History Film / TheRightStuff

--> Gordo Cooper: "Who's the greatest pilot you ever saw? You're lookin' at him!"
--> Chuck Yeager: "Hey Ridley, got any Beeman's [chewing gum]? I'll pay you back later"

* ArcWords (Gordo Cooper): "Who's the greatest pilot you ever saw? You're lookin' at him!"

** Also for events not included in the movie; Shepard tells his wife "Louise, I'm going to the moon, I swear to God. I'm on my way." He would walk on the moon in 1971 as the captain of Apollo 14.

* AnachronismStew: Although most of the film [[ShownTheirWork is good with the history]], the first reconnaissance film shown to the White House briefing room after Sputnik suffers a bit from this. It includes footage of a Soyuz rocket, which was first launched four years after the date range of this film. It also mentions the first two cosmonauts, Yuri Gagarin and Gherman Titov. Russia wouldn't even select their first batch of cosmonauts until 1960, almost a full year after the Mercury Seven were chosen.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: Wally Schirra (played by Lance Henriksen), who helped clear Grissom's name by blowing his capsule's hatch ''on purpose.'' [[note]]To blow the hatch, the astronaut had to smack a very heavy switch that kicked back when the explosive bolts fired, which left a nasty bruise on Schirra's hand. Grissom's hand didn't have a bruise.[[/note]] In the film, he's probably the most forgettable of the seven astronauts, and one of two whose flight isn't even shown (the other being Scott Carpenter).

* CentrifugalFarce: The "Vomit Comet". In a rare example of being used for its intended purpose, the centrifuge appears as part of astronaut training.

* NegatedMomentOfAwesome: In both real life and discussed in the film, Chuck Yeager was passed over for the space program. Despite being someone who is now considered to be one of the greatest pilots in the history of aviation, NASA was looking for college graduates. Yeager never attended college, nor West Point or Annapolis, but instead was an enlisted man recruited as a pilot, and therefore field-commissioned... after being turned down three times by promotion board because of a court-martial on his enlisted record. Could anybody imagine how utterly awesome it would've been had Chuck Yeager become an astronaut?[[note]]Hopefully he wouldn't have been one of the ones in the Apollo 1 fire, though.[[/note]]

** In the scene where the Mercury Seven are first introduced, and they're asked who will be the first of them in space, John Glenn really did raise both his hands.

* HomageShot

** John Glenn is shown serving as CAPCOM at mission control for Mercury-Atlas 9. He was actually aboard the ''Coastal Sentry Quebec'' tracking ship off the coast of Japan.

* ScaryShinyGlasses: After sending Gordo Cooper to get a sperm sample, and him making a rather inappropriate joke about assisting him, the nurse looms over him as she sends him off, her face in shadow and Gordo's reflection obscuring her eyes.

* ThereAreTwoKindsOfPeopleInTheWorld: The bartender notes that they "got two categories of pilots around here: your prime pilots that get all the hot planes, and your pudknockers who dream about getting the hot planes."

This was a breakout role for many now-established actors: Creator/ScottGlenn (unless you count ''Urban Cowboy''), Creator/DennisQuaid (unless you count ''Breaking Away''), Creator/FredWard (unless you count ''Escape from Alcatraz''), and Creator/EdHarris (unless you count ''Knightriders''). Additionally, Music/SamShepard never worked too hard to advance his acting career, but if he can be said to have a breakout role, this is it: he was nominated for an Oscar.

-->'''Shepard:''' Alright, I'm cooler than you are. How about you fix your little problems and ''light this candle!''

** As a form of InterserviceRivalry: the Air Force has pilots, the Navy has ''aviators.''
*** TruthInTelevision: a ''pilot'' in the Navy guides ships into harbors

* FeeFiFauxPas: "I bet you're gonna hang our picture on your wall."

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: [[UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson LBJ's]] quote as UsefulNotes/TheSpaceRace part began. "The Romans ruled the world because they could build roads" is arguable, leaning towards false. But "the British ruled the world because they had ships" and "we won the war because we had planes" is downright absurd. However, that line was lifted nearly verbatim from LBJ's own words.

* BugBuzz: The sound of locusts are played in the background of scenes that involve the Permanent Press Corps.

* ChekhovsGun: The conversation the Mercury 7 have with the scientists about having a window, manual controls and explosive bolts. Later on all three become an important part of at least one flight.

--> '''Head of Program:''' The Free World needs a man in orbit, John, [[UsefulNotes/TheSpaceRace or it's all over]]. So, we're scrapping the Redstone rocket and we're going with the Atlas. You know what that means. [[StuffBlowingUp We haven't had too much luck with that rocket]], John. We're not going to be able to take all the precautions we'd like. It's going to be extremely dangerous....

-->'''White House Staffer #1:''' This footage was assembled from souces operating under cover at great risk.\\

* OldMediaAreEvil: The press corps are not portrayed in a very flattering light.

* TheReveal: The long shot of the astronaut walking out to the first Mercury spacecraft, doesn't show that it's Alan Shepard until he's in the capsule. Of course this is the CaptainObviousReveal if you knew that already.

* ShownTheirWork: Wolfe was meticulous about getting the details right in his book, so the movie makers had an easy job of it. There's bits of ArtisticLicense here and there, but that's all.

''The Right Stuff'' is a 1983 [[TheFilmOfTheBook adaptation]] of Tom Wolfe's best-selling book, about the attempt to break the sound barrier and the subsequent [[UsefulNotes/TheSpaceRace Space Race]]. Briefly considered to be a campaign promo for John Glenn's presidential aspirations in 1984, but it actually didn't help much. Directed and written by Philip Kaufman, the film received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and one for Sam Shepard for Best Supporting Actor and won four.

This was a breakout role for many now-established actors: Creator/ScottGlenn (unless you count ''Urban Cowboy''), Creator/DennisQuaid (unless you count ''Breaking Away''), Fred Ward (unless you count ''Escape from Alcatraz''), and Creator/EdHarris (unless you count ''Knightriders''). Additionally, Music/SamShepard never worked too hard to advance his acting career, but if he can be said to have a breakout role, this is it: he was nominated for an Oscar.

* TrueCompanions: Just watch the astronauts, and their wives, rally around each other against a NASA administrator and [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome a vice president who's trying to score political points]].

A 1983 [[TheFilmOfTheBook adaptation]] of Tom Wolfe's best-selling book, about the attempt to break the sound barrier and the subsequent [[UsefulNotes/TheSpaceRace Space Race]]. Briefly considered to be a campaign promo for John Glenn's presidential aspirations in 1984, but it actually didn't help much. It received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and one for Sam Shepard for Best Supporting Actor and won four.

* GoshdangItToHeck: Ed Harris plays this to the hilt as John Glenn. Even when he wants to curse, he can't bring himself to do it.