Afterburn is a 1992 dramatic

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 film written and produced for television, based on a true story where one woman takes on the United States military and General Dynamics

General Dynamics

General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...

, manufacturer of the F-16 jet

Jet aircraft

A jet aircraft is an aircraft propelled by jet engines. Jet aircraft generally fly much faster than propeller-powered aircraft and at higher altitudes – as high as . At these altitudes, jet engines achieve maximum efficiency over long distances. The engines in propeller-powered aircraft...

 fighter aircraft

Fighter aircraft

A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...

 that took her husband's life. The docudrama

Docudrama

In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....

 starred Laura Dern

Laura Dern

Laura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress, film director and producer. Dern has acted in such films as Smooth Talk , Blue Velvet , Fat Man and Little Boy , Wild at Heart , Jurassic Park and October Sky...

, Robert Loggia

Robert Loggia

Robert Loggia is an American film and television actor and director.- Early life :Loggia, an Italian American, was born on Staten Island, the son of Elena Blandino, a homemaker, and Benjamin Loggia, a shoemaker, both of whom were born in Sicily, Italy...

, and Vincent Spano

Vincent Spano

Vincent M. Spano is an American stage, film and television actor, and film director and producer. He received a Cable Ace Award nomination in 1988 for his role as Mark Ciuni in Il cugino americano.-Backround:...

. The film's name is derived from the "Afterburner" bar where the central character (Janet Harduvel), who works as a waitress, met her future husband, a setting that forms the focus of the first part of the film.

Plot

On November 15, 1982, Janet Harduvel (Laura Dern) is devastated by the news of the death of her husband Ted (Vincent Spano) who flew as a United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 pilot in one of the world's most sophisticated fighter aircraft, the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon. She is stymied in finding out the truth behind his crash in Korea and takes on the US military and General Dynamics, maker of the F-16. With the help of her lawyer, Leo Morrone (Robert Loggia), and her sister Mary (Welker White), Harduvel begins the long process of unraveling the lies and deception that are behind a joint military and General Dynamics cover-up that blames the accident on pilot error. Despite setbacks, she proves to be unwavering in her search for the truth to clear his name and uncover the deadly secret buried in the F-16.

Cast

As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified):

Actor	Role
Laura Dern Laura Dern Laura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress, film director and producer. Dern has acted in such films as Smooth Talk , Blue Velvet , Fat Man and Little Boy , Wild at Heart , Jurassic Park and October Sky...	Janet Harduvel
Robert Loggia Robert Loggia Robert Loggia is an American film and television actor and director.- Early life :Loggia, an Italian American, was born on Staten Island, the son of Elena Blandino, a homemaker, and Benjamin Loggia, a shoemaker, both of whom were born in Sicily, Italy...	Leo Morrone
Vincent Spano Vincent Spano Vincent M. Spano is an American stage, film and television actor, and film director and producer. He received a Cable Ace Award nomination in 1988 for his role as Mark Ciuni in Il cugino americano.-Backround:...	Capt. Ted "Hardball" Harduvel
Michael Rooker Michael Rooker Michael Rooker is an American actor.-Early life:Rooker, who has eight brothers and sisters, was born in Jasper, Alabama and studied at the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago, where he moved with his mother and siblings at the age of thirteen, after his parents divorced.-Movie career:He made his...	Capt. Casey "Z" Zankowski
Welker White Welker White Welker White is an American actress. She has appeared in feature films, television series and stage theatre.-Filmography:*Cedar Rapids as Diane Krogstad* A Dog Year as Brenda King* I Think I Love My Wife as Mary...	Mary Sciales
Richard Jenkins Richard Jenkins Richard Dale Jenkins is an American stage, film, and television actor. After beginning his career in theatre, Jenkins made his film debut in 1974, and appeared in supporting roles in numerous film productions in the 1980s and the 1990s. His breakthrough came in the 2000s for playing the deceased...	Acton Ryder
Andy Romano Andy Romano Andy Romano is an American actor, known for playing "J.D." in the 1960s Beach Party movies ....	Dr. Carl Haller
Basil Wallace	Capt. Terry "Joker" North
Gary Basaraba Gary Basaraba Gary Basaraba is a Canadian actor best known for playing American police officers. He appeared as Sergeant Richard Santoro on Steven Bochco's Brooklyn South and Officer Ray Heckler on Boomtown....	Bill Decker
Dion Anderson	Col. Hewson
Kasi Lemmons Kasi Lemmons Kasi Lemmons is an American film director and actress, most notable for her work on the films Eve's Bayou, The Caveman's Valentine and Talk to Me....	Carol North
Daniel Benzali Daniel Benzali Daniel Benzali is a Brazilian-American stage, television and film actor.-Biography:Benzali was born in Rio de Janeiro to Brazilian Jewish parents...	Col. John Patterson
Cassy Friel	Kiki Harduval
Christopher John Fields	Charlie Reeves
Lewis Dix, Jr.	Joe

