Now - seeing Steve Austin I wasn't expecting top class acting, but was looking forward to a good action film.

What I wasn't expecting was the acting of the other people (Michael Jai White included) to be so pathetic that it actually made Steve Austin look good! Right from the off you could tell this is a low budget film, most of the supporting cast seem like they have been picked fresh from acting school (or the street!) and are just literally reading their lines rather than acting. For an action film I don't think anyone was actually told how to hold/fire a gun (Jai White was meant to be some kind of Special Ops soldier but his handling of a pistol didn't portray that!)

Overall a very poor film in every respect - action film with little action and such bad acting it was embarrassing!

I've watched a fair few films with bad plots and bad acting but without a doubt, this one deserves its rightful place at the top of the list. Michael Jai White is normally a very good actor but I suppose that he can only work with what he is given and in the case of this particular film, he was given a big pile of ****.

As for Steve Austin. I honestly think that when he was acting in the wrestling ring he gave a better performance than in this film and I think that the best choice of roles for him in future films would involve his being a tough guy villain who couldn't speak.

In the end it probably all came down to good old fashioned $$$'s and the actors were made offers that they couldn't refuse even if they knew that the end product would be an extremely poor, instantly forgettable film.

Micheal Jai White is one of the top direct-to-video action stars thanks to films like Undisputed II and Blood and Bone. His great martial arts skills are always complemented by his good acting. So how and why he got wrapped up in this amateur production is beyond me. Seriously, this flick is so flat and displays all of the style of something you would see on Hallmark or Lifetime. Even worse, director Kevin Carraway has very little insight on how to properly film and edit a fight scene (look for one shot where you can see the safety mat on the ground). Not allowing White to show case his abilities is just downright criminal. Add in a perfunctory plot and Steve Austin doing his best not to look off camera to spot a bank to cash his check and you have one of White's worst films in years. I understand he has to work, but I just wish it was with better people. I have no doubt White's forthcoming Never Back Down 3 will correct this.

Maaaan, this is such a bad film I almost deleted it from my device before watching it all the way through, however, having got 2/3 of the way through I owed it to myself to see if it got any better.......but it didn't. I was watching it on the train to work and was praying no-one saw me......it was embarrassing to watch.

I thought it was meant to be an action film but it was mainly people just shooting people in the head. The acting is bad, the script was awful and the sound effects (dramatic scenes overlayed by music) were laughable.

Stonecold and Michael Jai White should've steered clear of this after reading the script. Definitely won't be recommending anyone wastes 90 mins of their life watching this tripe!!!

This was a major waste of time. The post production was so bad I couldn't even watch all of it. Even if I did like the acting the sounds in the movie were terrible . My 5 year old could score this movie better by the way.. The music was cheap and bland... I could tell that they didn't have a budget but thats OK. Low budget movies don't always suck. But this had a budget of 5 million. It looks like it was shot with a family canon camera . There was a part where a man was shot in the leg. They decided to used CGI for the wound but the wound didn't move with his body so the CGI is dancing on his leg.. LIKE, WHAT??? Why would you do that? Who saw this and said " good job" ?? I am not trying to be mean but I paid for this and I am not happy. The two lead actors are good actors but they just look like they are doing this for a friend. I wish I could get my time back..

very sad...

I just can't put my finger on it.Good actors for this type of movie.Michael Jai White and Steve Austin.Action was OK,often enough except for Michael Jai Whites pin point accuracy,one shot wonder.Maybe if he had missed a few times and fought more, you know,just let it drag on a bit more with better sound effects and action type music(not the cheesy kind).Altogether it was like.. Hey honey come watch this movie.Naw don't worry no violence in this one..and we fell asleep together on the couch 1/2 hour later.So if you need to see a bit of action without getting into trouble,this is it. A 6. Kinda like my BBQ's.

