The Close-up Poster Answer

Okay, sorry. I guess I've once again made the poster close-up too hard. This week again only six of you guessed at it and only two got it right. But big congrats to Michelle, who was first with the correct answer, and to Bobby who also was right on!

Some of the incorrect guesses included Army of Darkness, Conan the Barbarian, Planet of the Apes (a good guess considering the visual elements included!), and Pirates of the Caribbean. Actually, all of those films would make for a pretty enjoyable little mini-film fest in your living room. But sadly, they were... incorrect.

So what movie's poster is this image from?

 
 

Okay, still stumped? Let's pull back and make it VERY easy for you:

Now you've got it, right? Follow me over the jump for the full poster.

 

It was indeed one of my very favorite films as a young man: Philip Kaufman's 1983 glorious adaptation of Tom Wolfe's book The Right Stuff, about Chuck Yeager and the test pilots who formed America's first crew of astronauts.

There was in fact a method in my madness for choosing The Right Stuff-- I SHOULD have run this poster LAST week, as last Wednesday, October 14, was the 62nd anniversary of Air Force Capt. Chuck Yeager becoming the first person to break the sound barrier in the X-1 jet he named Glamorous Glennis after his wife.

And now indulge me as I ramble off a few of my favorite Right Stuff quotes--guaranteed to make us all want to run out and watch it again. And if you've never seen it, what are you waiting for?! Sam Shepard! Dennis Quaid in his break-out role! Fred Ward! Barbara Hersey! Veronica Cartwright! Pamela Reed! Ed Harris! (Political pundits at the time wondered if the film would help boost the real John Glenn's presidential campaign in '84.) There's even Jeff Goldblum, Harry Shearer, and That Guys Lance Henriksen and Scott Wilson! And jets! And rocket ships! And jet crashes!

(And when you're done watching the movie, read Wolfe's terrific book or Yeager's autobiography for a great lesson in how even "faithful" Hollywood historical movies have to fudge things for the sake of entertainment and drama.)

"There was a demon that lived in the air. They said whoever challenged him would die. Their controls would freeze up, their planes would buffet wildly, and they would disintegrate."

"Hey, Ridley, ya got any Beeman's?" "Yaah, I think I got me a stick." "Loan me some, will ya? I'll pay ya back later."

(The Beemans chewing gum company actually brought the gum flavor back into production in 1985 due to attention from the film. I know that because it was all I chewed for the rest of the '80s. Because I was that big of a Right Stuff geek.)

"Put the spurs to her, Chuck"

"Hey, Ridley, make another note here, would ya? Must be something wrong with this ol' Mach meter. Jumped plumb off the scale. Gone kinda screwy on me."

"I'm a fearless man, but I'm scared to death of you." "Oh no you're not. But you oughta be."

"Dear Lord, please don't let me f**k up."  "I didn't quite copy that. Say again, please." "I said everything's A-OK."

"Gordo, I have to urinate"

"Who was the best pilot I ever saw? Well, uh, you're lookin' at 'im."

"I'm tired of smocks, I'm tired of engineers telling us what we can't do, I'm tired of everybody that says we are not pilots!" "You tell 'em, John."  "I'm tired of monkeys." "Yeah." "And most of all, I am sick and tired of being second to those... those darn Russians!" "There ya go." "Now I think it's about time we..."  "Got someone up there!" "Let's f-f-f..." " F**kin' A, bubba" "That's right! Exactly!"

(The subsequent shot, of the Mercury Seven striding ahead as a group in their silver space suits became an iconic go-to movie image, often since paid homage to or parodied in films like Armageddon.)

"Louise, I'm going to the moon, I swear to God. I'm on my way."

"Sir, over there, is that a man?" "Yeah, you're damn right it is."

"But on that glorious day in May 1963, Gordo Cooper went higher, farther, and faster than any other American. Twenty-two complete orbits around the world; he was the last American ever to go into space alone. And for a brief moment, Gordo Cooper became the greatest pilot anyone had ever seen."

Comments

[Matthew S.]

Army of Darkness? Really? And Pirates? Come on now...

*Scratches head*

http://chasness.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/army_of_darkness.jpg

http://api.ning.com/files/K6CBBOJeKwFBiFuzd2fYCUEebPl5az7A1xAn4wepGuJEULqbfMc9pUiynM7FCXpb55u9XyWKEhd1JqSGzNliwd9L7G5wSazD/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOriginalSoundtrack.jpg

I knew it was an astronaut movie...though have never seen this one...and now you have me much intrigued...

*Wonders if we have it in our Laserdisc collection...*

[Michelle]

Cooooolllll, I WON! LOL

[Matthew S.]

Congrats to you!