Verdict
Summary
Why does Chains of Gold (a terrible title that means nothing) have such a bad reputation? It’s difficult to say. The movie deserves a look, and while it’s just a blip on Travolta’s radar, it feels unfairly maligned and forgotten. Kudos to Kino Lorber for issuing Chains of Gold on Blu-ray for the first time in a nice, high definition widescreen transfer. This is likely the best the film has ever looked, so if you have one of those crummy DVD transfers, it’s time to upgrade it.
Plot:
A social worker infiltrates a street gang to rescue a kid he cares about.
Review:
Scott Barnes (John Travolta) is a social worker who goes way above and beyond for some of the people he’s tasked to provide services for. In one case, he befriends a teen kid named Tommy (Joey Lawrence) who is from a broken home, and who reminds him of the sort of young man his own son might’ve grown up to be. Barnes, an alcoholic, lost his son when he crashed his car in a drunken stupor, and he sees Tommy as his chance to make it right again by being a father figure to him. Tommy has already joined a gang that deals drugs, and even though Tommy realizes this isn’t the life for him, he becomes trapped when the overlord of the gang (played by a young Benjamin Bratt) locks the kid in, with no hope or chance to ever leave. Kids are brutally murdered for even thinking of leaving, and the gang has its own alligator pit at the bottom of an elevator shaft to dispose of anyone who betrays the gang. Barnes becomes desperate: He enlists the aide of a high-powered attorney (played by Marilu Henner) – an advocate of members of the gang in various court cases – to help him pose as someone who wants to invest in the drug trade so that he can infiltrate the gang, but by doing so with his haphazard approach, his cover is blown and he must run for his life, while still trying to save Tommy’s life before the kid is executed.
Chains of Gold shows John Travolta at the nadir of his career at his lowest point: The film, while earnest and serviceable as a thriller, was shot in 1989, but not released until 1991 when it debuted on cable TV. For some reason the film lapsed into the public domain and circulated on VHS tapes and crappy budget DVDs for many years, which shows the lack of care that was (or wasn’t) taken to ensure that Travolta’s efforts in it were completely wasted. The film isn’t bad at all: Director Rod Holcomb did a solid job directing it, but it doesn’t elevate or distinguish itself in any way, despite having a decent score by Trevor Jones and other notable features, including good cinematography and a supporting cast worth mentioning: Hector Elizondo, Bernie Casey, and others. There are also some really eye-popping stunt sequences in the last act that rival some of the best stunt sequences I’ve ever seen that look amazing, and so the film is definitely worth watching. Travolta even has a screenplay credit here, so it’s obvious that the movie meant something to him. And so why does Chains of Gold (a terrible title that means nothing) have such a bad reputation? It’s difficult to say. The movie deserves a look, and while it’s just a blip on Travolta’s radar, it feels unfairly maligned and forgotten.
Kudos to Kino Lorber for issuing Chains of Gold on Blu-ray for the first time in a nice, high definition widescreen transfer. This is likely the best the film has ever looked, so if you have one of those crummy DVD transfers, it’s time to upgrade it. No special features are included, not even a trailer.