The director must have been very ignorant of the cast he had. In fact, without the names of the cast no one would see this movie! At the disposal of the director was one of the world's top martial artist who hardly ever fights in the movie. Whatever short fights the movie has with MJ Whitereally is awful and was poorly choreographed. Steve Austin never lifts a hand and never fights in this movie. I wasted money buying the DVD. Don't watch this movie. It is really bad and it was not a small budget that made this movie terrible. It was poor directing! This movie deserves a negative three on the voting scale!The story was poorly developed. The characters of the movie were not used to their full potential. The photography was cheap and so was the sound. The story line was mainstream and nothing new. Civilian police force seems nonexistent in this world created in Ohio. Those who at least expect to see MJ White show his fighting skills will one hundred percent be disappointed. Fansof Steve Austin will be one hundred percent disappointed. Watching this movie will disappoint anyone one hundred percent.

Very bad acting if you wish to call it acting.

Glad I did not pay to see this would have been a waist of money.

The dialog is dry and amusing in that the characters try to sound bad ass.

The use of weapons gets old too, hero shoots a bad guy in the warehouse with a loud echo two bad guys come to see what happen hero walks up behind bad guys shoots both in back of head.

only one car has license plates on vehicle where several vehicles do not.

It appears to be Christmas time but all the lawns are very green and most of the trees do not have leaves on them.

Very bad movie waste of time.

first of all i like cast of Steve Austin and Michael Jai White playing and working each another role again like Tactical Force (2011) witch was underrated movie then this and well written then this movie. i love Steve Austin in a lot of movies like Expendables, Recoil, Hunt To Kill, Package,Tactical Force the rest are good like Maximum Conviction, The Condemned, a lot of movies he he did was good but this Chain Of Command AKA Echo Effect witch has lame name of movie, Action scenes were not much like not much of fights with Michael jai white and Steve Austin the lead role Michael Jai White did a lot of great movies like Blood and Bone, Undisputed 2, Falcon Rising,Universal Soldier: The Return, character of him did some staff like fights were good and all that and Steve Austin was not in it that much witch is sad i know he can do better movie then this i know he can do better role movie then this he was just talk's about Business that's it expect for ending he's shooting gun lame even acting was not bad at all but the CGI and all fake effect is like movie is not complete well low budget movie we all know that but it's like not even completed at all.

Plot: (Michael Jai White)James Webster was solder come home from his duty to see his brother, soon he's brother was murdered. James was search for the perpetrators, but discovers a conspiracy that cuts deep inside the U.S. government drug trafficking with SWAT Trucks.and (Steve Austin)Ray Peters was Business man who got mission to take down James Webster (Max Ryan)Lt. Ross friend who knows James for years they worked each another before, but Ross is turning Against Him behind his back working with Ray. James is putting his friends all in danger to find out who murdered his brother getting buy accident but James Friends knew what was going so that's why they got involved. but movie is just noting special Steve Austin is just talking about getting James Webster and getting pay check doesn't do anything until of end of movie Steve Austin doesn't fight or anything but lame just towards end it's Michael Jai White and Max Ryan fighting like 30 seconds that's it witch is lame knife fight. that's end i know this movie could have done better just get Steve Austin movie for lead role someone should just give him better role for better movie. i mean i know better movies with Steve Austin then this crap movie i didn't like as much mostly i don't have problem with Michael Jai White as lead it's just movie didn't do much needs more action more of showing characters not just Michael Jai White i have enjoyed cast and action but some of action scenes are lame but rest were good and fun scenes but there wasn't much just half of movie was good and then half of it is bad turns out to be like one of bad movies i didn't like as much i know Austin could do better and Jai White Max Ryan is actor i didn't care for as much actor from Death Race (2008), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), Kiss of Dragon (2001), The Foreigner (2003) with Steven Seagal. he did make good movies but for this not much at all just didn't do much not i care for reason i watched this movie is for Steve Austin and Michael Jai White but lead is Michael Jai White that's all mostly it's for fans like me but i just kinda got disappointed of this movie there wasn't much but if your fan of Jai White and Austin it's worth of try, not's worth of watching again and again 4.10 movie could have done it better i know Austin and Jai White could do better movies then this.

