The Right Stuff

I have not watched the movie (I know, I know) therefore I'm basing this solely on the show: I thought it was good, short of being great. However, this is neither the actors' fault which I mostly found great, nor the director's pace, which suited me just fine (I like slow, getting into the character's lives, shows, ok?). Some of the things that irked me go with the characters and the time period (the stupid race with Russia to be the first, zomggg), the constant cheating, the demeaning position of women.... Those were hard to swallow but the acting was solid (esp Patrick J. Adams and Jake McDorman, they were fantastic in their part) and made up for quite a lot of it. I can't tell you to go watch the movie instead but if you're like me and you haven't seen the movie and you like space stuff, this is definitely much better than Away. Don't thank me on that.

It's been a long while since I've watched the movie The Right Stuff but I recommend watching the movie instead of the series if you do not want to invest 6 hours.

This show, however, is fairly good. It's a little slow and delves a bit more into the personal lives of all involved. Which does bring history to life. The only thing I do not know is how accurate it is when it comes to the personal details of all the astronauts. Some of it seems like it might have been embellished.

How I rate:
1-3 ❤ = seriously! don't waste your time
4-6 ❤ = you may or may not enjoy this
7-8 ❤ = I expect you will like this too
9-10 ❤ = movies and TV shows I really love!

I wasn't alive back then but I was always fascinated by the Space Race. Read many books and watched countless documentaries. I love the movie they made. So, this was very high on my list. And it is utterly dissapointing.

The story of the Space Race is dramatic on it's own. It's a story about what mankind can achieve if they put all their efforts behind it. Even if it was started out of political agendas to prove which system was superior. I think those men, on both sides, achieved remarkable things and I have the highest respect for them.

Based on this series alone, how the astronauts are portrayed, I would have wished them all to blow up and die. They are equally unlikeable, everyone for it's own reasons. I am not against adding some drama, in the end this is a TV show and not a documentary. But this was just too much. You see close to nothing about the training and technical side. Mostly them chasing after women, drinking, and chest pumping contests about who is the alpha male. Maybe some of this did happen, but even than you should find more balance in your story.

Since the first season is subtitled "Project Mercury" I fear there will be more seasons coming about the follow-up programs.

Not with me, though.