The heroes walking under our noses may have been walking on the moon as well. A great history lesson for those jaded in the age of technology. (Gotta admit that "Apollo 13" is betther, though.)

Based on Tom Wolfe's book, this is the story, spanning some 15-6 years about the beginnings of America's space program, focusing on the Mercury 7, but starting with test pilots like Chuck Yeager, who, despite breaking the sound barrier, and being widely considering the best test pilot ever, was not selected to be an astronaut. The primary focus of the film, and most of the book (from what I've been told) really only scratches the surface, as trying to tell the complete story would take like 10-11 hours or so. But the film uses its 193 minute running time to great effect, contrasting the lives of the men and their wives with the broader spectrum of the political and social contexts of the time. And, being an adaptation of Wolfe, there's also the nice undercurrents of countercultural liberal subversiveness at times. This is a very well made film, and cinematically yes it is truly amazing. As far as accuracy and history go, well, the film does suffer, and many of the people whose lives were the basis for this were rather critical of the portrayal of the times and events, and even Wolfe was very displeased with how this turned out, but even then, this is still a remarkable and wonderful piece of work, and one of the many great examples of "they don't make 'em like this anymore". And they probably wouldn't be able to either, at least not without some major changes. That's fine though, because this film does a great job of bringing out a sense of wonder and excitement. These men were real heroes who risked their lives to try to go where no one had gone before, and to try to do it before the Russians, since, at least then, that truly meant something. It really makes you yearn to achieve something great like this, and especially from a relatively low tech perspective. No super advanced computers at that time (being depicted in the film), and no digital technology to tell the film's story with either, so this really makes you appreciate the craft since there's no CGI. The ensemble cast is very notable here, and they give some terrific performances. To name a few: Fred Ward, Scott Glenn, Sam Shepherd, Dennis Quaid, Ed Harris, Barbara Hershey, Veronica Cartwright, and Pamela Reed. The cinematography is quite excellent, and overall the film really looks and feels as epic as its story. A main reason for this would have to be Bill Conti's rousing score, especially when the brass kick in, really leaving you stirred up. The film mostly uses it's long running time to great effect, giving tons of development to the characters, letting the story breathe, and keeping things from being even more rushed. That said, it does drag here and there at times, but the film also has a nice balance where tone is concerned, so there's a blend of humor, drama, adventure, etc. All in all, this is a fine film that, despite iffy history, is cinematically a high water mark for docudramas, and a great look at a wonderful moment in time.