I believe this film was underrated on it's original release. What a pity. It's a brilliantly delivered story of the men and women who contributed to the greatest historical event in my lifetime. Probably the greatest since Columbus, nearly 500 years earlier. It tells very much a human story of the people and families of those involved. The test pilots from the early jet age, the very real risks that they took and the selection of the few to enter the space programme. I was upset to discover that the great Chuck Yeager was not chosen because he was not "of the officer class" or "education standard". Something like that as far as I can recall. I always thought that this attitude was a peculiarity of British class snobbery. Disappointing that it happened in the United States. This film has the very best actors, writing, everything. If you haven't seen it PLEASE DO! 10/10