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.

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.

At last someone has reacted to this great movie! Thank you, Cassie!

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 KZfaq 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.

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.

- 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.

The line "sir, over there, is that a man?" , and "yeah, you damn right it is!" gets me every time

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.

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.

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. ❤

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.

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.

The shot of Yeager looking up at the blackness of space as his engines fail is one of the all time coolest moments in film.

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.

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.

I love the scene when he breaks the sound barrier and the pictures rattle against the wall almost like they’re applauding him from beyond the grave.

"From the Earth to the Moon" is the perfect companion piece to this.

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.

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.

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.)

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.

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.

Perhaps my favorite movie of all time. Possibly the most underrated. It's a masterpiece.

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

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.

Years later, Liberty Bell capsule was found and they found that Grissom never did "screw the pooch."

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!

A group of film legends playing a group of aeronautic and space legends. Love this movie!

@30:59 the actor is Scott Glenn, who played Captain Bart Mancuso, commander of the submarine USS Dallas in "The Hunt For Red October".

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.

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.

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!)

"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)

I'm loving it watching Cassie grow in her movie literacy, hearing her say "Hey, that's the guy from...!"

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.

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.

Listening to her call him 'Yawger' the whole video was driving me crazy 🤪 lol

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.

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.

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.

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 KZfaq. 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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

Chuck Yeager (Yay-ger) was the most legendary pilot there's ever been. I don't know how true it still is, but for decades on commercial flights almost all American captains would affect Yeager's laconic drawl when they did announcements from the cockpit. It cannot be overstated what a hero he was to other pilots. Even after retirement he worked as an advisor to the USAF and was allowed to take up almost any plane he wanted. He broke the sound barrier again at age 74 piloting an F-15D, and broke the sound barrier again at age 89 in 2012 copiloting another F15.

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.

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,

One of the greatest movies ever made with an incredible cast. Dennis Quaid so roguishly charming and Sam Shepard gives one of the greatest pieces of understated acting ever. This music score is my favorite.

I met Chuck Yeager. Great guy. This movie is one reason I spent 28 years as an Army Aviator.

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.

Some interesting things: The narrator at the beginning and ending of the movie was meant to be the real Chuck Yeager, however his West Virginian accent was so thick that they determined they couldn't use it, so they got the actor who also plays Jack Ridley in the film to do it. Chuck did appear, however, as the old guy with the funny hat serving drinks at Pancho's and hovering around the recruiters. Chuck was my childhood hero, in part because of this film. His autobiographies are great reading. He did indeed shoot down 5 German planes in one day during WWII (making him an Ace) and also shot down a German jet fighter (yes, the German's had jets towards the end of the war). He flew a P-51 Mustang (like the old plane Tom Cruise flies in Top Gun Maverick). He was himself shot down over France at one point, but was never captured. He joined up with the Maquis (French Resistance) who helped him escape over the Pyrenees Mountains into Spain. It was standard policy that all downed pilots returning from enemy territory had to be sent home, but Chuck got special dispensation from General Eisenhower to continue serving in the European theater. Chuck retired in 1975, but continued consulting with the Air Force for many years after. He only died just recently. Incidentally, his name is pronounced "YAY-ger". It's derived from the German word Jaeger, meaning "hunter". Pancho's bar was the inspiration for the bar in "Captain Marvel" where Nick Fury meets Carol Danvers (and where she has flashbacks). This movie in fact had a lot of influences on the director of Captain Marvel, and you can see a VHS copy of "The Right Stuff" prominently displayed in the Blockbuster store that Danvers crashes into. When Yeager crashed the plane (at end of movie), as he ejected his seat briefly got caught in his parachute lines and hit his helmet. The seat was smoldering from the explosive bolts and caused the lining in his helmet to catch fire. That's why you see him struggling as he falls and why he appears badly burned when the ambulance picks him up. He spent the next month in the hospital, where they'd wake him up every few hours and scrap all the scabs off his face so they wouldn't scar. Gus Grissom (the one who lost his capsule in the ocean), found redemption later on. His capsule was recovered many years later and they found that the frame around the hatch had apparently bent upon landing which would have caused the hatch to blow just as he'd described. He was also an engineer, so he worked closely with the designers of the next spacecraft, the Gemini, to make sure the pilots had as much control as possible (and to make sure the hatch incident wouldn't happen again). He commanded the first manned Gemini mission (after Shepherd had to step down due to Meniere's disease) and was set to command the first manned Apollo mission, but died in a fire on board the spacecraft during testing (technically from asphyxiation). Before that point, NASA's policy had been to keep the spacecraft's cockpit filled with 100% pressurized oxygen which in this case ignited due to faulty wiring causing the Apollo fire. After that, they have used regular nitrogen/oxygen atmosphere. The music for the film was composed by Bill Conti, however the musical themes are taken directly from Tchaikovsky's 1st Violin Concerto in D major (Op 35). Conti also used sections of Holst's "The Planets" symphony during the John Glenn launch and flight sequences. Conti didn't want to use these sources, but was forced to do so by the studio to keep costs down.

The Right Stuff was nominated for eight Oscars in 1983 and won four of them: Best Film Editing (won), Best Original Score (won), Best Sound Editing (won), Best Sound Mixing (won), Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Picture.

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.

Yeager’s autobiography is one of the best non fiction I have ever read. Humble man.

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.

Ridley and the narrator of the movie were the late Levon Helm, musician, singer, and actor extraordinaire.

one of the best movies ever made. Im actually surprised to see a reaction video on this movie.Its so funny and clever and brilliant

Ed Harris who played Glenn was in Apollo 13 and Truman Show as well as The Abyss and a lot of other stuff including latest Top Gun.

