Starts tonight. The movie was an all time favorite of mine.
The Right Stuff
7,050 Views |
60 Replies |
Last: 3 yr ago by jdgilberg
My favorite subject. The Mercury and Gemini programs are so overlooked when we talk about the space program.
They better have a scene with the german engineers questioning why they want a window.
Or saying that it goes up like a cannonball and down... well like a cannonball.Shai-Hulud said:
They better have a scene with the german engineers questioning why they want a window.
Was this show good? I don't have Disney+. Might get it though.
First two episodes were available tonight.
My summary:
Astronaut selection. Very little detail .
Test pilots drink and party.
Only flying stuff was a scene where Gordo is flying with Cal Cunningham in their F-104s. Cal crashes and dies. Being a test pilot is hazardous.
Al Shepard is a ***** dog.
Gordo's home life is not good.
John Glenn is a boy scout - but a political boy scout.
Pretty much all I got out of it.
At least they covered that Gordo's wife, Trudy, was herself a pilot.
My summary:
Astronaut selection. Very little detail .
Test pilots drink and party.
Only flying stuff was a scene where Gordo is flying with Cal Cunningham in their F-104s. Cal crashes and dies. Being a test pilot is hazardous.
Al Shepard is a ***** dog.
Gordo's home life is not good.
John Glenn is a boy scout - but a political boy scout.
Pretty much all I got out of it.
At least they covered that Gordo's wife, Trudy, was herself a pilot.
Probably the only thing that annoyed me about the original movie was the screeching and complaining wives. I loved all the flying and NASA stuff. The fact that they focused so much more on domestic strife is why I disliked First Man. Does this show have more flying/NASA stuff or more domestic crap?Hey Nav said:
First two episodes were available tonight.
My summary:
Astronaut selection. Very little detail .
Test pilots drink and party.
Only flying stuff was a scene where Gordo is flying with Cal Cunningham in their F-104s. Cal crashes and dies. Being a test pilot is hazardous.
Al Shepard is a ***** dog.
Gordo's home life is not good.
John Glenn is a boy scout - but a political boy scout.
Pretty much all I got out of it.
At least they covered that Gordo's wife, Trudy, was herself a pilot.
The first part of the book had a big focus on the pilots dying all the time, going to the funerals, etc. and the wives obviously weren't crazy about the good possibility that their husband could die any day.
This seems to be a mini-series focused on Al Shepard vs John Glenn, based on the previews for the next episode.
Ugh.
Ugh.
I'm not disparaging the wives for feeling that way, and I'd expect some time to be dedicated to it, but that's not as interesting as the space flight part. I think that is why First Man bombed. They took what was among the most exciting human life stories of all time and forced us to watch boring parts of it. It's like making a movie about Audie Murphy and dedicating most of the time to his marriages. Nobody gives a crap about that.TXAG 05 said:
The first part of the book had a big focus on the pilots dying all the time, going to the funerals, etc. and the wives obviously weren't crazy about the good possibility that their husband could die any day.
Watched the first episode tonight. I give it a decent grade and will continue watching. Being the nut I am about warplanes, I really enjoyed the sequence with Gordo Cooper and Cunningham doing the test flight in the F-104 Starfighters.
The problem this show is facing with me is the original movie is just so damned awesome. That one has a magnificent cast and a rousing score. My wife recognized the guy portraying John Glenn, but this cast didn't make much of an impression on me. I don't recall being aware there was even any music other than some great 50s rock & roll.
The problem this show is facing with me is the original movie is just so damned awesome. That one has a magnificent cast and a rousing score. My wife recognized the guy portraying John Glenn, but this cast didn't make much of an impression on me. I don't recall being aware there was even any music other than some great 50s rock & roll.
I have the same thoughts.Quote:
The problem this show is facing with me is the original movie is just so damned awesome.
Unless this is from the novel, I wonder why they have a "Cal Cunningham" as the guy who bought the farm. Why have a fictional character?
This thread is making me want to watch the Kaufman film again and not the series.
Yeah, Probably won't watch...this falls into the category of "the first movie was the gold standard, So what's the point?"
But maybe if enough of you crow about it...
But maybe if enough of you crow about it...
