The Right Stuff (2020) User Reviews

Nothing to do with Tom Wolfe

[elitist · 6/10 · 14 October 2020]

Tom Wolfe's focus in his book The Right Stuff (as it was in Phillip Kaufman's 1983 film) was on the status structure of the test pilot fraternity, with Chuck Yeager at the top, as well as the nature of celebrity in America. With more time available than in a film, it's surprising that this series cuts out that backstory of the 40s and 50s, which would have told us where these men came from - and what they put their wives through - before they became astronauts. While the rivalry between the prim-and-proper John Glenn and the fighter jock Alan Shepard is well known, a particular surprise is that we've so far only seen the 'Ice Commander' side of Shepard, and not his other 'Smilin' Al' side, both of which Scott Glenn portrayed so well in the film. Far from capturing the excitement that everyone must have felt at the time, it all seems pretty grim.

Left me wanting less and more

[arstone-09757 · 6/10 · 10 March 2021]

The romanticism of the feature film compared to the character flaw expose in the miniseries set this up for an experience I wasn't expecting. As a Veteran, I don't know that the 7 most capable pilots in the entire US Military would behave in such exaggeratedly childish manners as captured here. It's not plausible. Yes, from time to time, any service member can commence with libation, and possibly overdo it. But not like this.

The acting was decent, although a bit forced at times from the males. But Mumford as "Trudy" was phenomenal.

I would've liked the "Race" to have been more the rub of this story as it seemed to be lost in the background of the childishness between Glenn and Shepard's characters. But that was the whole point of the training, money spent, innovation, and advances in equipment construction.

But the starting gun never fired and the race never really got started.

It was a decent series but I think it could have been better.

Should've included Yeager and the truth of his ribs.

[fakeblonde · 6/10 · 10 October 2020]

The secret story if why Chuck Yeager couldn't get into his plane for the test flight:

Yeager was a drinker and when he drank he liked to cheat on his wife. After a night of boozing and hooking up with women he went home to his angry wife. An argument ensued and Yeager jumped on to his horse and took off, he shortly fell off the horse and broke his ribs. The test flight was either the next day or very soon after and due to the broken rib Yeager was unable to open the hatch of the airplane. If he couldn't open the hatch on his own the entire thing would have been canceled. But the flight manager took a broom handle and broke it so Yeager could use this to open the hatch. This resulting in Charles W Russell earning the nickname of Hatch.

Holloywood needs to quit remaking classics and start something original

[Stevensson · 10 October 2020]

For godness sake stop remarking classic stuff and make something new . What's the point of getting rid of Chuck Yeager ??? he was in Tom Wolfe's books and the movie which was realesed 37y ago and should have been here too . Shame on you Hollywood for butchering another valuable source materials .

Lifeless rehash + faux drama

[shoobe01-1 · 6/10 · 28 November 2022]

First off, I can barely tell any of the Mercury 7 apart. They cast a bunch of absolutely generic 2020s White Hollywood Guys and that's not what real people are like, what the actual astronauts were like or even the cast of the 1983 film.

The women were better, and the NASA administrators were more interestingly cast and better acted if extremely dumbed down and simplified.

So, so, so dumbed down and simplified. Just as you think they will hit on some great topic around the technology, of building an agency all but from scratch (NACA existed and became NASA but... ignored also) of the choices in boosters, in ground vs pilot controls... they just move on and barely mention it again.

We even have a model for this in The 1983 Movie. Sure, there are other ways to do it, and me, I'd love a more boffin-oriented (nerds, engineers...) show, like parts of From The Earth To The Moon, but even sticking to astronauts I guess its been 40 years, sure let's do a remake.

Why such an absolutely lifeless remake? Why are the stakes presented in a way to make them so absolutely uninteresting, why is the drama amped up to the point that these top-of-their-game professionals are embarrassing children who cannot do their jobs?

Seriously, it gets a point because nice VFX (not gaudy, believable) and spaceships and airplanes but without that, about some other industry or if I was not an aerospace nerd, I'd have dropped somewhere in the middle of the second episode.

Good so far

[andrew-york80 · 7/10 · 15 October 2020]

Two episodes in, it's slower than the film but then with 8 episodes it would be. It's deeper than the film focussing more oif the back-stories of some of the astronauts (Glen, Shepard and Grissom). It's well made with believable characters so overall gets a 7/10 from me and could go higher with more episodes. Only negative so far is that Chuck Yeager who featured in the film is absent here which is a pity as it looses something because of this.

Main thing is judge for yourselves, but a low score at this stage seems unfair.

