Reel Engineering: The Right Stuff (1983) - Part III: Light This Candle!

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

My G.I. Joe Mercury capsule came with a 45 rpm record of Glenn's edited communications. and I learned it by heart. In fact, when watching the movie in the theater, my wife poked me in the ribs because I was saying Ed Harris' lines right before he did. Also, they show his spacecraft oriented nose first, when it actually turned around soon after launch to be oriented for a possible abort retrofire.

[@Primus54]

So… What happened to Part 4?

[@Thoughtfullyconsiderate]

Yes. what happened to Part 4?

[@mr_tom_1_0]

Great to have a rebuttal to the way Grissom was depicted in the film.

[@dahawk8574]

2:24 - Deke did not place himself in command of ASTP. He did not even put himself as 2nd in command. He was 3rd of the three.

[@MunchkinKF]

As a former ICBM technician and avid early space program aficionado this series of Reel Engineering has proven particularly enjoyable. My only regret is that I am a late comer to your channel, since I obviously like this kind detailed content.

[@everybodygotthat]

Did Part 4 disappear? Can't seem to find it.

[@Coldwarrior7781]

This film has always been one of my Sunday afternoon staples. Having grown up in the era it just makes me feel good. I do understand the timelines had to be compressed. Like Ridley being present for the 104 incident and Cooper hanging out at Pancho's. It burned before he arrived. The movie would have to be a week long otherwise. But I have always wished Hollywood's feet were held to the fire for the two glaring "dramatic liberties" taken with Yeager's 104 experience and Grissom panicking. Everyone knew Gus was a tough old piece of leather and the evidence was there to prove it. They dishonored his memory pretty bad there and if I'd been his family I would have made some noise over it. I'm sure his wife wasn't a whiny thing either. It's almost like the filmmaker had a grudge.

[@Brian_Of_Melbourne]

Any chance of us seeing part IV please?

[@jaykay6387]

In the actual "Right Stuff" book, Tom Wolfe goes into extensive detail about how many of the crucial support systems during Cooper's flight experienced catastrophic failures. It wasn't just navigation and flight control, but life support and others as well. Coopers cool as ice demeanor during all this was summed up by his understated quote, "Things are starting to "stack up" a bit here". My favorite film of all time, despite some of the "liberties" it took with the actual events. In hindsight, I think Kaufman did go overboard with how he portrayed Grissom, he did do him a disservice and should have figured out a better way to convey that side of story. Yes, it made for good drama, but unfair to Grissom and his survivors.

[@lutzpietschker5171]

The unfairness IMHO reflects truly the book text, but not reality. I think part of the blame has to go to Tom Wolfe.

[@jaykay6387]

@@lutzpietschker5171 Kaufman really took it up several notches from Wolfe's narrative. I'm not saying Wolfe didn't go on some "flights of fancy" in his prose, but Kaufman really put it to Grissom, IMO it was over the top. And the scene in Pancho's where they ask Yeager to take Goodlin's place in the X-1 was totally preposterous, but again, it works for the movie for time compression and drama.

[@dahawk8574]

@@jaykay6387 In subsequent hatch tests, lack of bruising was NOT an exoneration of Grissom. Because Grissom had sea water on the outer side of the hatch. So The Right Stuff could be much closer to reality than you're saying. And of course, the ultimate irony in Gus sticking to his story in Mercury led to the Apollo hatch design that would cost him his life. It is quite easy to imagine an Air Force guy getting seasick and simply wanting out. If he had reported that he deliberately blown the hatch, then we can expect that Apollo would have had a similar design where he could have been rescued from the AS-204 inferno.

[@jaykay6387]

@@dahawk8574 Could he have "blown the hatch". Of course, it's possible. He's sitting in the capsule and it's bobbing around and it's 120 degrees in that suit and he's possibly getting "seasick". And yes, the hatch redesign to eliminate the explosive bolts could very well have cost him, White & Chaffee their lives.

[@Coldwarrior7781]

​@@jaykay6387Yes. Then depicts him making the flight the next morning.

[@GrocMax]

Yeager has stated many times the NF-104 incident was during qualifications of the flight profile for the astronaut flight school he was commander of, to find out what the minimum altitude the reaction control system worked at, not an altitude record attempt, and has always said they found out the altitude the reaction thrusters quit working and the control surfaces also had no effect.

[@perrywidhalm114]

Thanks for creating these videos. Excellent work.

[@DSlyde]

Yeah i would also like part 4. Did it get struck?

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

Hey, anybody got a stick of Beemans? Well, lend me some, I'll pay you right back... ;-)

[@timewaster504]

Fair Enough

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

@@timewaster504 My grandad used to give me Beemans gum all the time back in the '60s... I liked that, and BlackJack... and Clove... all oldies but goodies...

