Afterburn (film)

Afterburn is a 1992 dramatic film written and produced for television, based on a true story where one woman takes on the United States military and General Dynamics, manufacturer of the F16 jet fighter aircraft that took her husbands life. The docudrama starred Laura Dern, Robert Loggia, and Vincent Spano. The films 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.

Captain Theodore T. Harduvels widow, Janet, was the focus of the production and her assistance was paramount in presenting an accurate portrait of the struggle to clear her husbands 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 Harduvels 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 preproduction when Disney reassessed the optics of releasing an antimilitary film, and backed out. HBO quickly picked up the project, but only offered a fraction of the original budget ofmillion. Tisch said, HBO said they wanted to make the movie, but I would have less thanmillion 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 Harduvels reallife attorney, the aviation specialist Myron Pappadakis was changed into the fictional Leo Morrone, her sister, Marybeth was the basis for the films Mary Sciales. N ........

Source: Wikipedia