A worthy addition to "The Right Stuff" pantheon

[steven-leibson · 9/10 · 18 October 2020]

Nope, it's not the book. Nope, it's not the movie. It's something else. This series has dispensed with all of the events prior to the selection of the original seven Mercury astronauts. That means Chuck Yeager, Muroc, Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club are not in this series. To compensate, you get 21st-century CGI effects and some new, semi-invented interpersonal relationship complications among the highly competitive Mercury astronauts, and the promise of added chapters for events that took place after Wolfe wrote the book. So far, it's the same subject material, abridged and made as a docudrama. Some new characters have been added, like the beautiful 2nd Lieutenant and Nurse Dee O'Hara played by Kaley Ronayne, obviously to "spice up" the plot. (She's worthy of being in this series. Look up her history.) You want the book? Read it. You want the original movie? Watch it. This series is something additional, and is quite digestible.

Solid "TV Series" option

[davesjbb · 7/10 · 9 January 2021]

No, it's not the book nor movie, it's a Disney+ TV series. But it's well produced and acted, such that I got the feel for the era. Relative to what else is out there, I was reasonably entertained and there was no political propaganda for a change. Just eight episodes, worth the watch.

Worth the watch

[celt007 · 8/10 · 19 January 2021]

A look at the men who made the first astronaut team at nasa . It's not a technical look at flight as much as it is a look at the men and wives that lived during that time . The politics and the dynamic between the nasa team members make this an interesting look at the achievements and flaws .

No nazi scientists

[jwenn71 · 7/10 · 23 November 2020]

Great show well made, But why no mention of the nazi scientists who really got America and nasa to space.... Was this made to glorify america ?

Meh.

[BLAlley · 5/10 · 12 October 2020]

Yet another casualty of the tendency of modern writers being unable to identify with intelligent, educated, accomplished people with initiative. As a result, this iteration all but ignores their skills and accomplishments and instead focuses on portraying them as undisciplined jerks becasue the writers can't distinguish between traits like competitive versus combative, or driven versus reckless. Instead of celebrating the swell of patriotism and technological innovation that occurred during the formation and growth of the space program we instead get a boring melodrama about how white men are jerks, even when they are nice. Were these men perfect? No. People as driven and brazen as them are inherently flawed when it comes to social interaction, but that's not the same as being unruly. The misguided focus is so bad we see nothing depicting the reasons why the Mercury Seven were chosen. It's "look at what a bunch of jerks theses guys are" and suddenly BAM! "We've got our seven". Uh, what? Read the book and watch the film instead. Both captured that time much more faithfully while neither focusing on the astronaut's flaws nor sugar-coating them.

Wasn't going to watch, but glad I did

[juliewharton28 · 8/10 · 12 October 2020]

I am a huge fan of the original film, watched it many times. I've read the book more than once as well. I couldn't imagine why it was necessary to make a series. However, in the end, I couldn't resist. First of all, if you're looking for a show about the Mercury program, this may not be it. This is about the Mercury astronauts, their wives and how being part of the program affected them. If you're looking for how the rockets were developed or the science, look elsewhere. Secondly, this is also not a whitewash. If you have an issue with your heroes being real people, and having real flaws, this isn't for you. These men were heroes, but they weren't gods. That was part of why the book was so good. The original movie hinted at the flaws, but it looks like the series is going to go deeper into them. Yes, Gordon Cooper's wife had left him and he had to convince her to come back to get into the program. Yes, there was a fair amount of drinking and carousing that went on-it doesn't take a single thing away from the fact that they climbed on top of rockets that had blown up more often than not prior to the manned launches. Here's hoping the rest of the series is as enjoyable as the first two episodes.

Leave What You Know at the Door

[aarontjohnston · 7/10 · 10 January 2021]

As you'll read, it's not like the book, it's not like the film. But it's also not a bad series overall.

The Right Stuff doesn't just look at the training and what it takes to be an astronaut. It looks at the fictionalised lives of the men, women and families behind Nasa's first trip into space. Even the opening credits point out its a "dramatisation" but doesn't say its a dramatisation of fact.

Great visuals, cinematography is good, acting and story are good and the soundtrack ain't half bad.

Having watched the series as someone new to the stories on all accounts and someone seasoned with them, neither of us were under the impression that this was going to be The Right Stuff 2.0. It's good in its own right and worth the watch. Go in with an open mind and leave what you know at the door.

Pretty Bad

[kellyjeanne-66859 · 2/10 · 17 October 2020]

Where do I even begin?? Do I start with how badly everyone is over-acting? Or with the only 2 things that are correct about Alan Shepherd is that he was a womanizing ass, and a great pilot? Or the terrible portayal of John Glenn as a glory hounding showboat? Clearly neither actor and Disney really did research because the portrayals are backward. Or the fact that Annie had a terrible stutter and not the way it is portrayed here? Or Gordo Cooper as a wishy washy bumbling fool?