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

You missed the scene in the movie where Shepard gets his medal from JFK. From one angle, you see Scott Glenn as Shepard, where from the other angle, you see Alan Shepard's face over Scott Glenn's shoulder... ;-)

[@michaelogden5958]

Nice series. Good job!

[@matthewdupuis232]

@canadianmacgyver: Gilles, where's part 4? Did it get taken down or did it never get finished?

[@cedricgist7614]

This was outstanding! This is 2-25-2022- Friday, and I can't figure why you've only gotten 220 views in 7 months and only 4 comments before mine. Anyway.... I think CBS used to run a segment named "Find Out More" - or something like that after its historical movies or miniseries aired. A CBS contract celebrity would encourage students to do their own research to get more background. "The Right Stuff" is one of my favorite experiences. I've caught you on Part 3 of your review - I'll catch up. Still, I see there was quite a bit of dramatic license taken to make the Mercury program more and exciting. That makes me feel good about the more recent "Hidden Figures" and the criticism I heard about it's dramatic departures. I want to play the "race card" and call out the critics for trying to savage a story about Black women in the Space Program, whereas fictionalization in the story about White protagonists is overlooked. I guess I did play the race card. That's what bothered me about "The Right Stuff" - that no mention of African-American contribution was made. I think I saw one Black officer on one of the carriers. We know that any major achievement made by this nation included significant contributions by people of color. Enough of my ranting. I don't enjoy "sticking it" to anyone. Well, this was an enlightening video and it augments my enjoyment of the movie. It does. From watching "Moneyball," I reconciled myself to the fact that Hollywood productions, "based on a true story," can still be enjoyable even if the film veers wildly away from the truth. I like the movie "The Natural," although I learned that Bernard Malamud had Roy Hobbs strike out in his final at-bat. I've learned to separate a good story from actual history - and appreciate both. If you've read this rant all the way to here, I wish I could give you a lollipop. Short of that, thank you for your thoughtful work and I will subscribe.

[@neilalbaugh4793]

Let's not forget that this movie is entertainment. It is based on actual events but it is NOT a documentary!

[@lsdzheeusi]

Enjoyed all your observations! There are a lot of films that are historically inaccurate, either through neglect or indifference. As an interested observer, in the case of both the book and film of "The Right Stuff", I think you've missed what made them stand out from most other media on the subject: a deliberate sense of whimsy and wonder, a slight sheen of unreality. Certainly, some changes were made in the interest of exposition, but in this case, many of the changes you mention were quite deliberate and I'd argue it's why we are talking about this film four decades after its release when many others have not become classics. It's a difference between the literal scientific mind and the artistic mind: Kaufman very deliberately wasn't making a documentary. Was there a Part 4? The first three were delightfully enjoyable!

[@m1t2a1]

Look what happened to the Avro Arrow. Discuss.

[@petermcgill1315]

Good comments on the NF104 crash. The pilots flying the program were monumentally pi55ed with Yeager. They tried a number of times to teach Yeager the correct profile, but he couldn’t do it. The cancellation of the program due to Yeager’s crash was a travesty.

[@soflaav8r]

Where is episode 4?

[@hitchpost5822]

Are you by any chance related to Charles Messier the 18th century astronomer and creator of the Messier list of astronomical objects?

[@CanadianMacGyver]

I was once told that he was a distant relation, but I haven't looked at my family tree in a while so I can't be 100% sure.

[@ibrahimkocaalioglu]

no part 4

[@rdmatheson8995]

A terrific screenplay adapted from a fantastic book. This film was brilliantly cast and acted. Sam Sheppard, Ed Harris and the much under appreciated Scott Glen were particularly outstanding. So it was with great disappointment that the film was so underwhelming mostly because of the sub-par special effects. Even by early eighties standards, it badly distracted from the story. Really if I hadn't read the book and knew some of the history I would've been quite confused during the space and flying sequences. Being one who feels greater restraint with SFX is usually a good way to go. Think "The day the earth stood still" (2008) vs the original 1951 version. (Tell me which one you think is better.) Usually something that's partially constructed in the viewers minds can be more effective at story telling than being spoon fed, like some of today's effects extravaganzas. But in this case they were critical and producers really dropped the ball on this one. The Right Stuff should have been an American classic. Instead of the cult favorite oddity it is.

[@RyuAzuku]

Aww no part 4

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

Gus Grissom's Mercury flight was the only time that actual money was shot into space (the dimes he took). I use that to shut up all the whiners about "shooting all that money into space", when it goes to pay all the workers/scientists/contractors on the program, and back into the economy. Sorry, those ignorant whiners are a BIG pet peeve of mine...