Chain of Command (2000) User Reviews

The cast is good, in any event.

[Hey_Sweden · 6/10 · 10 January 2013]

"Chain of Command" isn't the most convincing or credible routine B movie out there, but it offers up a passable number of thrills, and it does manage to avoid some of the clichés of its genre. It's a political thriller starring Patrick Muldoon ("Starship Troopers") as a young secret service agent who doesn't think much of his president (a slumming but very welcome Roy Scheider), a real Bill Clinton type. So he requests a change of position: protect the "football" (a briefcase with nuclear launch capabilities) instead. He also turns out to be the only hope that America has when a Taiwanese fanatic and his team of goons eliminate his fellow agents and take the president hostage. Yeah...it's "Die Hard" on an ocean liner. In addition to this watchable and forgettable movie throwing some surprises into its mix, it's going to come off as pretty amusing to any fan of the monster movie "Deep Rising" who will recognize stock footage from that film being re-used here. The story is reasonably absorbing, and the movie capably directed by John Terlesky, a man who got his start acting in B movies such as "The Naked Cage", "Chopping Mall", and "Deathstalker II". The main reason to watch it is to check out a sterling group of actors. Muldoon is no Bruce Willis, but we could all guess that and he is likable, to be sure. Michael Biehn is solid as always as a traitorous agent, Ric Young is a flamboyant hoot as the conniving bad guy, and Maria Conchita Alonso gives a creditable performance as the vice president trying her best to deal with an untenable situation. Also among the actors are familiar faces such as William R. Moses, Tom Wright, John Putch, Pat Skipper, the lovely Susan Blakely (who's regrettably written out of the story early), John Capodice, and an uncredited John Beck and Jayne Brook. One performer people are likely to remember is the super sexy Sung Hi Lee as a Chinese operative. All of them make this tolerable enough to watch, if never terribly exciting. Overall one could do worse than this. At the very least it doesn't end quite the way one would expect it to. Six out of 10.

"Give it up Mike, he's not worth it"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 16 March 2023]

This has a plot to do with Taiwan being recognised by China and USA involvement but it's mainly 'Die Hard' on a ship in the China Seas as our hero Special Agent Michael Connelly (played wanly by Patrick Muldoon) tries to rescue the US president and his 'football' which disappointingly isn't spherical. Not much of a story then but I stayed with it because of the performances; Roy Scheider as the president, beautiful Maria Conchita Alonso as vice-president Valdez, Michael Biehn as the duplicitous Thornton, Ric Young as Ken Fung, Philip Tan as the smiling henchman Wu and Susan Blakely as the president's aide who sadly is hardly in the film. On the whole it was watchable.

Pretty Good Political Action Thriller With A Class Cast.

[lukem-52760 · 6/10 · 7 December 2022]

For a low-budget film this Chain of Command is very entertaining & well made.

We have a classy cast here with the cinema legend, Roy Scheider (Jaws 1&2, Blue Thunder, Sorcerer) & B-movie star, Patrick Muldoon (Starship Troopers, Red Team) & old school action genre star, Maria Conchita Alonzo (The Running Man, Colors, Predator 2) & 80's Sci-fi action hero, Michael Biehn (Aliens, Terminator) & plenty of action.

Patrick Muldoon plays Michael Connelly a secret service agent that protects the US president Jack Cahill (Scheider) & gets assigned to protect the presidents metal briefcase containing a remote launching system for nuclear missiles & of course foreign terrorists want it. Chain of Command is a typical terrorist thriller like many others but for it's low-budget it's actually a fun watch. The great Roy Scheider is a main lead role which is always nice to see as he's one of my all-time favorite actors. Scheider plays the president as a slightly corrupted man (like they all are in real life) who has many affairs but apart from that he's a decent character & not a completely corrupted A-hole like many of his later career characters. It's a comfort seeing Scheider on screen in his later years. Maria Conchita Alonzo gives a good performance for her small part here as Vice President Gloria Valdez, she steps up as a smart voice of reason when the President is captured by the terrorists & just hearing her iconic voice brought back a sense of comfort with memories of her in some childhood faves i grew up watching on video (The Running Man & Predator 2) & reminded me how great she is on screen. Scheider & Alonzo both steal the show with their real good acting talents & both of them never "call it in" with their performances.