Just finished the first 2 episodes and liking it so far. Breezed over their lives as test pilots and the selection process, but it's still good.
I watched the movie a long time ago, but only read the book recently. I didn't see Chuck Yeager in the trailer, his influence in the whole Muroc/Edwards scene was done really well by Wolfe. He wrote about the home life/personal life angle somewhat, but it was mostly incidental or confirmation of the rest of the pilots/astronauts personality/lifestyle. Their home drama wasn't really the point, but it wasn't entirely irrelevant as I remember the book. Gus Grissom came off in the book as the guy with the worst home life, but again, it was more of the full portrait of the guy and how he fit the demands of the job.
Isn't it considered kind of impossible to put a movie/TV show out these days that is pretty much all guys?
Isn't it considered kind of impossible to put a movie/TV show out these days that is pretty much all guys?
I think a really good show would to do a comparison show of this and then show the Russians and Yuri Gregarian. Take it all the way to the moon.
Watched the second episode tonight.
For reasons I've already stated and for the complete absence of Chuck Yeagar, this show is suffering. I'll give this incarnation props for delving into aspects of support characters' lives that the original movie did not cover (and I frankly don't recall from my recent reading of the book) such as Trudy Cooper being a pilot herself, but in the end I'm ready to see some rockets blasting off.
For reasons I've already stated and for the complete absence of Chuck Yeagar, this show is suffering. I'll give this incarnation props for delving into aspects of support characters' lives that the original movie did not cover (and I frankly don't recall from my recent reading of the book) such as Trudy Cooper being a pilot herself, but in the end I'm ready to see some rockets blasting off.
As long as they dont go typical fake pc pussified woke propaganda history i'll probably enjoy it.
Cinco Ranch Aggie said:
Watched the second episode tonight.
For reasons I've already stated and for the complete absence of Chuck Yeagar, this show is suffering. I'll give this incarnation props for delving into aspects of support characters' lives that the original movie did not cover (and I frankly don't recall from my recent reading of the book) such as Trudy Cooper being a pilot herself, but in the end I'm ready to see some rockets blasting off.
Yeager set the tone about who these guys were. The whole part of the book about the accent and speech pattern of every pilot you've ever heard over the PA of an airliner just being an imitation of an unflappable West Virginia pro was gold. Yeager was The Man, and everyone knew it. He started his career in WWII before most of the Mercury/test pilot crew did in Korea
Without the test pilot background, the Mercury program stuff is interesting enough, but it is going to lack context that Wolfe used to make the whole narrative of the program really compelling.
Maybe they will do flashbacks to go more into the test pilot stuff. A major focus of the book that has only been barely touched on in this series is how these guys lived to fly higher and faster and the competition between the pilots over who could be the best. It was everything to them.
Agreed.chimpanzee said:Cinco Ranch Aggie said:
Watched the second episode tonight.
For reasons I've already stated and for the complete absence of Chuck Yeagar, this show is suffering. I'll give this incarnation props for delving into aspects of support characters' lives that the original movie did not cover (and I frankly don't recall from my recent reading of the book) such as Trudy Cooper being a pilot herself, but in the end I'm ready to see some rockets blasting off.
Yeager set the tone about who these guys were. The whole part of the book about the accent and speech pattern of every pilot you've ever heard over the PA of an airliner just being an imitation of an unflappable West Virginia pro was gold. Yeager was The Man, and everyone knew it. He started his career in WWII before most of the Mercury/test pilot crew did in Korea
Without the test pilot background, the Mercury program stuff is interesting enough, but it is going to lack context that Wolfe used to make the whole narrative of the program really compelling.
Yeager has what has to be among the very best quotes from the aviation world: The first time he saw a jet, he shot it down.
No bucks. No Buck Rogers.
Life's an endless party, not a pushcart.
chimpanzee said:Cinco Ranch Aggie said:
Watched the second episode tonight.
For reasons I've already stated and for the complete absence of Chuck Yeagar, this show is suffering. I'll give this incarnation props for delving into aspects of support characters' lives that the original movie did not cover (and I frankly don't recall from my recent reading of the book) such as Trudy Cooper being a pilot herself, but in the end I'm ready to see some rockets blasting off.