Production

Captain Theodore T. Harduvel's widow, Janet, was the focus of the production and her assistance was paramount in presenting an accurate portrait of the struggle to clear her husband's memory and legacy. In 1987, Janet Harduvel won a $3.1 million dollar jury award against General Dynamics Corporation, alleging a flight instrumentation malfunction due to a short circuit caused by frayed ("chafed") wiring, led to his crash. The verdict would "ultimately be overturned, not on its merits, but on the basis that federal defense contractors enjoy blanket immunity from such lawsuits." A subsequent defeat on appeal followed.

When producer Steve Tisch saw a 60 Minutes

60 Minutes

60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....

segment on Harduvel's legal fight,, after working with her on a proposal, he pitched the film to Disney, originally titled, "The Janet Harduval Story." At the height of the Gulf War

Gulf War

The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

, the feature was in pre-production when Disney reassessed the optics of releasing an anti-military film, and backed out. HBO quickly picked up the project, but only offered a fraction of the original budget of $14 million. Tisch said, "HBO said they wanted to make the movie, but I would have less than $5 million to make it. It was exactly the same movie, but it all worked out." Janet Harduvel appeared in an uncredited cameo role, and acted as a creative consultant on the film. Although Harduvel's real-life attorney, the aviation specialist Myron Pappadakis was changed into the fictional Leo Morrone, her sister, Marybeth was the basis for the film's Mary Sciales.

The technical issues that are dealt with in Afterburn is that the F-16 "Viper" is entirely reliant on its electrical systems to relay flight commands as well as digital instrument reading, instead of traditional "steam-driven" instruments and mechanically-linked controls, leading to the early moniker of "the electric jet". In Capt. Hardeval's final mission, he relied on his faulty instrument reading that showed him close to terrain, but did not indicate that he was upside down and his "pull out" actually propelled him at full power, inverted, into a hillside. General Dynamics was aware of a potential problem of wiring becoming chafed by the high-G forces inherent in the F-16's flight envelope, and had a maintenance advisory issued.

A dramatic tension was created with Harduvel pitted against the secrets buried deep in the miles-long wiring that eventually was proved to be the reason for a series of F-16 crashes. Principal photography took place in southern California, although the production had no access to USAF bases, the ingenious use of a solitary "mocked-up" F-16 fighter and USAF fighters created by the special effects team of Stargate Films, were seamlessly blended into the film. A number of evocative images by Isidore Mankofsky of the F-16 are used for effect, later to be recognized by an Emmy

Emmy Award

An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

 nomination for his cinematography. Also notable is the music by Stewart Copeland

Stewart Copeland

Stewart Armstrong Copeland is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the band The Police. During the group's extended hiatus from the mid-1980s to 2007, he played in other bands and composed soundtracks...

, best-known to the public as the drummer for the British band The Police

The Police

The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...

, but who also was a very successful composer with an extensive career in films and TV productions.

Reception

Originally aired in the United States by HBO on May 30, 1992, Afterburn was re-broadcast in October that year and released shortly after as a home video in both VHS and DVD formats. Although not garnering a great deal of attention from critics, most reviews were favorable, centering on the drama in the story. Ken Tucker considered the film, dedicated to the memory of Ted Harduvel was successful because of "complex performances of Spano and, especially, Dern—they give 'Afterburn' the emotional weight its real-life subjects deserve." Sandra Brennan called it "... riveting, fact-based made-for-cable drama."

Awards

Afterburn received a number of nominations in various categories including Molly Lopata nominated for the "Artios" Best Casting for TV Movie of the Week for the 1992 Casting Society of America Award, Isidore Mankofsky for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Cinematography for a 1992 Emmy in the Miniseries or a Special category and Jerrold L. Ludwig for Outstanding Individual Achievement in the 1992 Emmy for Editing for a Miniseries or a Special - Single Camera Production, as well as for editing in the Best Edited Television Special category for the 1993 American Cinema Editors, USA Award.

Although Laura Dern was nominated for the 1992 Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special, but was unsuccessful, she went on to win a 1993 Golden Globe

Golden Globe Award

The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...

Award for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV category.