Spikeopath
It suffers from the pitfalls of many other 1980s action films, such as plot holes, silly twists and predictability of formula, but there is a very good action film here that's more than a time waster for the so inclined.Young Guns (1988) stars Sutherland and Phillips (by now firm real life friends) team up again, this time in Phioladelphia with Sutherland as a maverick copper working undercover and Phillips as a Lakota Indian. The two of them are thrown together by fate when a case Sutherland is working on goes bad and Phillips' brother is killed and a sacred Lakota lance is stolen in the process. They are complete polar opposites as characters and struggle to get on with each other to achieve their respective goals. We know they will find a happy ground and kick ass, and with the actors chemistry well founded, it works real well as a buddy buddy action piece.Director Jack Sholder (The Hidden) has a good knack for action construction, be it shoot-outs or punch-ups, but the highlight here is a blunderbuss extended car chase through the city that wouldn't be out of place in a far bigger budgeted blockbuster. However, with the more character based sections of film the director is not so adept, struggling to get much out of Robert Knepper's villain and letting Jami Gertz wander in and out as a love interest type without any real rhyme or reason. But if frantic action is what you like, you get it here by the bucket load, just enjoy that ride and forget any hope of depth elsewhere. 6.5/10
ctomvelu-1
Keifer Sutherland is an undercover cop who has gotten himself in too deep, and Lou Phillips is a long-haired Indian on the trail of a stolen lance sacred to his tribe. The two team up against the bad guys, and all hell breaks loose. Plenty of car chases, shootouts and general mayhem ensue, in the best style of all those late 1980s low-budget crime thrillers. Sutherland and Phillips are always fun to watch, although Phillips is maybe a bit too stoic from time to time. The finale is high on the body count, which is all we can ask from many of these '80s action setpieces. If it all looks a bit dated now, especially Sutherland's funky-chicken hairdo, so be it. They can't all be DIE HARD or LETHAL WEAPON. Having said that, RENEGADES beats TANGO AND CASH any day.
bkoganbing
The only reason I give Renegades as high a rating as I do is because I'm a great big fan of the leads Lou Diamond Phillips and Kiefer Sutherland. Rarely have I seen a major theatrical motion picture resting on a supposition as outrageous as this one.Kiefer Sutherland is a Philadelphia detective gone undercover on his own to find a corrupt cop. He's infiltrated a mob headed by a very cold blooded hood played by Robert Knepper who's planning a jewel heist.The heist goes off, but with some unforeseen complications. Such as the fact that Knepper while fleeing from the cops in hot pursuit, goes through the Philadelphia American Indian Museum and on impulse steals a sacred lance of the Lakota Sioux tribe. He also shoots Gary Farmer who tries to stop him and cold conks Sutherland who tries the same.Phillips is Farmer's brother and he and Sutherland form an alliance of convenience to accomplish their separate goals. But I have to say that the whole idea here is just plain preposterous.Phillips is a stoic Indian figure, he's carrying over his performance from Young Guns where he and Sutherland met and became lifetime friends. Sutherland's performance is a combination of Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry and Steve McQueen from Bullitt.For action fans there are enough gun battles and one great car chase as in Bullitt through the streets of Philadelphia/Toronto as some of Renegades was filmed there. As Sutherland and Phillips are good friends in real life as well the spirit of camaraderie does come through. Jami Gertz as Knepper's girl friend has a very nice role as basically an old time gangster moll.Yet the whole idea behind Renegades is just plain preposterous and unless you're a fan of either one or both the leads you're going to laugh yourself silly.
refinedsugar
Kiefer plays an undercover cop who infiltrates a gang and takes part in a diamond heist where things get messy. They find out he's a cop and he almost gets iced. So here enters Phillips as a quiet dignified Lakota Indian who teams up with the hard boiled Kiefer because the diamond baddies stole his people's sacred lance. Yes, I said sacred lance. The supporting cast don't help matters any. Bill Smitrovich appears in the one note role as Sutherland's police superior and the moment Michael Moriarty shows up it's the "Hey I'm this movie's dirty cop. Yeah me!" dance.The only noteworthy element to Renegades is how quick the police response time is. Anything breaks out and they're on the scene pronto! In most movies, there's enough time to kill twenty people, blow up a building and have a car chase before the police even show up.I should mention the whole Native American Indian sub-plot and it's attempt at mixing culture fails miserably too. It's another variation on the whole buddy cop movie. The random factor is who's going to be the white guy's partner and having it be an Native American Indian doesn't change anything. Partnering up because of the sacred lance is without a doubt the absolute worse excuse to have two people join forces in an action movie I've ever seen too. 'They stole my secret lance - now we are partners'. Give me a break. It's not even so bad, it's funny. Renegades is a sad waste of nearly two hours if you're looking for it.
AD