Anyway, Patrick Muldoon does a fine job as the action hero trying to save the president & stop a nuclear war.

Michael Biehn is wasted though as a very typical double crossing government agent, a part that could've been played by any cheap nameless actor. This action film is full of political stuff, foreign terrorists, overseas threat, nuclear missiles & corruption. The events within the film can be looked at as actually very seriously relevant now in 2022. Chain of Command is a decent little thriller that keeps you entertained with it's many shootouts & double crossings even if it's all very similar to bigger films of this genre. It's very nicely shot with rich colours & textures that's shot on film!!! Nearly everything today is shot on digital & it has a good exciting music score.

And as said it's always nice to watch the great acting talent of movie legend Roy Scheider & in a main role.

Full of surprises !

[JBall75487 · 9 December 2001]

Browsing idly among the movie list on satellite TV I happened on this gem, of which I had no previous knowledge. I watched it through to the bitter end, wondering all the time whether it would lapse into reality, or continue to provide yet another surprise. Suffice it to say that, with the labyrinthine windings of the plot, the intercutting of scenes, the wonderful stereotypes effortlessly portrayed together with the sheer improbability of the story, placed this film in a class of its own for entertainment value (in the fullest sense of the word) and I would recommend it as a good way to pass an hour or two. One mystery, however, remains unsolved - why are all these highly trained people such bad shots and why do they have weapons which rarely, if ever, require reloading ? I was, incidentally,much taken with Iris, the Chinese undercover agent (Korean actress, actually)- she deserves better parts in better films !

chain the scriptwriter

[roehlbriones · 3/10 · 6 May 2005]

The best way to have fun in this movie is to count how many clichés it is rehashing. Snarling Chinese gangsters. A female vice-president. A ventilator duct that happens to be big enough to fit a big Caucasian male. Shooting through the wall to kill the bad guy. A Situation where you need to snuff out some innocent people to prevent Armageddon. Independence Day scenes where you snuff out some memorable landmarks in a fireball. The vice president in a nice well lighted room surrounded by subordinates, while the Chinese premier virtually alone in a dark room with just bit of dim light shining, snarling as viciously as the slimy gangsters. A lone hero left alone in a ship (building, airplane, whatever) wreaking havoc on clueless bad guys with big automatic weapons. Etc., etc., etc.

The second best way is to count how many zeroes you need to put after the decimal to accurately gauge the probability of the film scenario. I counted up to 45. A president agreeing to a meeting on board a private vessel. The impossibly non-overridable command from the nuke box. The part where the Chinese decided to play shoot 'em up. Etc., etc. Man the earth is more likely fall into the sun than for this film to happen.

I admit the film was interesting until the point the evil Taiwanese gangsters kidnapped the President. Then the boredom kicked in. Suspension of disbelief ceased, and I started thinking the fun I'd have torturing this film...

Made with rush.

[jarkantt · 5/10 · 5 December 2003]

Chain of command was not a bad movie to buy, because it was cheap, only 3 euros. I bought it only for my Michael Biehn collection, but I was still hoping it to be good. Well, it was average. It had the top actors(though I haven't ever heard of Patrick Muldoon), and ok story.But where was the concentration when making this movie. it was made only with 100% concentration when it should have been made with 110%.It is made with big rush just like the time would end or something. I'm not disappointed because I know it had the change to become a good movie.The idea was good, making it true was not.

An implausible story

[robeykr · 1/10 · 31 August 2001]

I at first thought this little fantasy excursion would be a little entertaining. I was wrong.

A good cast (Roy Scheider as the president) didn't help it any. The story had every conceivable possible worst-case scenario that could take place in a terrorist nuclear disaster. And none of it could PLAUSIBLY happen!

