Reception
Released just as the actual rocket plane was making headlines in breaking speed and altitude records and reaching the upper edges of the stratosphere, X-15 was critically reviewed, receiving praise for its authenticity.Following its premiere in Washington, D.C., The Washington Evening Star raved, "Whatever its serious scientific intentions, the X-15 is an almost unbelievable screen spectacular." Considered a realistic look at the lives of the X-15 pilots and the efforts to fly into space, the review in The New York Times commented that it was "A surprisingly appealing and sensible low-budget picture—a semi-documentary with some harmless fictional embroidery ..." Most reviews centered on the accurate portrayal of the U.S. space effort, but disparaged the tepid romantic storyline, even suggesting that the film should have been made as a documentary. Despite generally favorable reviews, Variety sounded a cautious note, calling it "a rather dubious prospect. Much too technically involved for the layman—at times, it resembles a training film more than popular entertainment."
In a more recent appraisal of the film, reviewer Glenn Erickson confronted the two critical failings of the film, emphasizing that Donner's direction resulted in an insipid portrait while short-cutting production values also led to an unsatisfying result. Erickson states clearly, "X-15 plays like a bland Air Force Audio Visual Services film that turned into a feature. One of the film's producers was Frank Sinatra, and actor Brad Dexter was at this time sort of a producer wheeler-dealer as well. The film may have started as a government publicity effort, as the idea that the X-15 program is in trouble with the press and Washington is given more attention than anything else in the movie." Even for aviation aficionados, the film is a failure because the production is an "anamorphic movie with an aspect ratio of 2:35. All the original "docu" shots of the real jets and rockets were photographed at the standard narrow 1:37." The jarring back-and-forth between a standard widescreen format and NASA footage that is stretched and distorted relegates the film to a curiosity. Only the USAF crash scene footage retains the Panavision anamorphic format, although careful review shows that the aircraft involved is not the chase plane.
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