Afterburn (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 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):

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 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 segment on Harduvel's legal fight, after working with her on a proposal, he pitched the film to Disney, originally titled, "The Janet Harduvel Story." At the height of the Gulf War, 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. Harduvel'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 nomination for his cinematography. Also notable is the music by Stewart Copeland, best-known to the public as the drummer for the British band The Police, 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 Award for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV category.