''Burning Blue'' is a 2013 American
United States Naval aviation
United may refer to:
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* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
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drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
, directed by
D.M.W. Greer and starring
Trent Ford
Trent Ford (born January 15, 1979) is an American-born English actor and model.
Early life and education
Ford was born in Akron, Ohio. His father was a test pilot for the United States Navy, and his mother was a British Airways head stewardess ...
and
Rob Mayes
Rob Mayes is an American actor, musician, and model. He is best known for starring as the title character in the 2012 horror comedy film ''John Dies at the End'', as well as portraying Tommy Nutter in the short-lived comedy-drama television seri ...
. The film is based on the 1992
play of the same name
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* Pla ...
by Greer about a U.S. Navy accident investigation which becomes a gay
witch hunt
A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern perio ...
during the "
Don't Ask, Don't Tell
"Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on December ...
" era.
Plot
Best friends Lieutenants Dan Lynch (
Trent Ford
Trent Ford (born January 15, 1979) is an American-born English actor and model.
Early life and education
Ford was born in Akron, Ohio. His father was a test pilot for the United States Navy, and his mother was a British Airways head stewardess ...
) and Will Stephensen (
Morgan Spector
Morgan Michael Spector (born October 4, 1980) is an American actor. Spector has appeared in the TV series ''Allegiance'' (2015), '' The Mist'' (2017), ''Homeland'' (2018), and ''Pearson'' (2019), as well as the films '' The Drop'' (2014), ''Chris ...
) are U.S. Navy fighter pilots flying the
McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C/D Hornet fighter aircraft. Both pilots have an aspiration to become the youngest pilots accepted into the space program. After two accidents, one of which is due to Will's failing eyesight, their unit is subject to a
NCIS investigation led by John Cokely (Michael Sirow).
At the same time, a third pilot, Matt Blackwood (
Rob Mayes
Rob Mayes is an American actor, musician, and model. He is best known for starring as the title character in the 2012 horror comedy film ''John Dies at the End'', as well as portraying Tommy Nutter in the short-lived comedy-drama television seri ...
), arrives on the carrier and quickly develops a close friendship with Dan, driving a wedge between Dan and Will. Cokely's investigation leads to him uncovering rumours about Dan and Matt's relationship just as they both begin to fall in love. When Matt decides to leave his wife and move in with Dan, there is a third accident, and Cokely's investigation ramps up the pressure on Dan.
Cast
*
Trent Ford
Trent Ford (born January 15, 1979) is an American-born English actor and model.
Early life and education
Ford was born in Akron, Ohio. His father was a test pilot for the United States Navy, and his mother was a British Airways head stewardess ...
as Lieutenant Dan Lynch
*
Morgan Spector
Morgan Michael Spector (born October 4, 1980) is an American actor. Spector has appeared in the TV series ''Allegiance'' (2015), '' The Mist'' (2017), ''Homeland'' (2018), and ''Pearson'' (2019), as well as the films '' The Drop'' (2014), ''Chris ...
as Lieutenant William Stephensen
*
Rob Mayes
Rob Mayes is an American actor, musician, and model. He is best known for starring as the title character in the 2012 horror comedy film ''John Dies at the End'', as well as portraying Tommy Nutter in the short-lived comedy-drama television seri ...
as Lieutenant Matthew Blackwood
*
William Lee Scott
William Lee Scott (born July 6, 1973) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as high school student Stanley "Bullethead" Kuznocki on the WB sitcom ''The Steve Harvey Show''. Additionally, he appeared in the films '' Gone in 60 Second ...
as Charlie Trumbo
* Michael Sirow as John Cokely
*
Cotter Smith as Admiral Lynch
*
Tammy Blanchard
Tammy Blanchard (born December 14, 1976) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for her role as teenage Judy Garland in the critically acclaimed television film '' Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows'' (2001), for which she received ...
as Susan
* Tracy Weiler as Nancy
* Gwynneth Bensen as Tammi
* Mark Doherty as Skipper
*
Chris Chalk
Christopher Eugene Chalk (born December 7, 1977) is an American actor.
Early life
Born in Asheville, North Carolina, studied at Asheville High School and graduated in 1996 and went to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Career
Chalk ...
as Special Agent Jones
* Jordan Dean as Stewie Kelleher
* Johnny Hopkins as Gorden
*
Haviland Morris
Haviland Morris (born September 14, 1959) is an American film, television, and Broadway actress, who currently works in real estate.