Iv'e only recently heard of Michael Jai White, he is clearly the black version of Jean Claude Van Damme with the straight to DVD action thrillers except Michael Jai White's movies are slightly better.

Deadly Target aka Chain Of Command is nothing new, it has the extremely clichéd revenge/martial arts fighting/shoot em up scenario, the performances could have been better - the acting is a 6 out of 10, the actors are not 100% to blame, the Director obviously didn't push them hard enough to give more believable performances, it's like the Director couldn't be bothered.

The fighting scenes are a 5 out of 10, not done very well at all and look very fake, the shooting action scenes are a lot better.

The Goof IMDb section says it all, the movie could have at least got the balance of the money right, considering the money is the main reason for people in this movie getting abducted and killed.

The film isn't that long, only about and hour and twenty five minutes, so the pacing of the movie isn't the problem, it's everything else.

For people who are just starting to become fans of Michael Jai White, i recommend the movie "Tactical Force" instead, which is a lot better than this in every way.

If I wasn't a Steve Austin fan I would have struggled to even give this film a score of 1, let alone 2.

The disappointment level of the movie is summed up by one shocking omission by the editing department where we see a guy clearly landing on a crash mat during a fight scene. Poor acting, unbelievably bad music that didn't match with the tone trying to be conveyed in each scene, and unnecessary use of sound effects all combined to successfully make my wife fall asleep.

What a bore fest... Honestly i expect this kind of movie from Steven Seagal in recent years, but so far MJW had done very good movies with small budgets. Movies like Blood and Bone, Undisputed 2, Never Back Down 2 and 3, even lower budget like Falcon Rising or Skin Trade had some very good fights. He even shine in Arrow despite having a small role...

But then this... Wow. OK how to start? This is low budget, like VERY low budget. From the music which look like its coming straight from a 1985 movie to the cheap CGI blood effects and gun fights. There is not much money for explosions, car chases or even decent action scenes. I could overlook all of this if the story was solid with decent hand to hand combat. After all, Michael Jai White is the lead...

But nop... the few fighting scenes there are, and when i say few i mean barely none, are badly filmed and disappointing. Michael is still a top notch on screen fighter, it should be easy to film him but the director clearly lacks talent. The story is extremely simple, cliché, with not much to offer either. All of this make for a dull and boring movie.

What about Steve Austin? He is on the cover... Well you could pretty much remove his role from the movie and it wouldn't change anything at all. I feel he owned a service to somebody and therefore agreed to have his name put on this for a short screen time and nothing major to do. Probably to gather to the wrestling fans or something.

This is not the first time Michael and Steve shoot a movie together, they did in Tactical Force and honestly, that movie was a low budget action flick with nothing original or exceptional to offer, but man was it 5 times more entertaining than this movie...

Chain of Commands really is one of the most disappointing movies i saw in recent years, considering the on screen beast that can be Michael Jai White. Such a shame.

"If it's a war they want, I'll bring it to their doorstep." After finding his brother murdered, Jimmy (White) wants to find out who and why. He starts his own investigation but the more he uncovers the messier it gets. What started off has a quest for the truth becomes a war of a personal nature and no one can be trusted. There really isn't a whole lot to say about this movie. These little action B-movies are essentially all the same and you know what to expect. The biggest glaring flaw in this though is the acting. White and Austin are their normal selves, but the supporting cast is distractingly bad. It is almost like watching a bad middle school production sometimes. That said, most people don't watch this for the acting. If they did they wouldn't make it 10 minutes into the movie. As for the actual movie, it's a little generic and simple but again those that want to watch this go in knowing what to expect. Overall, a typical B-movie with some of the worst acting I have ever seen. I give it a C-.

