A Masterpiece!

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

"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.

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.

"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.

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.