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.
