Product Details

• Actors: Val Kilmer, Kyra Sedgwick, Billy Bob Thornton, Sonia Braga, James Keach
• Directors: Daniel Mann
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Lorimar Home Video
• Run Time: 113 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000E177RY
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,238 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

There is no prison strong enough to hold the human spirit... He was an innocent man sentenced to a Georgia chain gang... His two escapes astounded the nation... His story is true... Val Kilmer ("Top Gun", "Real Genius") stars as Robert Burns in this gritty and chilling drama about a man who falls in with a vicious pack of thieves during a robbery and is thrown into a Georgia chain gang. Unable to endure the brutality he escapes and attempts to bury the past. Burns befriends two women. One, Emily (Sonia Braga, "Kiss of the Spider Woman"), a wealthy woman, helps him turn a failing magazine into a success, and the other, Lillian (Kyra Sedgwick) arouses his deepest desires. With memories of guard beatings, tortures and torment, Burns vows to make public the truth about chain gangs -- abolishing them forever. THE MAN WHO BROKE 1,000 CHAINS is a chilling and sensational drama -- a story that foretells the shocking real-life events that became front page news in 1987 when convicted felon, Vincent Pelliccia, was nabbed by police 41 years after his escape to freedom from a Virginia prison chain gang.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AN AMAZING PERFORMANCE BY ONE AMAZING GUY, October 17, 2000

By 

"samquest" (West Midlands United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Man Who Broke 1000 Chains [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The first words that spring to mind when I think of this film is 'WOW'. Val Kilmer brings this character of Robert Elliot Burns to life, probably too well, and makes you believe that you're living it with him... the sign of a truly amazing actor... The things Mr Burns went through, the struggles that he faced seem so horrific it makes you think of the question 'This can't be real, can it?'.. What makes it more horrific is that it's based on a true life, a real person, real situations, real actual events...It blows my mind every time I watch it...Val Kilmer was the right person to play it because he puts so much into the role, he makes you feel the pain that he's suffering. This is a sign of an amazing, talented, young man..who just keeps on getting better...if that's possible. If I could I'd give it more marks than 5 because it is definitely a film not to miss.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Run, Robby, Run!, January 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Man Who Broke 1000 Chains [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Originally an HBO pay channel release, this is perhaps one of their better movies. Val Kilmer plays Robert Elliot Burns. Burns is a WWI veteran who eventually winds up, wrongfully, in a Georgia chain gang. After quite a few whuppings, he escapes in dramatic fashion. Rebuilding his life in Chicago as a news magazine publisher/writer, he gets blackmailed by his wife. He goes BACK to the chain gang and, after a few whuppings, escapes again!! A Val Kilmer fan must see this one, as it is one of his best roles. An all-star supporting cast helps ease the slower parts along. (This ain't no pretty boy flick, ladies. Ol' Val gets the snuff beat out of him.)

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Harrowing but brilliantly done, December 7, 2005

By 

FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Man Who Broke 1000 Chains [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is a film based on a true story, the story of Robert Burns, a World War I veteran who fell upon hard times, turned to petty crime in a point of desperation, and then went through the harrowing experience of the Southern prison system, with all the inhumanities that are attendant to that. Deprivations and cruel punishments abounded, as prisoners were literally whipped to death and set to work at back-breaking labour on chain gangs. At a certain point, Burns escaped, and finding a new life in a Northern state, became a prosperous businessman, still ever mindful of his escapee status. Burns, being assured of the justice of the system and that such inhumanities would not happen again, was led to seek to clarify his status by returning to the South, only to be absorbed once more into the inhuman system. However, this time his public profile was known around the country, and his cause became a cause célèbre. It forced a change in the prison system that remains a turning point in the humane treatment of prisoners to this day.

This film is based upon Robert Burns' own book, 'I am Fugitive from the Georgia Chain Gang'. Directed by Daniel Mann, the story stars Val Kilmer in a remarkably full role, with powerful performances by Charles Durning, Kyra Sedgwick and Elisha Cook Jr. (a veteran actor whose credits include 'The Maltese Falcon' and 'Sergeant York', in this his final role). The scenes are often breathtaking for their brutality and realism, and the overall tone is very true to life, albeit a reality we often want to hide from.

This is a rare film, not yet available on DVD, but one well worth watching, particularly for those who are interested in American history of a different sort.