. Levon Helm was the drummer and lead singer for The Band (originally formed as a backing band for Bob Dylan), and known for their hits The Weight and The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (check out the RU-vid videos). Levon was known for his thick Arkansas hillbilly accent. Much later, not long before his death from cancer, he appeared in the Mark Wahlberg movie Shooter, as the old half-blind gun expert. "Hell, I still got the shovel!" Nurse Murch at the testing center was portrayed by Jane Dornacker, who was nothing like her character in real life. In fact, she was a member of the theatrical-oriented band The Tubes (best known for their one big hit at the end of their career, "She's A Beauty"), and was the lead singer of a "sub-band" of the Tubes called Leila and the Snakes. Soon after filming her role here, she became a traffic reporter, and tragically died in a helicopter crash in NYC in 1986, live on air. The movie's cinematographer was Caleb Deschanel, the father of Emily and Zooey, and his wife/their mother Mary Jo Deschanel played Annie Glenn in the movie - note that she has the same big eyes as her daughters. Mary Jo has played roles in a number of the movies where Caleb has worked as cinematographer. Other movies Caleb has shot include The Natural, The Black Stallion, Hope Floats, The Patriot, The Passion Of The Christ, National Treasure, and Jack Reacher. Scott Crossfield, the first pilot to Mach 2, and who had a friendly rivalry with Chuck Yeager, trading "fastest man alive", was acted by Scott Wilson, who had a long acting career but now might be best known for playing Hershel Greene in The Walking Dead TV series. Other actors you may have missed were Mercury Astronaut Wally Schirra, played by a young Lance Henriksen, who would go on to play Bishop, the "synthetic person" in Aliens, the Alien sequel, among many other classic roles, and Harry Shearer, who was the other astronaut recruiter, along with Jeff Goldblum, and who among other things has been one of the main voice actors on The Simpsons for 35+ years. The movie itself would never have existed, except that author Tom Wolfe was curious about the US space program, and realized that no one had ever documented it as a whole, or in any great detail, and that by the time he started working on his book in the 1970s, the information was already getting lost with programs being canceled and people leaving NASA. Wolfe did an incredible amount of research, interviewed hundreds of people, combed through endless USAF and NASA documents and pictures, and finally wrote his book, The Right Stuff, which was released as a large coffee-table book full of pictures of everything, from the people involved to experimental planes and lots and lots of pictures of rockets, capsules, launch towers, and more. The movie condensed this and showed the most important 5-10% of the information, but if the space program is interesting to you, the book is chock full of fascinating information.
In that accident Yeager was lucky, blood from his forehead's wound help shields and protected his eye sight, from the burning flame caused by the mask's oxygen supply.
Although that is a great line in the movie It never happened in real life.Jack Ridley died in March of 1957 when a plane he was a passenger on hit the side of Mt Fuji in Japan.This accident with Yeager was in December of 1963.
Just so you know, Chuck Yeager died on December 7th, 2020, at the age of 97. He flew combat missions in World War 2, where he was shot down over occupied France, and escaped back to England. After his return to England, he shot down 5 German Planes in one day. He was one of the very few "ace" in a day pilots. He was credited with shooting down 12 German planes during his time in WW2. He flew the P51 Mustang, and his had "Glamorous Glen" painted on the engine cowl, to honor his wife, Glennis. The actress who plays her in this movie is Barbara Hershey. Yeager also flew some combat missions in Vietnam when he was the commander of the 405th Tactical Fighter Wing. As the movie shows, he was the first pilot to break the sound barrier in level flight. He retired from the military as a Brigadier General.
This is the film that got me to fall in love with the awesomeness of Chuck Yeager. I wish someone would make a great film just about him. On another note, John Glenn, after having retired from a 24 year stint in the US Senate, went back into space in 1998 at age 77 as a payload specialist on Discovery. He and Annie had been married about 73 years when he died. All of these people are heroes.
It’s crazy no one had done a film on Yeager. His first biography is a fantastic read from his youth through the war to test piloting and then his continued flying.
Glenn also had a really funny cameo on Frasier where he poked fun at his own experience with the space program. It's a heckuva guy who can go to space, become a Senator and have a sense of humor about it all.
I grew up in Charleston WV not far from where Chuck was born. He would come back often to see old friends. He would break the sound barrier 3 times to let his buddies know to pick him up at the airport.
