This movie is terrific! I loved it when I first saw it and I still enjoy it. The history presented in The Right Stuff is rather accurate by Hollywood standards, and almost every minute is entertaining. This movie should be viewed by students to give them some appreciation of the bravery, technology and political BS that had to be overcome to explore space.<br /><br />The Mercury Astronauts are presented as "hot shots" and "dare-devils". This is probably accurate. Normal people don't sit on top of several tons of highly explosive propellant and get launched into space. {Thank Goodness} It took a special breed of men to risk it all and start the journey to the moon.<br /><br />I enjoyed Sam Shepard's portrayal of Chuck Yeager. Yeager is one of the best and most capable pilots of all time. Breaking the sound barrier took skill and incredible bravery. Many men paid the ultimate price trying to break the sound barrier.<br /><br />Fred Ward portrays a gritty Guss Grissom. Dennis Quaid also stands out as Scott Carpenter. However, Ed Harris plays John Glenn to perfection. Harris' character comes across as almost naive and honest to a fault. This seems to track with what I've read about John Glenn.<br /><br />The Right Stuff and Apollo 13 are the best {historically based} space movies of all time.