The John Glenn Story (1962)
John Glenn's first flight ushered in the modern era of space exploration for America. His landmark return to space represented the final chapter of space exploration in the 20th century.
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Reviews
Wonderful character development!
I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
I don't know how many saw "The Right Stuff", a movie about the early days of the spacial race going from Alan Shepard's breaking the sound up until John Glenn's triumph of being the first person to orbit around the Earth. But the moments with Glenn, played by Ed Harris in the movie, towards the end of the movie are magical and thrilling and that real experience is what this documentary made by U.S. government tells about. Sadly, until we get there to the dangerous and groundbreaking mission, there's a little story about Glenn's life on a small town with teachers and relatives sharing their stories about the boy. I say sadly because this wasn't an involving part and it took too long to develop. And worst, it was a corny propaganda, too much "acted" by everyone, one of those 1960's righteous trends that really look and sound unappealing today. I mean, a flawless hero? A nut hard to crack! It gets better when it gets to the mission, astounding clips (maybe some reenactments as well) of his journey in space where he almost didn't return. Breathtaking. But everything turned out well and he made history. Now we need a sequel telling about his adventure in the 1990's when he returned to space at the age 77, becoming the oldest person to ever be put in orbit. Why watch this? To be delighted with the historical purpose his mission had, the great archive footage this features which is a memorable look into that decade; and maybe some inspirational level since the man was a positive influence to his generation. But I advise you to watch Philip Kaufman's film "The Right Stuff". It was THE thing. 7/10