Early life
Morris was born in Loch Arbour, New Jersey and spent much of her childhood in Hong Kong and Singapor ...
as Grace Lynch
* Karolina Muller as Olenka
*
Michael Cumpsty
Michael Cumpsty (born 28 February 1960) is a British actor. He has been acting since childhood. He has worked extensively performing Shakespeare, as well as both musicals and dramas on Broadway. He also performs in films and on television.
Lif ...
as Admiral Stephensen
Production
''Burning Blue'' was based on the 1992 play by D.M.W. Greer, his first play. The film adaptation began production in 2010, with principal photography taking place primarily in New York City
and Long Island, New York.
["Burning Blue; Deny nothing."](_blank)
''Official website: Burning Blue'', 2015. Retrieved: December 26, 2015. Some of the aerial and naval scenes used the
USS John C. Stennis
USS ''John C. Stennis'' (CVN-74), named for Senator John C. Stennis of Mississippi, is the seventh of the -class of nuclear-powered supercarriers in the United States Navy.
She was commissioned on 9 December 1995. Her home port is temporaril ...
(CVN-74) aircraft carrier identified as the fictitious CVN-44. The scenes on the deck of the USS John C. Stennis showed current operational
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
aircraft and equipment including:
*
Boeing E-3B Sentry
The Boeing E-3 Sentry is an American airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft developed by Boeing. E-3s are commonly known as AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System). Derived from the Boeing 707 airliner, it provides all-weath ...
*
Grumman F-14 Tomcat
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after the ...
*
Lockheed S-3B Viking
The Lockheed S-3 Viking is a four-crew, twin-engine turbofan-powered jet aircraft designed and produced by the American aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Corporation. Because of its characteristic sound, it was nicknamed the "War Hoover" after ...
* McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C/D Hornet
*
Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler
The Northrop Grumman (formerly Grumman) EA-6B Prowler is a twin-engine, four-seat, mid-wing electronic-warfare aircraft derived from the A-6 Intruder airframe. The EA-6A was the initial electronic warfare version of the A-6 used by the United S ...
*
Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King
The Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King (company designation S-61) is an American twin-engined anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter designed and built by Sikorsky Aircraft. A landmark design, it was one of the first ASW rotorcraft to use turboshaft engi ...
*
Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk
The Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk (or Sea Hawk) is a twin turboshaft engine, multi-mission United States Navy helicopter based on the United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk and a member of the Sikorsky S-70 family. The most significant modificatio ...
[Santoir, Christian]
"Review: 'Burning Blue'."
''Aeromovies'', March 13, 2018. Retrieved: June 2, 2019.
The scene at
Naval Air Station Oceana
Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana or NAS Oceana is a United States Navy Naval Air Station located in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Nowadays, the station is located on 23.9 km2. It has total of 250 aircraft deployed and buildings valued at $800 mil ...
was actually photographed at
CFB Cold Lake
Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake , abbreviated as CFB Cold Lake, is a Canadian Forces Base in the City of Cold Lake, Alberta.
The facility is operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and is approximately south of the ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, Canada. Canadian
CF-18 Hornet
The McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet (official military designation CF-188) is a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) variant of the American McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft. In 1980, the F/A-18 was selected as the winner of the New ...
fighter aircraft represented U.S. Navy aircraft.
Reception
''Burning Blue'' has received generally negative critical reviews. On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 25% based on twelve reviews, with an average rating of 4.38/10. On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a
weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
score of 29 out of 100, based on seven critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
Reviewer Anita Gates noted in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'': "The script, by Mr. Greer and Helene Kvale, rolls along with lifeless, profoundly unimaginative dialogue ('The wings on your chest are proof that you’ve accomplished something great'; 'I like women'; 'I’m not gay'; 'Tears won’t bring him back'; 'No more lies'). Then there’s a scene in church, and the priest inexplicably begins quoting
Rainer Maria Rilke
René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...
’s gorgeous 'Go to the Limits of Your Longing'." The writing and directing were criticized, but Ford and Mayes were praised for their portrayals.
[Reed, Rex]
"Movies: In the Navy: ‘Top Gun’ meets ‘Brokeback Mountain’ in D.M.W Greer’s debut feature."
''The New York Observer'', April 6, 2014. Retrieved: June 2, 2019.
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
* Beck, Simon D. ''The Aircraft-Spotter's Film and Television Companion''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, 2016.
External links
*
*
*
* {{Metacritic film, title=Burning Blue
2013 drama films
2013 LGBT-related films
2013 films
American aviation films
American LGBT-related films
Gay-related films
LGBT-related drama films
Lionsgate films
Films about the United States Navy
American films based on plays
Films about anti-LGBT sentiment
Homophobia in fiction
2010s English-language films
2010s American films