MovieChat Forums > The Right Stuff (1984) Discussion > Great Lines

Great Lines

posted 20 years ago by rencomm
64 replies | jump to latest

Last week some organization listed the best lines of all time from movies. A writer in my local paper followed up with his and readers favorites. Nothing from TRS! And this movie had some GREAT lines: Everything from "Spam in a can" to "No bucks, no Buck Rogers!" to "Who's the greatest pilot you ever saw?" to "Please, Lord, don't let me F-up" to dozens of others. If you like great one liners, TRS has them; another reason this movie is so good and still talked about all these years later. Even message boards such as this continue to generate posts despite the age of the movie.

[–] pclk 18 years ago

How come no-one mentioned the wonderfully pithy line:

Jack Ridley: Put the spurs to her, Chuck.

[–] mwebbdr98 18 years ago

Pancho Barnes: There ain't no way you'll get that plane to go fast enough to get *two* free steaks outa me.

Supposedly, the NASA PR people had a major problem with Gus Grissom. Gus tended to talk in 'army creole', peppered with obscenities etc. (remember his response was always *beep* Bubba!) I think I remember in the book, Wolfe relating an incident where Gus went to a rocket plant and made some remark about hoping 'you *beep* do your job, because it's Gus's ass up there'.

In the movie 'Armageddon', Rockhound makes a remark about sitting on a million pounds of fuel in a rocket built by the lowest bidder. Wasnt that line originally attributed to Gus Grissom or Wally Schirra?

[–] Konehead677 18 years ago

Look fellas, we're compeating with Archie and Jugghead.

[–] Konehead677 18 years ago

Also another good one is:

Crash Truck Driver: Look sir , over there , is that a man?

Ridley: Your dam right it is.

[–] susannah-5 18 years ago

It's been a while since I've seen The Right Stuff (but I'll be seeing it again on the big screen at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on June 11th as part of their It's Great to Be Nominated series), but my favorite line is when Mrs Grissom is berating her husband for the way things turned out.

There'll be no medal of honor(?), no Rose Garden ceremony (?), and then, the kicker, "No lunch with Jackie!"

Susannah

[–] bgm2005 17 years ago

"No Sir, Our Germans Are Better Than There Germans."

And perhaps the best line isn't a line at all, but a hum... John Glenn humming to the Marine's Hymm, and Gordo Cooper humming to the Air Force song while engaged in competitive masturbation.

[–] lseybold-2 17 years ago

The line about the rocket being built by the lowest bidder was attributed to Alan Shepard. Gene Kranz mentioned it in his book "Failure Is Not An Option." Shepard's real-life quotes have been referenced in other movies too, i.e. "Mission To Mars."

"I am a collage of unaccounted for brush strokes, and I am all random!"

[–] ace33-2 17 years ago

I like when the NASA recruiters are talking about why Yeager isn't qualified while the real Yeager was standing behind them with that curious look on his face before asking what they wanted to drink.

[–] crbucs-1 17 years ago

"Sir, over there....is that a man?"

"You're damn right it is."

As Yeager walks defiantly back to the base from his wrecked jet on the desert floor with half of his face burned off.

Favorite line and scene from any movie.

[–] crockett3663 17 years ago

One line that irritated the hell outta me was after Grissom's splashdown:

"The hatch just blew"

I've got TRS on DVD and I counted various people repeating that line over and over within a span of one minute. I think it was said about six or seven times, or once every 10 seconds. I know it was an important point in the film, but I don't think we need to hear it that many times in such a short span. "The hatch just blew"...Ok, we get it. Now can we move on please???

[–] mageevu 17 years ago

I liked the line from Yeager's wife before he went to break the sound barrier.

"Punch a hole in the sky"

----------------------
"I AM DON JUAN TRIUMPHANT!!"

[–] Rufus-T 16 years ago

My name is Jose Jimenez

----------
Sounds dangerous. Count me in.

[–] bmelloy 14 years ago

Some more:
"No Senator, our Germans are better than their Germans"

Ed Sullivan: "So...is that your crash helmet?"
Jose: "Oh, I hope not."

"No...Jackie?"

[–] randy3140 14 years ago

Always loved this little speech from John to his wife.

John Glenn (Ed Harris): Annie, listen to me, OK? You listening? If you don't want the Vice President or the TV networks or anybody else to come into the house, then that's it, as far as I'm concerned. They are NOT coming in, and I will back you all the way, a hundred percent on this. And you tell them that, OK? I don't want Johnson or any of the rest of them to set as much as one toe inside our house. You tell them that- that Astronaut John Glenn told you to say that!

[–] nsjlmj 14 years ago

LBJ: "You know what the Russians want, don't you? Our p***ers in their pockets."

Then the cute little reporter dutifully writes it down. Cracks me up.