True -- the kidnapping of the President could only be accomplished with the inside help of a traitor in the Secret Service (ala Air Force One), but everything they depicted regarding the FOOTBALL and the helplessness of our country if were to fall into enemy hands is ludicrous to the Nth degree. Seriously, not even the President can fully over-ride our missile control. The case is only used to relay orders. In this situation, our system would have completely deleted the codes and the whole thing would go nowhere. The destruction of Beijing couldn't happen -- there would not have been a missile launch because the silo-crews would have been instructed not to (communications include a hardwired system). There are just too many safe-guards to prevent such a thing from happening.

True, film's like FAIL-SAFE and STRANGELOVE gave some credibility to the concept of us losing control of THE SYSTEM. But this film goes too far and fails to suspend my concept of the unbelievable. And that makes the experience a waste of the viewer's time. This film is a failure.

Roy Scheider is only reason to watch this

[slightlymad22 · 5/10 · 20 August 2014]

I caught this routine, cliché ridden, action pic that rips off most action movies you have seen before, on TV last night, and in the absence of anything else on, I decided to give it a go since Roy Scheider can always be relied upon for a good performance, even if the movies themselves are not of the highest standard.

What makes Chain of Command more interesting than the average action flick is good old Roy's President who seems clearly modelled on Bill Clinton and his womanising. The opening has him eyeing up his friends new wife while she plays tennis, and then it cuts to two Secret Service Men guarding a toilet door as Scheider has sex with her. One of them is Patrick Muldoon and he is the hero of the movie. He is dull, lifeless and is an awful actor. Scheider simply acts him off the screen every scene they share. Michael Beihn pops up as a nasty piece of work and he too does the same!!

It has a little bit of a surprise ending, but it's nothing original

Bad acting from most, worse script

[denial7910 · 1/10 · 14 January 2002]

This is no doubt one of the worst movies i have seen in a long time. I was expecting alot more from the actors. It started alright, then things go from idiotic to absolutely ridiculous. Definitely not worth renting except if its a free rental.

Worth seeing (I don't believe I just said that)

[CherryBlossomBoy · 6/10 · 12 June 2007]

I probably shouldn't label this even as a B movie. It looks like it's shot straight to video. Anyway it's the type of action movies I avoid because there are at least 20-30 things (premise, goofs, plot-holes, bad acting, clichés... you name it) I can't stand about them. However, this one had a couple of pleasant surprises and I can actually recommend it, but in order to assure anyone I'll have to give away at least one spoiler to illustrate just why.

If you watched "24" Season 4 you'll be familiar with this type of plot. A ship with US President and his bodyguards on board has been hijacked by Chinese dissidents. Along with the president the "football" (a briefcase with nuclear codes) is also being captured. The only guy to stand up against the gang is our stock hero who accidentally won the upper hand on them. The dissidents however plan not to obtain some kind of ransom but to actually launch US rockets on China (reasoning behind this must be one of the silliest). Will the hero manage to save all in the last minute or whatever is expected in movies of the same vein?

WARNING: SPOILERS... Surprisingly he won't... Not completely anyway. In one of the truly amusing moments of this movie (and the C genre at that) both Beijing and Washington are being destroyed by a nuclear strike. This is not the only cliché being broken, but I'll stop here anyhow. The hero does save the day and not even that is done in the usual manner, but I'm not gonna give it away. The point is: with all the usual nonsense thrown in this movie, the decision to remove a couple of predictable clichés that would help faking the suspense is commendable by all standards.

wow, what a dumb film

[ManixTT · 1/10 · 3 August 2000]

COC had its moments. I enjoyed the action sequences, but I despised the screenplay and plot. I hate this film so much, I'll just write about the dumbest part. First of all, the plot would never happen. Second, the bleakness of the Chinese President was uncalled for. That would never happen. Finally, the dialogue. Employing non-Chinese actors to play Chinese roles is understandable, but to write dialogue for them that's TOTALLY OFF is dumb! For those of you who understood the Chinese in the film, you know what I mean.

great stuff

[m_viknaraja · 8/10 · 27 September 2002]

this is a nice film, pleasently suprised. far better than rating suggests.

