It still thrills with its expert casting and dazzling visuals.

The Right Stuff gives off a pleasurable hum: it’s the writer-director Philip Kaufman’s enjoyment of the subject, the actors, and moviemaking itself.

Where 2001: A Space Odyssey depicted astronauts (and mankind) as being at the mercy of some higher, alien intelligence, The Right Stuff finds its characters imposing their will on the unknown.

Informative, straightforward, and an admirable dramatization of a monumental era and program and its key players.