@@chuckwilliams6261If only Scott Glenn reprised the role of Alan Shephard in some film about the Apollo program, and have him re-enaxt what Shepard did on the moon. That said, Scott Glenn's Silence of the Lambs co-star Ted Levine also played Alan Shephard in From the Earth to the Moon, and got to re-enact the lunar golfing!
The HBO series you mentioned at the end of this video, "From the Earth to the Moon," is definitely the next thing to watch in your space journey. It picks up right where "The Right Stuff" leaves off, and covers the Gemini and Apollo missions exceptionally well.
Fun fact: The bar portrayed in the film was run by a famous female aviator, Pancho Barnes. She made a name for herself in the 30s, broke Amelia Earhart's speed record, and founded the association of motion picture pilots.
Fun fact: the scene where the guys from Washington are trying to recruit pilots at the riding club the old guy in the brown hat looking them over WAS the real life Chuck Yeager. By the time this film was made he was a retired Air Force colonel. I read his book simply titled, “Yeager” many years ago and he led an astonishing life. Great reaction to a wonderful film.
I had that book too, and it's a wonder biography telling of the greatest pilot ever, of his brilliant adventurous life in the cockpit pushing the envelope few had achieved, again and again.
@@cmkwan59 That really is a great book, and it makes you wonder, no matter how skilled he is, that he survived to die of old age! If you do things that have a one in ten chance of death, hundreds of times, and survive, you've got more than skill! You've got luck!
Chuck Yeager was one of the most decorated pilots of all time, he was made a general, and he only died recently. He lived an incredible life, and he was the original badass. He would have never given up his life as a pilot, even to become an astronaut.
He's also has a cameo in this movie. When the astronaut recruiters from Washington walk into Pancho's Happy Bottom Riding Club, yeah the bar at Edwards, Yeager is the guy in the hat who's looking over their shoulders and asking if they want a drink.
I met General Yeager in 1983, while I was stationed at Holloman AFB, NM. He's maybe the shortest person I've actually met who's larger than life. He was about my height and I'm only 5' 9". I can't say that he was a nice guy because I don't really know on a personal level (although I'm sure he was or would have been had I been off duty). He was a General and I was a mere Buck Sergeant at the time. With that disparity in rank, you don't necessarily 'pal around', if you know what I mean. I shook his hand and listen to him for a short while. That's it. But at least I can brag that met him once.
That's pronounced YAY ger. The first man to break the sound barrier.. WW 2 fighter ace and great test pilot. His West Virginia accent became the standard imitated by pilots trying to sound frosty from then on.
Way before the events of this film, Chuck Yeager was a WW2 ace. The Luftwaffe (German Air Force) had the first ever operational jet-fighter plane...the ME-262. After Yeager's first ever encounter with an ME-262 he said: "The first time I ever saw a jet, I shot it down." Complete badass.
Yes! So nice someone mentioned it. I watched this in a cinema when I was 13 and this moment stayed with me as one of the most beautiful in movies ever.
There's an entire movie about the dish in Australia referenced in this movie, called The Dish (2000). A really entertaining, underrated movie that's worth checking out.
The dish in "The Dish" was at Parkes NSW. The dish in this movie was Muchea tracking station in WA. Hence the reference to the people of Perth turning on their lights for John Glenn. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muchea_Tracking_Station
The late, great Sam Shepherd played Chuck Yeager! LOVED Sam Shepherd. He was just SO COOL (and handsome) in all the roles he played. RIP Sam. LOTs of great actors in this film. Really love Ed Harris (he played John Glenn and was also in Apollo 13 among MANY other films) - super solid actor. Thanks for the reaction. ❤
And Shepherd was played by Scott Glenn- yes, that's his name. Interesting coincidence, since there was John Glenn and Scott Carpenter among the 7. Scott Glenn was also in Silverado- along with Jeff Goldbloom and a very young Kevin Costner- another great western for you to add to your collection.
Yeah, when I was a little kid you could still hear jets breaking the sound barrier occasionally where I lived in the Pacific Northwest. They enacted a prohibition against this back in 1973 because of people's complaints! 😊 I actually liked those Booms!!!