although the basic idea of good vs evil, one counrty vs another has been demonstrated time and tuime again (e.g. bond films) the twists in this film certainly set it apart. its wonderful entertainment -probably great chick flick to. nice acting - especially vice president, gerneal and president himself.

the film starts out rather strange, lots of things going on - not clear how the film will go. however, everything unfolds very well, very clearly and at the right time. the presidential discussions are very lifelike and beliveable.

the concept of this film (won't be revealed here) is very good, haven't seen anything quite like it. the twists are excellent, u think u know whats going on and ofocurse it turns your wrong or something unaccepted happens. the film is gripping, u want to know whats around the corner. time really flies.

the action scenes are rather good too, sure not up there with james bond, but decent nevetherless. the sound is good too, perfect foir the type of film. the stunts are excellent - gerat martial arts action as well and guns and missiles.

the best thing though, is how the good guys dont get what they want. quite simply all hell breaks loose. finally, a film where the bad guys cause serious permanent havoc.

this film has everything. its an all in one for sure. this is every bit a blockbuster as a james bond or idependece day. great entertainment on a saturday with mates, and can be watched over and over agin

When good premises go bad

[The Phan · 2/10 · 11 August 2000]

Ugh. This movie has so many unbelievable plot contrivances that they made what could have been a good movie into a hideous mess. The story is halfway decent, but the holes in the plot make the execution literally laughable. We're actually supposed to believe that the Secret Service would go against all common sense and allow the President of the United States to be put at unbelievable risk. If this is an indication of the kind of thinking that passes for good judgment among the President's protectors, then we're all in trouble. Roy Scheider turns in a good performance as the President, but it is unfortunately offset by the truly loathsome acting of Patrick Muldoon (who somehow continues to get jobs in Hollywood based solely upon his good looks and his uncanny knack of smirking at every opportunity, regardless of whether the script calls for a smirk). Perhaps someone will see this and be inspired to make a good movie from the premise--or, perhaps someone will see it and say, "Hey, if they can get a movie this bad made, maybe I can, too!"

Worth watching

[wellthatswhatithinkanyway · 11 September 2000]

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

Chain Of Command is worth renting to pass the time as an action movie.Roy Scheider is well cast as a measly,self serving US president,the plot is pleasantly arousing and intricate,and this must be the most boner inducing Chinese chick I've ever seen.The dialogue is cliched and smelly,but luckily,I was expecting this in a movie like this.This movie holds your attention well,and should be observed for it.***

It's Lonely at the Bottom

[rmax304823 · 2/10 · 16 August 2002]

Poorly done political actioner. Badly photographed, acted, and directed. Every single scene is underlighted, including those very few that are shot during the daytime. It doesn't matter what the location is. At an important conference in the White House, no lights are on, and the only available lighting is a gloomy blue that is filtered through a few windows. The primier of China conducts an earth-shattering phone conversation under conditions of such intense chiaroscuro that he should be contemplating a bust of Homer in a Rembrandt painting. Honest. It's as if he had a tiny spotlight on his face and was otherwise in total darkness. The slow motion deaths are by now obligatory in any ill-thought-out movie.

Roy Scheider and Maria Conchita Alonzo do well by their roles, but Scheider is rarely on screen. The other performances are dismissable. There is a pretty Oriental woman in a short tight skirt who totes a gun and is right out of a Bond movie who's accent suggests a childhood spent in Basset, Nebraska, and who should have remained the model she probably started out as. Whoever plays the surviving Secret Service agent aboard the cruise ship was probably picked for the part because he looked most like Johnny Depp, not because of any display of talent. The Chinese villains, representing both Taiwan and mainland China, hiss and grin as they threaten the heroes.

