The Final Frontier
I promise not to make a single Star Trek joke in this post
This week, I’ve got a double-tape, double-feature for y’all, all about space and the astronauts who’ve explored this final frontier: Conquest and The Right Stuff. I sat down this week and gave both of these a watch after a very busy morning, and while both have some tense moments, Conquest in particular was very relaxing and calming to have on.
The Right Stuff is a full on space drama feature film, produced by Warner Bros., and while it had a theatrical release, I believe the length of the film (over 3 hours!) hurt it’s sales to the point that it’s mostly become forgotten to time. Dramatizations and big budget movies aren’t usually what I like to share here, but I recently watched this on Blu-ray, and while it was stunning to see in HD, many scenes have been changed from the cut that is here on VHS. I thought that may be worth sharing, so whether you’ve see this real-story space epic before or not, this could be a brand new experience.
Conquest is loaded with historical footage from both Soviet space programs and NASA. The content of this nearly 3 hour documentary spans over 50 years, from the first German rocket research the 1930s to the shuttle launches in the 1980s. For a piece of media containing so much footage from nearly every manned or unmanned launch, I’m surprised at just how forgotten to time this has become.
After doing some digging, I was able to find this small blurb on the TV Guide website, as well as this wonderful review on Amazon for the VHS release:
Both box sets were found in pretty rough condition. These double-tape clamshells are pretty weak plastic, and get crushed rather easily. All four tapes in total were in great condition, however, and played just fine, unfortunately the art and labels on The Right Stuff were heavily damaged, so the box scan doesn’t look incredible.
I hope you enjoy the next 6+ hours of space content!
Conquest (1985) PART 1 & 2
1985 | Runtime 3 Hours
It had begun with man's desire to fly- this need to explore the frontiers of space. Now, chronicled in this breathtaking, three-hour cassette, is the history of the space program. With brilliant narration, rare and fascinating film footage, and an exceptional stereophonic musical Score, Conquest serves as the definitive work on the achievements of man in outer space.
The program launches with World War II and Von Braun's rockets, and painstakingly takes us on a journey that culminates in the 1984 space shuttle missions.
Once you've viewed this fascinating cassette, you'll understand more than you dreamed possible about man's most shining achievements in space - Excellent viewing for the whole family.
The Right Stuff (1983) Tape A & B
1983 | Runtime 3 Hours, 15 Minutes
The spectacular story of America's first astronauts.
Project Mercury: the catch-up crash program to put an American into space. The technology was in its infancy. The rockets were unproven. The gamble was enormous. And the pressure was on, because the Russians were already up there. To man Project Mercury, to ride a primitive spacecraft into the unknown, America needed a pilot with "the right stuff" - in other words, a hero.
America found seven of them.
The Right Stuff tells the epic true story of Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Walter Schirra, Gordon Cooper and Deke Slayton - the seven men chosen to launch the U.S. into space. It's a spectacular journey, one which earned four 1983 Academy Awards for Best Music Score, Best Film Editing, Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing. Even if you remember the headlines and watched the TV coverage, you don't know the half of what really happened.
Working from the best-selling book by Tom Wolfe, writer/director Philip Kaufman does a brilliant job of bringing the astronauts and their adventures to three-dimensional life. From high-tech hardware to the high-stress performance of individual hearts and minds, Kaufman's superb film leaves nothing out.
Dennis Quaid, Ed Harris and Scott Glenn lead a striking septet of actors in roles which combine credibility, depth and unpredictably irreverent humor. Their characterizations deliver the astronauts from the whitewash of official history to the startling colors of real life, where they belong.
Behind their key dramatic roles, in an understated personification of the right stuff at its essence, is legendary test pilot Chuck Yeager, played by actor/playwright Sam Shepard. Yeager is the mysterious center of Kaufman's movie, the core of its style - and the root of its heroic images.
Sure to be a classic, The Right Stuff is one film that truly measures up to the size, complexity and excitement of its subject.
Well, that’s it for this week! I hope you enjoyed the tapes! If you’re looking for more, please check out my page on Archive.org for the full list of digitized media. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message right here or drop a comment below. If you haven’t already, please check out this heavily damaged copy of Journey to Mars: The Real Story, or any of my other previous posts here. Thanks so much for checking out this week’s edition of Diptych!
See you soon!
—Forrest
Contact was incredible!