Once again two episodes of Star Trek have been joined together with the purpose of creating a feature length film. They don’t do this lightly as they usually pick the best two parters to do this with so you can be assured of the quality.
Chain of Command involves the possibility of a Cardassian attack is causing great tension throughout the entire Federation and particularly on the Enterprise. To make matters more tense there is the rumour that biological weapons will be used in the event of such an attack. In order to unearth and disarm these weapons Captain Jean-Luc Picard (played by Patrick Stewart), Dr. Beverly Crusher (played by Gates McFadden) and Worf (played by Michael Dorn) on sent on a secret mission.
While Picard is away a temporary new captain is assigned to the Enterprise. Captain Edward Jellico (played by Ronny Cox) assumes command and is not exactly what the crew is used to from their leader. Jellico is not exactly warm and is very demanding. The crew gets even more upset about their new captain when Picard is captured by the Cardassian and they begin to torture him. Jellico’s plan for resistance does not seem to include a rescue attempt of Picard.
Time seems to be short and so Picard, left on his own, has to figure out a way of escape and retaining his own sanity.
What you’ll remark upon soon after starting to watch Chain of Command is what high quality acting is involved. The talent amongst the trio of David Warner, Ronny Cox and Patrick Stewart is impressive and they use all of it.
Star Trek has been recognized as a sci fi show that also addresses timeless human issues such as morality, human rights, politics and psychological questions. Even though you are watching this twenty-two years later all the topics addressed still seem relevant. The mixture of action along with this kind of depth really makes Chain of Command two of the best episodes in the entire Star Trek series.
Special Features: Episodic Promos, Deleted Scenes, Audio Commentary, Featurette
