I love the movie THE RIGHT STUFF for its stylized depiction of a period in history that is too detailed to cover "realistically" in a single movie. The movie is "bookended" by real flights made by aviation legend Chuck Yeager.
In the opening scenes a scout for the manufacturer finds Yeager in a bar and asks him to fly the Bell X-1. The very next day, Yeager is up there breaking the sound barrier.
In reality, Yeager flew the X-1 for months, going slightly faster each time and having several hair-raising adventures in the little plane before reaching the ultimate goal. And on the day history was made, Yeager and the crew knew the X-1 had broken the sound barrier, but they weren't entirely sure until the tracking information was checked later. And yes, he flew with fractured ribs, and the roll at the end of the scene was a Yeager trademark.
In the movie, watchers on the ground hear the sonic boom and think Yeager has "bought the farm." Then they realize he is still up there and going strong. The track in Bill Conti's score is titled simply "Mach 1," but I always thought of it as "Walking Among the Angels." The piece is both humble and heroic at the same time. Both skill and luck smiled on Yeager that day. I repeat the segment over and over—the music and the sequence of shots capture a fleeting moment.
(I've heard some down-check the scene as unrealistic—"the sky doesn't turn black like that at Mach 1," etc. etc. The whole movie has stylized, "organic" effects that evoke the emotion of great events. Strict realism would have been too flat without explaining everything else one needs to know to understand the events.)
I love this scene. It's one of the most exciting, thrilling segments ever put on film. Especially if you watch it from the beginning. It all comes together, the visual effects, editing, sound effects even the synth music works beautifully here. I've been saying for years how creatively bankrupt Hollywood is nowadays. This is a perfect example of something that is depicting real life, but it's "bigger than life". Interesting it uses a lot of fast cuts and shaky cam, something that would annoy me today, but it works here.
I also love John Glenn's orbital sequence. The clouds seem alive and breathing.
I must be weird. I never repeat scenes and I never skip them, but I hear/read about people doing it fairly often.
Me neither, unless I'm analyzing a film for some reason (either for a paper or for an article). Nor do I play individual tracks over and over again -- I prefer to let both come naturally as a highlight within the context of the film or the album. Guess we're the odd ones out.
It's actually pretty funny that this topic came up right now. Just last night I watched L.A. Confidential. When it was over, I repeated the ending three additional times. Jerry's final cue, beginning at the press conference and ending when the screen goes black, is such perfection that it's nearly impossible for me to watch & listen just once.
KImberly Macarthur removing her top in YOUNG DOCTORS IN LOVE
On my top ten Playmate list.
@ Thor- I don't normally freeze frame live action movies. Occasionally I have to study special effects. I've freeze framed animated films hundreds of times so I can study animation. Generally when I watch a film I want to experience the whole thing from beginning to end without interruption.
KImberly Macarthur removing her top in YOUNG DOCTORS IN LOVE
"cOME HERE AND SIT ON MY FACE" - Dabney Coleman
I was only thinking about this film the other day. As a pre-teen, I caught it on late night TV and recorded it on our expensive clock (Beta video recorder).
I watched it numerous times and remember laughing a lot.
I must have been having a nostalgia moment to have been thinking about it - but I would like to watch it again through adult eyes.
The 80's. The last decade they were real and spectacular. (Seinfeld pun) And they didn't have tattoo's like a biker gang.
Right. I saved my collection of PLAYBOY mags because that was the last great decade of beautiful and sexy women. oR , AS I LIKE TO SAY "When women were women , not shaved, plastic mannequins"