DEADLY TARGET is a cheap and miserable-looking direct-to-video thriller that manages to waste the talents of a pretty decent action cast. A vengeful Michael Jai White takes on the title role as a guy hunting for the men who murdered his brother, uncovering the usual government conspiracy in the process. A typically nasty Max Ryan works hard as the villain against him, but Steve Austin is totally wasted as a hulking presence who doesn't even get to fight! This is one of those digital productions that seems to have been made through a grey filter, poorly-lit throughout and taking place in mundane concrete surrounds. The story is predictable, which you expect, but the action is very limited and White doesn't get to do much, which is a real pity.

You learn from this movie that 3 bullets on two men would never hit them. The shooter is a well-muscled police officer! And one bullet would pass the wall and marbles 3 times without bending or changing direction and still fatally hit your enemy: who is also a giant man! Wait: the man who was supposed to be beaten down and tied up doesn't have any dirt on his shirt nor pants!...

CHAIN OF COMMAND and DEADLY TARGET are the same film. James Webster (Michael Jai White) returns home from Iraqistan where he was a highly trained special ops assassin. He meets his brother and a few of his old friends and soon a couple of them are dead. James attempts to find out who killed them and what is going on while he is being hunted. Ray Peters (Steve Austin) who "likes problems" and is "not cheap" is called in to clean up the mess using poorly written tough guy lines like "looks are perception."

Michael Jai White plays a convincing assassin, while everyone else dies around him. Steve Austin gives us a bit about poor veterans' benefits as justification for murder and drug smuggling, something that didn't really help the case.

Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.

I'm a fan of Michael Jai White and he's a decent actor in some things - The Dark knight but his real drawing point is his fighting skill like in Undisputed 2 and Blood and Bone so I expected lots of cool fighting amongst low budget B movie fun. I didn't get that. This movie contains very little action and does not do a good job of showcasing White's skills which I find stupid considering the people who are going to watch this movie will want to see that.

The plot isn't all that bad to be honest, but it's just not backed up with anything meaningful. The director fails to create any tension or excitement which makes the short running time, 88 minutes really drag.

Steve Austin looks like he would be an awesome match up, a huge imposing guy and the idea that he goes toe to toe with White was an exciting prospect. But here he looks out of shape and he's supposed to a deadly assassin. A missed opportunity.

...let me shine a light on some of the positive things about this movie. No, it's not great. Yes the acting is bad, yes the story is cliché. You can read everything. I just wanted to say I enjoyed the action. This movie promised action and it delivered. I don't turn on a film staring Steve Austin hoping for some Oscar winning performance. And although he doesn't really do anything in the movie, there is plenty of kicking and shooting to keep me entertained. Most low budget action movies promise a lot of big stuff and don't deliver. At least this movie delivered.

Well I have watched a lot of movies over the years but this has to be the one movie that contains such bad acting it's like they were just starting first year in acting school. Only person I had really heard of was Steve Austin and wasn't expecting too much from him as he is not really a film actor per se, just and actor from the world of wrestling.

Looks like this Jai guy has some fighting moves but they are totally wasted in this movie.

If you must watch it then just accept that, you were warned. Honestly, the rest of the reviews have given it low marks and I will be no different. Simply awful.

This movie.. it's hard to even call it that.. is awful. I didn't even make it 30 minutes into the film.

I don't know where to start. The acting is terrible. The supporting actors are distracting bad. The directing is bad. The music is cheesy and detracts from the already hard to watch scenes. The camera work is bad. This movie is not believable at all. In fact.. This reminds me of something some teenagers might make for a drama class. There is absolutely nothing redeeming about this film.

This movie is a waste of time and money. I'm glad it only cost me 3 bucks to rent it.

When I was little my dad used to take me to the pub and we used to see all these men drinking and smoking he said to me "son you are a young man and if in one thing you do in your life make sure you never even take a drag of a cigarette" so as I've grown up listening to him and his wisdom trying to grow up with morales...

Then I watched this film and it gave me cancer.