Dropping from a larger plane gave them 3 advantages: 1. a small boost in initial speed (about 300 mph, 2. starting at a higher altitude (about 30,000 feet), and saving on fuel for the big push toward the sound barrier. It's Yay-ger. And what changed from the first flight was the pilot.This time they had the best.

One interesting detail... Chuck Yeager past away peacefully in... December of 2020, out living most of the early astronauts. Notably he also famously said, "The first time I saw a jet, I shot it down." He lived from the era of the blimp and flimsy cloth and wire biplanes flew the early jets, and lived to witness, Apollo, the Space Shuttle, and the International Space Station.

Those glowing “fireflies" that John Glenn saw outside of his capsule turned out to be ice crystals that detached from the capsule itself.

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._

Chuck Yeager flew in WWII, Korea and Vietnam as a fighter pilot. During WWII he achieved "Ace in a Day" shooting down five Germans in one day. He was the first human to officially break the sound barrier on October 14, 1947. Two nights before he did this, he had broken two ribs when he fell from a horse, but did not report the injury. His wife taped his ribs but he couldn't close the hatch lever because of pain. He got another pilot to saw off the end of a broom handle and put it in the plane. He used it as a lever to lock the hatch, and flew the rocket powered Bell X1 into history. He achieved the rank of Brigadier General and flew over 360 different types of aircraft during his career. He recieved two Silver Star Medals, two Legions of Merit, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, a Bronze Star and the Purple Heart Medal...those were all combat decorations. He recieved multiple decorations for his service in addition to those medal, including the French Legion of Honor. He retired from the Air Force in 1975, but continued to fly for two more decades. He died on December 7, 2020 (Pearl Harbor Day) at the age of 97. If he wasn't the best pilot to ever fly, he was in the top five...and pilots honor his memory to this day.

1:00 -- RE: About the Right Stuff; Yes, it is an 80s movie but it has 2 or 3 key features which really make it very different, even ahead of its time. For starters, the production company was the Alan Ladd Jr. Company, owned and operated by the son of famous Hollywood film star Alan Ladd. Second, the film's script was based on a non-fiction book by the journalist and writer Tom Wolfe who had also written other best sellers like "The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test" and the novel "Bonfire of the Vanities". And third, the cast for the film was incredible, including many younger actors who were just starting their careers and some who had made names for themselves on the stage more so than the screen. Sam Shepard playing Chuck Yeagar is really something else.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Air Force General Chuck Yeager died December 7th, 2020..he was the man who first broke the Sound Barrier, he test flew the first captured Mig 15, served both in Korea and in Vietnam and flew high performance aircraft into his 60's and retired from the Air Force. As a one star General Officer. A life well lived. The old man in Pancho's, who asked the two government flunkies if they wanted a drink was the real Chuck Yeager doing a cameo appearance.

6:37 Chuck Yeager was only 24 years old when he broke the sound barrier, war hero and a certified flying ace. He and his peers really were the Greatest Generation.

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.

Yeager's face was badly burned during his ejection from the star fighter. He underwent an extremely painful medical procedure to avoid extensive scaring.

Chrissie - you asked what they changed in the X-1 that allowed Yeager to succeed - they invented the "flying tailplane" - instead of the control surfaces on the tail being a *part* of the each surface, the entire surfaces moved - which is really important once you reach the speed of sound. A shock-wave forms from the leading edge of the tailplane surfaces - anything within that "triangle" becomes ineffective (so the pilots lost control). Once they made the entire surface move, it solved it. If you look at all modern fighter jets, you'll see the tail surfaces pivot - the whole surface moves.

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.

I was 7 years old when I saw Sheppard’s flight. This movie is near and dear to my heart.

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

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!

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.

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.

Chuck Yeager had a cameo in this movie. He was the older gentleman with a Fedora looking at the pilots talk in Panchos.

Pancho Barnes, who owned the club in the desert that all the astronauts hung out in, was one of the early female pilots who raced cross-country in the 1930's. There's a book called Fly Girls about one of the races. Quite a character in her own right.

Ridley was played by Levon Helm, who was the drummer and singer in The Band (one of my all time favorite music bands) he also narrorated, can't miss his southern accent.

Sam Shepard, who played Chuck Yeager, was also an extremely accomplished, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright. He wrote close to 60 plays and New York magazine called him the greatest playwright of his generation. He also won 10 Obie awards, more than any other playwright.

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.

I was 7 when John Glenn became the first real astronaut hero to us little kids. And remember when Yeager broke through flying the highest in a jey. When I saw this in the theater way back when, when Chuck Yeager flew the highest a jet ever flew and we finally saw him walking away from the burning plane with a burnt face, which crashed before he landed after ejecting, the audience, we all stood up and cheered! Now I'm standing up and cheering your reaction today. Never seen anything like that kind of reaction before.

Grew up in the military and then went on to serve myself. I was abut 19 when I experienced a sonic boom. The most extraordinary sound you'll ever hear, combined with what sounded and felt like someone trying to push in and then immediately pull out the windows, frames and all.

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.

This is such an amazing, excellent, incredible movie. Watching the first time, when John Glenn broke through, into space - I just sobbed. I still get teary-eyed. So much courage and drive, and sacrifice...... So happy to see this here! :D

The fraternity among those astronauts is so goshdarn admirable.

General Chuck Yeager passed away in 2020 at 97 years old. He was married to Glennis until 1990 when she passed away. He was an amazing person and a true hero. Fun Fact, in the movie, the person who delivers the steak to the table for Yeager at Ponchos (in the hat) is the real Chuck Yeager. He was had a bit role working at Ponchos. :)

Brigadier General (retired) Chuck Yeager just died in 2020 at the age of 97. His first book, “Yeager” is fantastic. He fought in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. A truly amazing life.