The script is pretty awful, recycled from other, better films. There is a lot of shooting aboard the ship and practically everyone winds up mincemeat. Two thirds of the way through, the ship explodes into the expected series of fireballs. Then the movie splits into two related parts. Part one, another shootout, this time in a waterfront warehouse. Part two, an exchange between the Vice President, now acting president, and the oily Chinese premiere, lifted out of both "Dr. Strangelove" and "Fail Safe." We unwittingly launch our missiles. They launch theirs in retaliation. We cannot convince them that our launch was accidental, even though we offer to help them destroy our own missiles. There is even the George C. Scott/ Walter Matthau general who argues that their "nucular" armory can't match ours so we should hit them with everything we've got. More fireballs.

The end comes none too soon.

Ultimately, this is what you might call video store shelf filler.

[tarbosh22000 · 4/10 · 24 June 2021]

Special Agent Michael Connelly (Muldoon) is not the guy who writes the Bosch series of novels. He's a Secret Service agent tasked with protecting President Jack Cahill (Scheider). But the upright Connelly doesn't approve of Cahill's Clintonesque philandering, so he's transferred to a squad that helps protect the Nuclear Football. His boss, Thornton (Biehn) explains that said football is not actually a football. It's a briefcase. This is starting to get a little confusing. Especially for Connelly, who is a dedicated public servant but not the brightest tool in the shed. When evil Taiwanese businessmen start killing everyone and then kidnap "The Prez" so they can take control of the football and aim it towards China, it's up to Connelly, and, by extension, Vice President Gloria Valdez (Alonso) to save the day. Will it be Connelly or the baddies who spike the football in the end zone? And who will run that up the CHAIN OF COMMAND?

It's Die Hard on a Taiwanese boat! At least that's a relatively novel place to have a "DieHardInA" movie, and not the usual building, hockey arena, or missile silo (although silos are repeatedly mentioned. Thankfully not as many times as in Terminal Countdown). It must be said that Chain of Command - not to be confused with the Dudikoff film of the same name - may seem a little familiar to anyone who has seen The Peacekeeper (1997) or Executive Target (1997). Chain of Command is a sort of mash-up of the two; it has all the briefcase action of The Peacekeeper (along with Roy Scheider), mixed with the presidential kidnapping of Executive Target (along with Roy Scheider). It seems Scheider never tired of working on all of these variations of the same theme. Hey, the guy liked to work, and we respect that.

The problem is that the film gets off to a slow start, and it's a long time until we as viewers see any action. It seems director Terlesky was concentrating on the political drama of the situation, although, let's face it, this isn't All the President's Men (1976). A little more self-awareness and consideration for the viewership of DTV action movies would have gone a long way. Compounding that is a lack of competent lighting, one of our least favorite low-budget pitfalls. You've got to have lights, people. Underlighting is the scourge of filmmaking. Whether you're Chain of Command or Boardwalk Empire, you have to at least make a cursory attempt to turn on a few lights. It won't kill you.

During all this yak-yak, somehow they couldn't find time for any meaningful character development. Michael Biehn (who is almost unrecognizable here) does describe the nuclear football as "armageddon in a box" - which is convenient and saves time - and President Jack Cahill does use a rowing machine, predating House of Cards' Frank Underwood by a good many years.

We had to wait until almost an hour in until we got to Maria Conchita Alonso, who was interestingly cast as the Vice President. Will we ever see the day when a Latina with a thick-ish accent is the VP? Nevertheless, we like Alonso and it was nice to see her in that sort of role. A better movie would have been Muldoon and Alonso as partners who beat up goons and bust heads together and shoot drug dealers or something like that. That would have been awesome. Instead we get what we get, which is just mediocre. But what else do you expect from a DTV movie from 2000? It wasn't the best year for DTV films.

During one of the many discussions of the nukes and launch codes and such, more than one reference is made to something which sounds like "Merv Warheads". The DVD has no captions, so we don't know for sure. But that doesn't sound very threatening. Unless that's what the upper-management brass on ABC back in the 70's called their programming lineup designed by Merv Griffin. Then it makes more sense.

In the end, Chain of Command is your typical year-2000 DTV fare. It's not great, and it's not offensively awful. It's just a movie on a screen. It offers no surprises or curveballs of any kind. It could have been much better, which is a shame, especially considering its better-than-average cast, but ultimately this is what you might call video store shelf filler.