All joking aside I don't know what Botox Michael Jai White has pumped into his cheeks but he should go back for a refund, I used to love him in his films like blood and bone and falcon rising. But Jesus what was he thinking with this steaming pile of...

If it wasn't for the corny lines and unnecessarily rambling of lines i.e a paragraph on loyalty. *also I'd like to point out I've never been a fan of Steve Austin acting because his nickname roughly refers to his acting style* it was the re-use of the same room I roughly seen about 4 times during which I spotted numerous continuity errors. The extras were a bunch of what I would refer to as the people you see at job centres trying to get the money to feed there next fix.

It was painful and the only thing that kept me through it was that Micheal Jai White was in it, his acting would have been amazing if it wasn't for the terrible storyline, locations, writing and anything to do with this film. At one point of the film, Jesus if any of you think this is a spoiler re-prioritse your life, Micheal or Jimmy as he is referred to, which is the most unpopular name on this planet. Gets out of the car to head inside a building to which another character gets out by the passenger of the car Lifting the seat Forward. That's right folks nothing says action like pulling a seat forward for him to get out. The guy with the eyepatch was absolutely one of the worst things I've seen in a film industry it had no place in any sort of context and looked so out of place that if he just didn't turn up and Micheal talked to himself would have been a lot better.

Steve 'stone cold' Austin... Well I don't really know what to say he didn't do really anything just say really long lines about random things that were going on and intimidate people like a peacock trying to do a mating call, his wooden acting was more like stone cold...he-he pun intended guys...no... Okay I'll leave...*shuts door*

Can I just point the Actor Max Ryan played Lt.Ross, his accent varied so much I thought he had multiple personality disorder, at one point he dipped either to American/English then English/Australian then for some reason went into Scottish, the editors of this film must have been using the drugs smuggled into the city when they edited this, all the cameras were over lit, camera angles were contextual and not in the right areas, when the fight scene did occur, it was like the camera man fell asleep at the camera then fell over with the camera in his hand.

I can appreciate Micheal and Steve probably did take most of your budget guys and probably $60 could buy enough fake blood to fuel a small hot tub but clothing ripped and blood from a knife with no makeup of a wound does not constitute as a good scene if I was your producer I'd pull the needle out of the directors arm and ask him to take a hot shower and think about what he's done.

In summary, it was watchable but painful at the same time abit like listening to your mum and dad talk and dad talk about sex.

1/10 still love you Micheal...not you Austin...

You don't need a spoiler alert with this movie because it was spoiled before it was even finished. I'm a real fan of Steve Austin and bought this movie on that basis. Just a shame that I couldn't make it to the end of the movie. Which is saying a lot because I have a very high pain threshold when it comes to bad movies and can normally soldier on through to the bitter end. Not with this lame puppy though. I was having serious misgivings at the 3 minute mark but hung in there hoping for some Steve Austin goodness to redeem the sad train wreck of a movie but finally conceded defeat at the 40 minute mark. Sometimes these sort of Z grade movies can be entertaining because of how bad they are but this one didn't entertain at any level. Predictable plot, very poor acting, lousy script, unbelievably unrealistic use of weapons and unarmed combat, sound track that was often inappropriate to what was happening on screen, poorly conceived sets and the list goes on. Pretty sure they used some of the crews houses and apartments for filming and prepped them by removing personal photos etc from the wall because why else would a living room have a whole bunch of empty picture hooks on the wall? Why was I even noticing stuff like that? Spotting the list of errors in this movie could be made into its own movie. The best part of this movie was the satisfying clunk it made as it bounced off the bottom of my trash can.

I usually rent most everything with Steve Austin in it.....and the plot of ex military man comes back to corruption is nothing new but I it a fair shot despite other reviews......I was not impressed with the fight scenes....just didn't look authentic but what ruined it for me was near the end.....all movie long the main people were ex-military, top of the crew of black op men but at end they fired over 20 shots easy without hitting their mark despite being close range.....so i'd give it a no-no in watching, but that's just me