Yeager set the tone about who these guys were. The whole part of the book about the accent and speech pattern of every pilot you've ever heard over the PA of an airliner just being an imitation of an unflappable West Virginia pro was gold. Yeager was The Man, and everyone knew it. He started his career in WWII before most of the Mercury/test pilot crew did in Korea
Without the test pilot background, the Mercury program stuff is interesting enough, but it is going to lack context that Wolfe used to make the whole narrative of the program really compelling.
My opinion Is the show is good. Won't take that away from it. But so much of this. The movie and I assume the book, help set up the program in context to Yeager. You HAVE to have Yeager in this. They start in 1961 and only flash back to 1957. I really wanted some 1947 X-1 or even a little WWII in there and a build up of Yeager. When the reporters ask Gordo at the end of the movie who was the best pilot he ever saw, while he finally said himself, the fact he thought of Yeager first was awesome.
Further, by not including the breaking of the sound barrier in this (yet), they are missing on a huge part of what made these guys so damn brave (or crazy or both). That was as big an accomplishment as actually going to space at the time when Yeager did it. Men had died trying and inadvertently died in WWII when their aircraft that could perform at the limits of piston engines would break apart in dives that exceeded well over 500 mph. It helped us understand to dangers because it reminded us that breaking the sound barrier and in essence all endeavors regarding aviation and space travel were very new and as such, very dangerous. One scene with the Star Fighter crashing wasn't enough, for me.
And come on! That sound track!
PS on Chuck Yeager: Still living!chimpanzee said:Cinco Ranch Aggie said:
Watched the second episode tonight.
For reasons I've already stated and for the complete absence of Chuck Yeagar, this show is suffering. I'll give this incarnation props for delving into aspects of support characters' lives that the original movie did not cover (and I frankly don't recall from my recent reading of the book) such as Trudy Cooper being a pilot herself, but in the end I'm ready to see some rockets blasting off.
Yeager set the tone about who these guys were. The whole part of the book about the accent and speech pattern of every pilot you've ever heard over the PA of an airliner just being an imitation of an unflappable West Virginia pro was gold. Yeager was The Man, and everyone knew it. He started his career in WWII before most of the Mercury/test pilot crew did in Korea
Without the test pilot background, the Mercury program stuff is interesting enough, but it is going to lack context that Wolfe used to make the whole narrative of the program really compelling.
Thank you for reminding me that I need to read the book again. Love Wolfe and this was one of my favorites.chimpanzee said:Cinco Ranch Aggie said:
Watched the second episode tonight.
For reasons I've already stated and for the complete absence of Chuck Yeagar, this show is suffering. I'll give this incarnation props for delving into aspects of support characters' lives that the original movie did not cover (and I frankly don't recall from my recent reading of the book) such as Trudy Cooper being a pilot herself, but in the end I'm ready to see some rockets blasting off.
Yeager set the tone about who these guys were. The whole part of the book about the accent and speech pattern of every pilot you've ever heard over the PA of an airliner just being an imitation of an unflappable West Virginia pro was gold. Yeager was The Man, and everyone knew it. He started his career in WWII before most of the Mercury/test pilot crew did in Korea
Without the test pilot background, the Mercury program stuff is interesting enough, but it is going to lack context that Wolfe used to make the whole narrative of the program really compelling.
I have never read the book, but only saw the movie. It never occurred to me that Gordo was thinking about Chuck Yeager when asked that question. It would surprise me if that was really what he thought.Capitol Ag said:chimpanzee said:Cinco Ranch Aggie said:
Watched the second episode tonight.
For reasons I've already stated and for the complete absence of Chuck Yeagar, this show is suffering. I'll give this incarnation props for delving into aspects of support characters' lives that the original movie did not cover (and I frankly don't recall from my recent reading of the book) such as Trudy Cooper being a pilot herself, but in the end I'm ready to see some rockets blasting off.
Yeager set the tone about who these guys were. The whole part of the book about the accent and speech pattern of every pilot you've ever heard over the PA of an airliner just being an imitation of an unflappable West Virginia pro was gold. Yeager was The Man, and everyone knew it. He started his career in WWII before most of the Mercury/test pilot crew did in Korea
Without the test pilot background, the Mercury program stuff is interesting enough, but it is going to lack context that Wolfe used to make the whole narrative of the program really compelling.