Grissom's capsule was recovered in recent years and it was proven that the hatch did just blow from a short circuit and not because of Grissom's actions. Sadly, Grissom never learned of his vindication as he was one of the three astronauts of the ill fated Apollo 1 fire along with White and Chaffee, as you Cassie, may remember from the beginning of the Apollo 13 movie.
Harry Shearer, who plays Jeff Goldblum's associate in this movie, does many of the voices in the Simpsons including Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy, and Kent Brockman. He is also the bassist for Spinal Tap.
@@sartanawillpay7977 Honestly, I cannot believe I got that wrong. I feel suppuku level shame. Shit. Goddam. It’s like, how much more shame could I feel, and the answer is none. None more.
He had also been on SNL in the last season of what otherwise would have bee the original cast and rejoinedd in the fall of 1984. Most of his characters had so much makeup, it was hard to tell who he was.
As a daughter of a rocket scientist, who wrote the test procedures for the Titan missiles, I’m so glad you reviewed this movie. They did a great job with it and I’m glad you liked it. I grew up with my dad taking trips to Cape Canaveral, but sadly he never saw a launch. as kids, we were pulled out of bed whatever time of day or night it might’ve been to watch every launch. Not sure if they make heroes like this anymore. These men were a breed apart.
I was a young teenage boy when this came out, but my favorite scene will always be the one where Mrs. Cooper stood defiant and protected Mrs. Glenn. John Glenn then telling her on the phone to do what she thought was best was pure icing on the cake. (Trivia note: Mrs. Glenn is played by Mary Jo Deschanel, mother of Zooey Deschanel.)
Great review. Chuck Yeager is still considered the best pilot of all of pilots, and with the Right Stuff. Later on, Yeager ran the Test Pilot Training Program, from which all the Astronauts were picked from for the Gemini and Apollo programs. Chuck's problem, was that he did not have a college education, but his natural ability as a flyer is what propelled to the top. He eventually became a general in the Air Force, and died in 2020. He will always be a legend to military pilots worldwide. RIP Chuck.
The scene where Glenn defends his wife was based on the actual dialogue John had with her. It's an important scene after we see the rift between astronauts about their behavior. They may fight amongst themselves but, as soon as one of them is attacked from the outside, they band together as pilots and start shoving bozos aside.
In 1962, John Glenn was only the 5th human in space and only the 3rd American. In the moments leading up to lift-off, his pulse never rose above 80 BPM. After lift-off, the part of the flight that stresses the body the most, his pulse got as high as 110 BPM. After he entered space, and for the rest of the mission (orbiting our planet three times in five hours), his pulse was never over 100 BPM. Those guys are a level of badass that few of us understand. (My pulse gets over 150 when someone else screws up at a four-way stop.)
Someone who doesn't get enough credit in this film was Levon Helm; he played Jack Ridley and narrated the film. Levon was the drummer for The Band and went on to be an accomplished actor, in films like "A coal miner's daughter" and "shooter". RIP Levon
Absolutely right. My father was a fighter pilot, and I grew up on Air Force bases in the 70's and 80's. Levon completely captured that certain military "swagger" and attitude in his portrayal of Ridley. His opening/closing narrations--just iconic, a perfect choice by the filmmakers to utilize his unique drawl to set the tone.
"Pancho" Barne's, the owner of the Happy Bottom Riding Club, was herself a very accomplished aviator in her own right. She had held the Women's air speed record for a while, had her own barnstorming troop and competed in the air races. She was named "Pancho" after getting involved with Mexican Revolutionaries around 1926. She also worked as a stunt pilot for movie studios, including being in Howard Hughes' Hells Angels (1930)
Love that you did this movie one of my all time favorites. Fun fact: when they first show up to recruit astronauts at the riding club the old man in the hat who says " ya'll want some whiskey ? " was played by the real Chuck Yeager. General Yeager was the man's man to end all men.
Fun fact…. The only reason Yeager was selected is because he didn’t have a college degree. Still true for most of the Military officers today. You have to have that degree
The scene where Jeff Goldblum and Harry Shearer were talking to the Chuck Yeager character in the restaurant, the old man trying to look stupid behind (and looking at Harry Shearer was none other than the actual General Chuck Yeager) :)
Scott Glenn the actor playing Alan Shepard is certainly one of 'the guys' you recognize. He has about 100 credits and has been acting steady since the 1970's, although this was a bit of a breakthrough role for him. He is also in The Hunt for Red October, Silverado, The Silence of the Lambs, Backdraft, Courage Under Fire, and the list goes on.