Watch Astronaut Wives Club instead. Yeah there are some inaccuracies, but it's far better and closer to the truth.

Disney Keeps Ruining Everything

[chemattstry · 18 November 2020]

The Disney juggernaut has once again ruined something great. First the Stars Wars franchise and now The Right Stuff. This miniseries almost got me hating John Glenn, for crying out loud because it painted him as a weasel. The political correctness angle is a tired one that Disney keeps playing for the millennial crowd, but even they may tire of it eventually.

I set the bar too high.

[dwojcik-53563 · 6/10 · 13 October 2020]

I was hoping for less "Hollywood" glitz. Same old and tired interpersonal themes. I'll watch the series because it is "the right stuff". I've only watched 2 episodes and often these series can find their way as the story progresses. I'd still recommend The Right Stuff. The acting is pretty decent.

Missing Yeager and half the story

[stevenjohnfisher · 6/10 · 29 May 2022]

This should have been two seasons or a 10 episode limited run. Big fan of this era. The book explores the test pilots like Yeager and the journey to the space program and then the Mercury program. So much missing it needed to explore.

It's not the movie!

[ljdenma · 8/10 · 20 October 2020]

I have lived long enough to remember all of the Mercury + events, so for younger generations this may be boring. I like the series and actors so far but would like to see more of Shirra who flew in Mercury, Gemini & Apollo as well. Would also like to see other astronauts more than just Shepard, Glenn & Cooper. After all this is supposed to be about all of the Mercury Astronauts!

Pretty entertaining

[Phoenix_e13 · 10/10 · 9 November 2020]

For someone who isn't from the United States this show was actually great to watch. Yes it has some flaws but I liked the balance and flow of the show. Not too much technical blabla and not all about the family it's a good balance and watched the first 6 episodes in 1 Sunday.

Incredibly disappointing...

[rwfanj · 4/10 · 17 October 2020]

How is it that writers & directors continue to try to pass off alternative/revisionist crap as historically accurate? While the events themselves may be accurate, the portrayals of the astronauts, NASA employees, their combined families, etc., is severely myopic and filtered through today's politically correct & fragile viewpoints. None of them were perfect, none of their families were...but they did what had to be done at a time when death could be all but guaranteed. I give it a D for this very narrow and shallow take on a classic novel & reality.

Great series

[imdb-646 · 10/10 · 18 February 2021]

I really don't know why so many people are complaining about the series. Yes, I have seen the movie. It was great, but so is this series. However, the only thing they should is to make at least another season with more in depth about the other astronauts.

Stick to the movie

[kdgmk-597-849394 · 1/10 · 12 October 2020]

I thought I was going to watch the Right Stuff, you know planes and rockets, but NO Hollywood had to turn it into the Real Housewives of Cape Canaveral. Cheating and menopause. Don't waste your time. just pop the movie in the 'ol DVD player, you'll be happier.

What's with the bad reviews?

[sdewildt · 10/10 · 14 November 2020]

I normally don't even start a show when the imdb rating is a 7 or less. But in this case I did not check the public's opinion, started to watch and enjoy this show. Great cast, great storyline, great setting in the sixties and with episode 7 behind me, Im keen to watch the season finale next week. To my surprise most reviews are poor. I think you all should give it a real shot beyond the first 2 episodes. It's a good show.

It's actually pretty good

[katherinepatricia-20308 · 9/10 · 10 October 2020]

I love watching movies or shows based on a true story but I've never seen one like this. This show goes deep into the characters lives, that's why they remade it into a series. It shows how they're lives changed after they got fame, and their lives problems. It's talking about how they got to the top and how being in the top morphed their lives into something they never thought would happen. I can't say you will love it cuz it's your opinion but I would give it a go. I wouldn't give a 10 because it's not perfect but it's really good.

Moody drunks

[michael-561-692892 · 3/10 · 25 November 2020]

Apparently, according to Disney, all these gifted pilots were cheaters, creepers, drunks, moody and self serving.

You lose count to the times when Al accuses the helpful of standing in his way. Then there's glen who apparently does good but then goes out of his way to be angry about it.

Then the sniveling nasa director with caterpillar eyebrows, weak and meek looking up at all the soldiers reciting his lines as if he's in a Broadway play.

They literally casted models as all the pilots without a shred of soldier. They roll around in the muck making the real men they represent appear as broken jerks.

Do yourself a favor and watch the real film or read the book. Pick up some biographies or memoirs and actually find your own opinion based on words by people who lived this or knew them. This is simply pathetic and deserves a zero but I threw a three because of the production quality.