My opinion Is the show is good. Won't take that away from it. But so much of this. The movie and I assume the book, help set up the program in context to Yeager. You HAVE to have Yeager in this. They start in 1961 and only flash back to 1957. I really wanted some 1947 X-1 or even a little WWII in there and a build up of Yeager. When the reporters ask Gordo at the end of the movie who was the best pilot he ever saw, while he finally said himself, the fact he thought of Yeager first was awesome.
Further, by not including the breaking of the sound barrier in this (yet), they are missing on a huge part of what made these guys so damn brave (or crazy or both). That was as big an accomplishment as actually going to space at the time when Yeager did it. Men had died trying and inadvertently died in WWII when their aircraft that could perform at the limits of piston engines would break apart in dives that exceeded well over 500 mph. It helped us understand to dangers because it reminded us that breaking the sound barrier and in essence all endeavors regarding aviation and space travel were very new and as such, very dangerous. One scene with the Star Fighter crashing wasn't enough, for me.
In reality, Chuck Yeager was lucky to be the one who broke the sound barrier. It wasn't his piloting skills that enabled it, it was the fact that the X-1 was the first aircraft that had the entire stabilizer move instead of just the rear part of it. If instead of Chuck, it was somebody else who flew that X-1 flight, then that person would be the man who first broke the sound barrier, not Yeager. Likewise, if Yeager was flying one of those other flights he would be also be dead. Now Chuck and all the test pilots back then deserved praise for having the brass balls necessary to get into those planes in the first place, but plenty of damn fine pilots died. And nobody knows their names outside of the test pilot community.
In actuality, Yeager is not considered to be a great test pilot within the test pilot community. The movie brushed over the fact that he wasn't considered for the space program because he had no degree, but that wasn't a mere elitist attitude. The really good test pilots like Scott Crossfield and Neil Armstrong had science or engineering degrees. They needed to better understand the system they were testing. That's what was important.
Started late last night and have now watched all 3 episodes. I'm a sucker for all things NASA, so of course I'm all in. I think they are doing a good job, and I love the aesthetics of that time. The cars, the clothes, the music. So fun.
Question from episode 3: what was the rocket that exploded? I can only find the first rocket launch did 4 inches before failing, but nothing about a Mercury rocket exploding most of the way through a lunch. Was this made up for dramatics?
The Atlas Mercury One test launch is a true story, though it does seem as if the explosion was not as dramatic as depicted given the cloudy day limited visibility at the moment of failure.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-Atlas_1
https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4201/ch9-3.htm
"The initial phases of the launching appeared to be normal. Then everything went wrong:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-Atlas_1
https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4201/ch9-3.htm
"The initial phases of the launching appeared to be normal. Then everything went wrong:
Quote:
About one minute after liftoff all contact with the Atlas was lost. This included telemetry and all beacons and transponders. About one second before telemetry was lost, the pressure difference between the lox and fuel tanks suddenly went to zero. It is not known whether this caused the failure or was an effect of the failure.
If ya'll want a great companion read to this, I highly recommend Gene Kranz's Failure is Not an Option. Great perspective from the mission control side of things
So, I'm not a qualified critic, but...
Here's the story line:
Gordo has marriage issues.
Shepard is nice to his neice, and his father is an *******.
Glenn is a good husband and still very political.
Deke can relate to Chris Kraft.
The series totally left out Yeager and the other test pilots out at Edwards.
Very disappointed that this is a low budget soap opera, with almost no space or astronaut or test pilot stuff.
Here's the story line:
Gordo has marriage issues.
Shepard is nice to his neice, and his father is an *******.
Glenn is a good husband and still very political.
Deke can relate to Chris Kraft.
The series totally left out Yeager and the other test pilots out at Edwards.
Very disappointed that this is a low budget soap opera, with almost no space or astronaut or test pilot stuff.
Is this at all kid friendly? My 10 year old loves all things space program but probably wouldn't care much for a historical adult drama....