Hi Cassie. John Glenn went to space at 77 yrss old as a payload specialist on a space shuttle flight. Scott Glenn (no relation) is the actor who played Alan Shepard. Not sure where you would know him from, but he was in Silverado, Urban Cowboy, Silence of the Lambs and lots more. The actor who played John Glenn was Ed Harris. He was in The Rock, The Abyss and a million other things.
The X1 that broke the sound barrier is now hanging from the ceiling in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. It still has Glamorous Glennis painted on it.
I had the pleasure of meeting General Yeager at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas when I was 10. In retrospect, the confident way he smiled reminds me of Captian Picard from Star Trek - only, every adventure he recalled was real. What a legend!
Another film about the space program that you might enjoy is "First Man" from 2018, a kind of biopic about Neil Armstrong in the years leading up to Apollo 11 and the first moon landing. Ryan Gosling plays the lead role. The film was directed by Damien Chazelle, known for "Whiplash" and "La-La Land" (two movies that might also be worth a look sometime if you haven't already seen them).
My Dad spent 28 yrs in the Army and I can guarantee you that my mother made sacrifices and served those years with and without him around. Those wives and mother's completely deserve every bit if not a little more credit than the get sometimes. She is a tough one and was our rock many times.
A lot of this is changed from history to being done for dramatic licence. Yeager was working for months on the X-1 project. He wasn't just thrown into it. That level of bravery, is "The Right Stuff". Doing things that no one has done before and pushing the limits was the life they loved.
My friend's dad won the Academy Award (Oscar) for editing this film. His dad even let him bring the actual Oscar to school for "Show & Tell" the very next day! That thing was HEAVY! (Gold Plated!)
The actor playing Chuck Yeager is Sam Shephard who became famous first as a playwright. This movie made him a movie star. His buddy who helps him jury-rig the pole to close his capsule is played by Levon Helm who was the drummer/singer for The Band, one of the great rock bands of all time. Levon also does the narration at the start of the film.
Levon Helm also had a brief but very memorable role in Shooter with Mark Wahlberg. He's been in a few other films but he was cast perfectly for both of those roles.
On the Grissom thing, Wally Schirra intentionally blew the hatch after his spacecraft was put on the carrier. Doing so left a specific bruise on his thumb that Gus didn't have.
The truth is that Yeager's flight to break the sound barrier was not his first flight in the Bell X-1, he had flown it several times before that flight. He discovered a problem with the elevator (horizontal tail) that they used the trim to control the pitch on the plane. The reason they dropped the X-1 from the B-50 bomber was because taking off from the ground would use too much fuel.
The Martian with Matt Damon is a great space movie and is in the same "near disaster" genre as Gravity and Apollo 13. You definitely should check it out.
I wouldn't exactly compare the three even though they all deal with peril in space. Apollo 13 is a dramatisation of a real event. Gravity seems to pretend to still be at our current level of technology (or behind, since it still uses the now decommissioned space shuttle), but plays really fast and loose with science sometimes, and in the end is mostly about the visual spectacle. The Martian goes way beyond what we're currently able to do, has some more comedy (excusable, since it's about dealing with the situation), but still seems to make a greater effort than Gravity to stay within what could be scientifically plausible.
@@Yngvarfo Indeed, "The Martian" was controversially nominated for, and won, the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, not the award for Drama. (It could actually be described as a drama, comedy *or* musical, given the fantastic montages to disco-era songs.)
Scott Glenn, who played Alan Shepard, was the Clarice Starling’s boss in Silence of the Lambs. Lance Henrikson who played Wally Schirra, also played Bishop in Aliens and a cop in Terminator.
Gus Grissom was done dirty in this film. He wasn't the good ol boy blowhard and overreactor portrayed. He gave his life in Apollo 1. He was an accomplished engineer and pilot. He called out NASA for their incompetence and arrogance. Grissom's portrayal is a black mark against the movie. If only Fred Ward had demanded script changes.