A terrible film!

[The Judge · 1/10 · 29 July 2000]

Schieder delivers a semi-believable part as the President of the United States with politically correct Maria Conchita Alonzo as the female Vice President. The movie just stinks. with so many plot holes its a wonder they got it to stick to the film it was shot on. Relegated to late night HBO time schedules, this film is not worth seeing at all. 10 minutes into it, you are asking yourself why it was written. 40 minutes into it, you are wondering why you are watching it. Save the effort and watch a re-run of Hee Haw or something. Anything is better than this clunker.

A Radio Action Movie !

[elshikh4 · 2/10 · 11 November 2010]

It's where Die Hard (1988) meets In the Line of Fire (1993) meets Independence Day (1996) meets Air Force One (1997) meets my unfortunate luck! As a script, it's a misdeed. Apparently some scriptwriter was in love with some of the 1990's blockbusters, then wanted to pay a tribute to them in a form of a movie (a clip at YouTube was better!).

So, the American president is kidnapped. The greatest agent in history is about to rescue him. Some Asian baddies want to takeover the American nuclear arsenal. (Beijing) and (Washington) are being destroyed (!!!). The agent and the president rescue the world (or the rest of it anyway). Then the agent hugs his wife and kid. It's whether someone fast-forwards a collection of poor imitation for older and bigger movies, or it's a movie on crack!

I can't believe it. It's a mishmash of many movies, a plot that doesn't know where to go, deadly indistinct movie-making, and the lowest budget you can ever see. Maybe the whole movie was being shot in 2 or 3 rooms. You'll hear about war between nations, atomic bombs fly, cities get vanished, and never see anything. At one point, an ocean liner blows up, the so-called hero jumps off it into the sea with a girl, with nothing but their clothes on, and then we see them both riding - out of the blue - a jet-ski (???). The explanation is that the movie took the shot of the explosion from Deep Rising (1998). I bet, this is a homage to the movie's godfather Ed Wood!

The lead actor (Patrick Muldoon) is anything but a lead actor. He can be fine only as the failure brother of the lead's wife, or the loser boyfriend of the lead's sister who'll get killed later by overdose. In fact, (Muldoon) looks drunk or a drug addict (or both!). Zero as an action hero. Zero as an actor. Zero as a charisma.. well, I can go forever!

It's a farce to watch (Roy Scheider) in movies of that level. But sorrowfully a very good actor like him used to get involved in works like this at his last days. Enough to recall that he played the role of the American president in 3 C-Grade movies in succession: The Peacekeeper (1997), Executive Target (1997), and the cream of the crop Chain of Command (2000). By the way, I was busy thinking how to be a ladies' man while you're a 68 year old?!!

One of my favorite beauties, once, (Maria Conchita Alonso) is used in strange role. She's in it for the last third to badmouth the president of China, in a remarkably filthy way that I don't know how the Chinese people didn't respond to, all in one place, one cadre, by her one botoxed to the max face!

The lessons: Don't go and destroy (Beijing) and (Washington) on screen while you don't have the right budget for it. Don't create essential characters at the last 15 minutes. Don't allege a political point of view while you artistically have nothing at all. And when you're making an action movie, please, just please, PUT SOME ACTION IN IT!

It pushes me to ask: the original Hollywood fluff, if presumably well made, is visually and sonically dazzling, having popular stars and some fun, any fun. Now this is the 7 Dwarfs without Snow White, or Cinderella without the magic! So, for whom exactly this line of poor copycats is made? Especially while the good B-movies are out there already. Sure these small production companies know that nothing that attractive about their goods, and how they can't compete with the superior movies by works like this. Unless - OH MY GOD - they don't know yet!

Anyhow, you can't blame anyone for dreaming. This movie dreamed of being a movie, and fulfilled that, however in totally the wrong way!

