Nightbreaker (film)

1989 television film directed by Peter Markle

Martin Sheen
Emilio Estevez
Lea Thompson

ComposerPeter BernsteinCountry of originUnited StatesOriginal languageEnglishProductionExecutive producers

Martin Sheen
Jeffrey Auerbach

ProducerWilliam R. GreenblattCinematographyRonald Víctor GarcíaEditorStephen E. RivkinRunning time99 minutesProduction companies

Symphony Pictures
Wisdom Productions
Companionway Films

Original releaseNetworkTNTReleaseMarch 8, 1989 (1989-03-08)

Nightbreaker (also known as Advance to Ground Zero) is a 1989 American historical drama television film directed by Peter Markle and written by T. S. Cook, inspired by the book Atomic Soldiers: American Victims of Nuclear Experiments by Howard L. Rosenberg.^[1] The film stars Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez as older and younger versions of fictional neurologist Alexander Brown. It also stars Lea Thompson, Melinda Dillon, and Joe Pantoliano.

Plot

Dr. Alexander Brown (played by Sheen in framing scenes and Estevez in flashbacks) reflects on his involvement in the exposure of American soldiers to radiation in the proving grounds in Nevada in the 1950s after he is approached by a man who is dying of cancer due to the tests.

Cast

Martin Sheen as Alexander Brown (1980s)
Emilio Estevez as Alexander Brown (1950s)
Joe Pantoliano as Sergeant Jack Russell
Lea Thompson as Sally Matthews
Melinda Dillon as Paula Brown
Paul Eiding as Roscoe Cummings
Geoffrey Blake as Python
James Marshall as Barney Immerman

References

^ Rosenberg, Howard (March 4, 1989). "Development of The Bomb: Casting a Long Shadow : CBS' 'Day One,' TNT's 'Nightbreaker' Relive Moral Dilemmas of Atomic Age". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 4, 2021.