The actress who plays Yeager's wife is Barbara Hershey. You'll remember her from "The Natural" the Robert Redford baseball movie. She's the mysterious woman who Redford meets on the train in the beginning of the movie, the one who shoots Robert Redford destroying his career as a pitcher,
@@frederickgramcko5758 With Gene Hackman (the Unforgiven) and Dennis Hopper (Blue Velvet/Easy Rider - can't remember if she's seen either of those two)
Cassie is great at films no one else does...This and The Natural are two that I was surprised to see her watch, but also two of my favorites from the '80s...
The actress playing John Glenn’s wife is the mother of Zooey Deschanel and Emily Deschanel. Ed Harris (John Glenn)was from Apollo 13 and The Rock. The real Chuck Yeager was in the movie too.
By the time the 80's were over, I had watched this dozens of times. This was my favorite movie when I was a kid. (born in 75). This gave me my interest in planes and space.
Born in 77 and this was tops on my list. I am not sure I wouldn’t have still gotten so interested in space and the space program even if not for this movie, but no denying it, this movie was part of my youth and I carry the interest to this day. Love The Right Stuff, and those first astronauts, the courage it took to get on top of those explosions and ride them into the history books…wow.
Me too. Born 75. Had this bought fresh on a worn out vhs. I still remember reading about Apollo 13 aged 8, watch TRS as a kid and wishing they’d make a film about 13 and other Apollo missions. Good things come to those who wait
I was born in 1959, so I literally grew up during the space race, and remember watching Armstrong stepping into the Moon's surface. The book this film is based on is absolutely fantastic, and well worth a read.
As a 40 year veteran of the Canadian Air Force (ATC), I still enjoy the opportunity to revisit this movie. Truth be told, I searched YT many times over the years to find a good youtuber that would do this movie justice, and you did. I'm sure it's probably been mentioned in the comments already, but at the beginning of the movie, when Yeager's buddy goes into the hanger, the old guy cleaner that gives him that broom stick is the actual Chuck Yeager.
Sorry brother. Yeager's role was as the old guy in the bar. Fred. During filming he was also known to flat hat across the desert and buzz the cast and crew on that set. He is also the one who got Dennis Quaid interested in becoming a pilot. Brought him up in their off times.
Jägermeister is a German liquor that has a licorice-cough syrup flavor and the name translates to "Master Hunter", Jäger means hunter. Chuck Yeager spells his name differently but it is the same word.
Gordo Cooper's capsule actually experienced a power loss during his Mercury flight and he had to make reentry manually, proving that pilots were indeed necessary for space flight.
In real life Trudy Cooper was actually a highly accomplished pilot. She could have unironically answered "Who's the best pilot you ever saw?" with "You're looking at her."
Cassie, this movie made a celebrity out of Chuck Yeager. Before this, he was largely unknown, except in the military. Later in his life, he rose to the rank of brigadier (one star) general, commanded squadron groups in Germany and Vietnam, wrote a best selling book, and did a few commercials. Some of those commercials are still out on RU-vid. Yeager didn't make it into the astronaut program, but he still had the right stuff. As far as a drink being named after him, there actually is a drink called a 'Chuck Yeager'. It's pineapple juice mixed with Jagermeister. Jagermeister is actually pronounced YAW-gur-MY-ster, but since everybody pronounces it YAY-gur-MY-ster, that's how they came up with the drink name. The X-1 had to be dropped out of a bigger plane because it only had about 2 minutes of going full-fuel to break the sound barrier. Yeager said when you got close to about 90% of Mach 1, the planes would start buckling and get out of control. That's probably why so many pilots died from crashes. Later, ejection seats were used to free the pilots from an out of control plane.
The airport in Charleston West Virginia ( my home state ) is named Yeager Airport. They used to have Yeager teddy bears you could purchase with a scarf and aviator goggles. There's a bridge here called the Yeager Bridge and it is reported he flew a jet underneath it. Great movie Great reaction. Keep it up!!!!
Chuck Yeager is probably the most famous pilot that ever lived. His story was mythic, and I love how they portrayed him in the movie. He only died a couple of years ago. John Glenn went on to be a Senator. He and all of the Mercury astronauts are legends too.
@@lasselippert3892 as a Brit, there’s quite a few more famous than Yeager. I’d never heard of him, or if I had, I’ve forgotten. Although I say that, I can’t actually remember their names. But there’s 2 or 3 that are in the back of my mind. One a woman.