US Nuclear war with China

[esteban1747 · 5/10 · 3 July 2002]

An action film with weak political arguments. A Taiwanese "maffia" group arrests the president of USA, Roy Scheider (!!!!) and takes over the box with nuclear bottoms. The Taiwaneses are decided to attack China mainland with US nuclear bombs. So the main plot is around how to avoid the war, to fight against the Taiwaneses and to get back the box. The president is killed and the vice- president, the Cuban actress María Conchita Alonso, i.e. a latino lady (!!!!) is taking the control of the action. At the end the evils are in the mainland and not in Taiwan because the vice- president had to press the Chinese president to avoid a real nuclear war although Washington D.C. in the film is destroyed.

Supporting cast rescues film

[gridoon2024 · 5/10 · 2 March 2011]

Patrick Muldoon is miscast (he's too clean-cut to be convincing as a bad-ass agent), Roy Scheider is even more miscast (blowing up Bill Clinton's public image at the time, the US President is practically a satyr), but some familiar faces in the supporting cast are most welcome, and help keep this film watchable: Michael Biehn as a traitor, Phillip Tan as a henchman, Maria Conchita Alonso as the trying-to-stay-calm-under-pressure Vice President, and Sung Hi Lee as a sexy operative. Though the stakes of the plot are high, there are no real standout action set pieces, dooming "Chain Of Command" to the land of forgettable straight-to-video action flicks. ** out of 4.

Roy Scheider and Susan Blakely -- Great Match!

[Sjaff · 10/10 · 24 June 2001]

We have seen a lot of films on cable that attempt to repeat the high action films in the theatres but few do as well as this one particularly because it's so well cast. Roy Scheider as President of the United States with a bit of a roving eye and Susan Blakely as his no "b.s." Chief of Staff lock horns in a particularly realistic scene at the top of the film. Wish we could see more of them together. They are powerful opposite each other and Blakely shows her power as an artist. Is there a possibility of another film with these two?

A pleasant surprise

[blessed_damosel · 6 July 2000]

A by-the-numbers action thriller elevated by some intriguing situations and nice surprises. There are some unlikely plot contrivances, but these are balanced by (to me) convincing portrayals of the tense scenes that would arise from the 'football' falling into the wrong hands. I also liked the way that the standard shoot-em-up action is balanced with the negotiation scenes. And casting a Hispanic woman as the Vice President - hats off!

Unheralded

[Profplum-2 · 9/10 · 23 July 2000]

For various reasons happened to be up at the time of the day when this unpromoted and unknown film was put on HBO.

I watched it because there was essentially nothing else on.

It is surprisingly good. I have no idea as to the provenance of it, or anything else about it other than having seen it on the small screen beginning at 4:20 in the morning on a difficult day. And it captured my attention, had a decent plot (OK, some technical errors about the "football," but not those kinds of things about which one ought to care in the context), and functional characters, particularly the Vice President.

When this comes on somewhere that you can see it, do. If you care for thought-provoking stuff about the consequences of nuclear weapons in the post-Cold-War era, at least. But it says much about more than that.

Again, oddly good film to have had no publicity whatsoever, at least that I've ever seen.

Exciting and engaging drama/thriller/actioner-***No Spoilers***

[strosstrup · 3 August 2003]

"Chain of Command," hereby referred to as COC, is one of those sleepers that packs a serious punch. Graced by cinematic stars such as Roy Scheider, Maria Conchita Alonso, Michael Biehn, and Patrick Muldoon, COC is full of action, suspense, and excellent acting. Ric Young, who plays the despotic and sinister character "Fung," gives a stellar and credible performance. Michael Biehn makes a major departure from his stereotypical good guy roles, and serves as a mean-spirited, incorrigible traitor.

If you liked films such as "Escape From New York" and "Executive Decision," I believe you will really enjoy COC. Although it is not a big-budget blockbuster with perks such as gratuitous sex and violence, it must be appreciated for its action and suspense.

Quite good actually. Scheider good as always

[kiethevez · 9/10 · 18 November 2000]

I really enjoyed this film. I have always liked Roy Scheider and he was really good in it. Muldoon did allright even though i don't really like him. It was kinda like a B-version of Die hard. If only they would have had a bigger budget then it would have been a 10. See it!