Redo lacks the ‘ Right Stuff ’

Disney+ miniseries is an object lesson in how not to remake a space race classic.

Tom Wolfe’s “The Right Stuff,” which tells the story of the test pilots who became the f irst American astronauts — and was previously a big, long, A- list f ilm directed by Philip Kaufman — has been adapted again as a smaller, longer, B- list TV series by Disney+.

From the f ive episodes ( out of eight) available for review as of this writing, one may reasonably wonder why they bothered, apart from the fact that someone owns the rights to a prestige brand and that what looks good on paper and in executive offices sometimes looks less good in execution.

Still, it has been awhile since the last historical space- race series — ABC’s “The Astronaut Wives Club” in 2015 and HBO’s “From the Earth to the Moon” before that in 1998 — so if you are a Disney+ subscriber looking for something relatively grown- up to watch or would enjoy a basic primer on the human side of NASA’s infancy or are a space race completist, have at it. It will do you no harm.

Produced by National Geographic, Warner Horizon Television and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way Productions, “The Right Stuff ” is not bad, or even boring, just thin and unconvincing. Its budget shows, in the negative sense, and its best points are to be found here and there in small things — individual performances, selected exchanges and assorted old gewgaws and gadgets that decorate the screen.

Where: Disney+ When: Any time, starting Friday Rating: TV- 14 ( may be unsuitable for children under age 14)