Gus Grissom's wife is played by Veronica Cartwright, who played Lambert in _Alien._ Chuck Yaeger's wife is played by the same actress who played the crazy woman at the start of _The Natural._
...and John Glenn's wife is played by Mary Jo Deschanel, who is the wife of the Director of photography Caleb Deschanel and the mother of Zooey and Emily Deschanel.
Barbara Hershey was also in "Hoosiers" (the fill-in principal and eventually a love interest of the coach, played by Gene Hackman). Another movie, she was the divorced wife of Michael Douglas in "Falling Down". She had a few prominent roles pre-80s as well.
48:06 They give Gordo’s flight shrift. His capsule actually suffered serious electrical issues. He had to manually fly home using the view out his window and a wristwatch.
Yeager is widely considered the greatest pilot that ever lived. He lived a solid long life and flew as long as he could. Chuck Yeager is a legend. At the time of his death, I considered him our Greatest Living American
There's an Australian movie "The Dish" about the satellite dish in Australia, which covered the Apollo mission whenever the orbit put the USA in the wrong position. A light comedy, much less stress than this movie, but still manages to catch some of the awe when Armstrong actually landed.
Back in the 1980s I worked for a company called Colossal Pictures in San Francisco. My good friend Gary Gutierrez began that company, and he did the visual fx for The Right Stuff, creating a compajny called USFX just for that. For the the jets he used miniatures flung on wires and shot real time. He also did the fx of John Glen’s capsule reenterring the atmosphere, among many other shots. His girlfriend at the time, Jena Holman, did the matte paintings of the earth that were seen many times during the flights. No CGI was used at all for this. The effects hold up incredibly well. One day at Colossal the real Chuck Yeager came through our studio. This film remains one of my favorites of the 80s. Your response to the film made me relive it like seeing it the first time. Glad you chose this film. Also, Fred Ward, who played Gus Grissom, used to swim at my local pool in San Francisco and spoke to him in the locker room. It was a bit strange since we’d just showered and were both nude. Hah!
If you don't know already, Chuck Yeager (Yaygrrr) lived to the ripe old age of 97. He even did commercials. In doing so, he was likely the best known test pilot ever.
Chuck Yeager is played by Sam Shepard. He was not only a great actor he was also a playwright and an artist. He died a few years ago. If I had to compare him with anyone else it would be Viggo Mortensen who played Aragon in the lord of the rings
Yeager's last name comes from Jaeger which is German for hunter, so his last name probably comes from an occupation that an ancestor had when Germans began adopting surnames in the 1500s (by the early 1800s fixed family names were widely legally required). The drink you are thinking of is Jaeger-Meister which is a digestive and the name means literally hunter master, but relates most closely to game warden in English.
I just wish Gemini got more attention. The only times we ever see a Gemini spacecraft on film (to my knowledge) are the old James Bond film "You Only Live Twice" (though it was called Jupiter-16, rather than Gemini-anything) and the Neil Armstrong biopic "First Man" (the only proper Gemini on motion picture film) HBO also gave us the miniseries "From The Earth to The Moon", but Gemini was only a small part of a single episode
@@depj1000 No, not really. It was frozen condensation that broke loose when Glenn's capsule moved into the sunlight and began to melt the condensation. Glenn wasn't in orbit long enough to require a urine dump. He was up there less than five hours.
One of my fondest memories is a business trip with my dad to Washington, DC, when I was 12. We had breakfast at the Marriott near the Pentagon and John Glenn was having breakfast at the next table. It was just after his flight into space!
One of my favorite movies. Chuck Yeager is a legend. My grandfather was stationed at Edwards AFB in the 50s and was a mechanic on B-29s and B-36s. My grandfather got selected as an onboard mechanic for several Bell X-1A test flights with Chuck Yeager. This movie and the book it’s based on will always a special place in my family’s heart.
Was not expecting this, excellent choice. Chuck Yeager was the greatest pilot ever to fly. The part about using a broom handle to jimmy-rig a handle because Yeager broke his ribs is true.
Not many people mentioning the soundtrack, it is such an amazing accompaniment to the triumphant flying scenes and really helps this movie become a classic.
The Right Stuff was nominated for several Oscars, including Best Picture. It won one -- for Best Original Score, music composed by Bill Conti. As an interesting side note, in later years Bill Conti would become the Musical Director for the Academy Awards themselves.
I remember living these events. Think about what the people on the ground felt when they heard the first sonic boom that sounded like an explosion. I remember standing out on our front lawn watching for Sputnik to pass over. My brother had tuned in the radio so we could hear its beeps as it passed over. In the last few years, they found Gus's lost capsule. In 1963 GE transferred my father to Daytona Beach, FL, where they had their Appolo Support plant.
Annie Glenn is portrayed by Mary Jo Deschanel, mom to Zooey and Emily Deschanel. I attended John Glenn Elementary school and when John Glenn ran for President we were visited by Annie Glenn who was absolutely the kindest woman I've met outside my grandmother.
At the end they described Gordo as the greatest pilot ever seen , but leave out an important fact. The automatic pilot/computer control failed and Gordo had to actually fly the spacecraft manually thru the end of the flight and thru re entry.
Thanks for the info! Shame they didn't include that. It would have tired back nicely to when they demanded the ability to manually control the capsule.
I was a little concerned about the length and also her supposing at the start that it was about space instead of the roots of spaceflight for most of the first half. So glad that she loved it and even began to enjoy the repeated references to "Yah-ger" ;)
I've been waiting years for one of the major reaction channels to get to this movie, and I'm so glad Cassie did it! This will open the floodgates for other channels to cover it as well.
Sam Sheppard plays Yeager. He is also an extremely accomplished playwrite. He was in The Notebook and Blackhawk Down. The actual Yeager plays the bartender. The recruiter with Goldblum is Harry Shearer of This Is Spinal Tap and half the voices on The Simpsons. Ed Harris is John Glenn, his wife is Zooey and Emily Deschanel's mom. Scott Glenn is Alan Shepard. He was Jodie Foster's boss in Silence of the Lambs and the US sub commander in The Hunt for Red October.
Yeager's face was badly burned during his ejection from the star fighter. He underwent an extremely painful medical procedure to avoid extensive scaring.
Yay for doing From The Earth to the Moon! That will give you the majority of the stories. Would also recommend First Man. I was actually going to share some stories, but knowing what you are watching, think I’ll keep them for now. You had no way of knowing, but the timing of the YT edit is interesting. Gus, Ed and Roger were lost on Apollo 1 on January 27, 1967. 19 years later, STS 51-L Challenger was lost on January 28, 1986 along with her crew of Dick Scobee, Mike Smith, El Onizuka, Judy Resnik, Ron McNair, Greg Jarvis and Christa MacCaliff. In four days, February 1, will pass the anniversary of the loss of STS 107 Columbia in 2003 with her crew Rick Husband, Willie McCool, Dave Scott, Michael Anderson, Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla and Ilan Ramon. Not at all trying to depress or discourage, but there’s a line in From The Earth to the Moon that I think of often. If you have the time, I can think of thousands of name of people who have given their careers to get to where we are… and hundreds who have given their lives. I think what is important, and I think you understand, is the risk that comes with the reward. Never forget it is not easy, is not routine, it is not normal. Every success is earned, every achievement to be respected. So, I’m glad you get it. Please don’t ever forget them, from Chuck Yeager to Al Shepard to Gus Grissom to John Glenn to Neil Armstrong to Jim Lovell to Gene Cernan to John Young to so many names of men and women working at NASA as we speak for the space station to those wanting to get back to the Moon to dreaming of getting us to Mars. Every name has a value, every dream worth treasuring, every achievement worth celebrating. That’s the true right stuff.
I flew with Yeager in 1995. He was in first class and I was in coach, but we were on the same plane. He had recently done some car commercials so I recognized him immediately. And he was wearing his green flight jacket with the "Yeager" name tag.
LOL. I have a similar story. I flew in formation with the Thunderbirds at Daytona Beach. I went to flight school at Embry Riddle located at the Daytona Airport. The day before our annual air show I was scheduled for a morning solo flight and the Thunderbirds were cleared for takeoff right after me. The tower cleared me to climb out over Daytona Raceway and the Thunderbirds screamed right past me. No cell phones back then so sadly, no pictures. But for a split second I was in formation with them. 😁
Finally. After two months of waiting for something interesting to watch, we get a great movie. One of the best space program movies ever made with a star studded cast, great writing and cinematography. The final scenes of Chuck Yeager touching the boundary of space in the F-104 Starfighter while the Mercury astronauts reflect on how far they had come is amazing storytelling.
It is just to bad we got absolutely nothing about Deke Slayton losing his flight because of his own heart, and Wally Schirra had only like four lines in the entire movie.
@@k1productions87 True. Deke still got to go into space for Soyuz and became probably the best ground director in NASA. Wally flew in all three programs - Mercury, Gemini and finally in the Apollo 7. I think if they featured each astronaut, this movie would’ve been ten hours long, but I would’ve watched it. I grew up in those days and remember the excitement of space travel.
@@gitchegumee Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, to be more specific. He didn't fly the Soyuz, he was on the Apollo. The last Apollo to fly, in fact. But it was a good 16 years later. Deke deserves his own film, for all he had seen and done though
@@k1productions87 my bad - I’m reaching my can’t remember shit age. I just recalled the program. These guys were so versatile and pioneers in such a complex industry - still amazes me.
@@gitchegumee In the end, Deke has a very feel-good story. From great heights as one of the seven greatest pilots in the country, to the horrible low of being pulled from spaceflight status, and then the Air Force pulling him from flight status altogether. Then serving as basically the Astronaut boss, assigning all the crews to their missions while he doesn't get to fly, only to finally fly in the final symbolic conclusion to the space race. Not with a big milestone, but with a hearty handshake with a Cosmonaut who had also been through all the highs and lows from beginning to end on the other side of the world, Alexei Leonov, who would become Deke's buddy. I swear, this movie writes itself :P
This might not be something you watch for the channel, but HBO did a miniseries called "From Earth to the Moon" that chronicles the Apollo program. It's a bit more of a docudrama but it covers things episodically from some different angles and has some super cool moments. Given how much you seem to thoroughly enjoy the historically-based space movies, I think you'd enjoy it a lot.
And by coincidence Ted Levine, Scott Glenn's co-star in The Silence of the Lambs also played Alan Shephard in From the Earth to the Moon. And of course David Clennon(the liaison man in the Right Stuff) played a geology professor in the series.
Movie suggestion - The Dish (2000) - A remote Australian community, populated by quirky characters, plays a key role in the first Apollo moon landing. It is more space adjacent as it is about the people running the giant dish that communicates with the moon missions. Fun movie about a part of the program we never knew much about. Perhaps a little lite on historical accuracy but should be on your 'space movie' list for consideration.
Thanks for the reaction. This is my all time favorite movie. I saw it when it came out and it just blew me away. Johnson, the Texan with the glasses who was head of the program, was Lyndon Johnson. He was vice president under Kennedy and then President when Kennedy was assassinated. The guy who played Ridley (and also narrated the film) was Levon Helm. He was the drummer and sometimes singer for The Band, a very successful rock band in the 70s. He passed away a few years ago.
A favorite movie of mine. It is worth noting that all of the special effects were 'old school" - no CGI or anything like that, all miniatures and a few vintage aircraft and clever use of perspective.
And a lot of that was necessitated by budget. This film had a relatively modest budget, but you wouldn't necessarily know that considering its epic scope.
Cassie, Ed Harris, who played John Glenn was also in a James Cameron movie called The Abyss, which I strongly recommend. Watch the extended edition. He gets a lot more screen time than in The Right Stuff. Invite Carly for this one. Chuck Yeager has an autobiography called, not surprisingly, Yeager. I read it and it was amazing.
Oh, and Mrs. Glenn did have a severe stutter. I have stuttered since I was in 3rd Grade, developmental/social, and went through a few years of therapy to find a way to cope with speaking. How John Glenn helped, listened, and suggested his wife, is honest, and loving. The Mercury 7 were all fine and notable men of achievement. They had the real Right Stuff.
By the way, Gus was absolutely correct. He armed the hatch as he was supposed to, but an electrical arch from *the helicopter* made a spark that blew the hatch.
The solution to going past Mach1 was to have an all flying elevator that would still work when the Mach shock wave hit it. The Bell X-1 had that trim adjustment. Now all Mach capable aircraft have an all flying stabilator. As an extra, Chuck Yeager is the old guy bartender there at Pancho's in a few scenes.