Flic et rebelle

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.

I will always like this movie for 3 reasons- 1. That Jami Gertz was in it--2. That fellow Canadian Kiefer Sutherland was in it and 3. It was shot here in Toronto,Ontario downtown and I watched alot of the location shooting. I remember watching alot of the filming downtown and they had alot of the streets blocked off that made for traffic nightmares donwtown Toronto. But getting to meet Jami Gertz was the exciting part. She was very friendly to the people who would be standing around watching the filming. At this time I had only known who she was from Lost Boys and the TV Show Square Pegs.

Anyhow Kiefer is great in this as a cop who is on a corruption in the police force task force but seems to never have the best luck. Lou Diamond Phillips plays a native indian and he is not too bad in it. But Jami Gertz I say steals this movie for sure. Lots of pretty good action and shoot ups. I don't see what people never liked about it. I guess nowadays it is just waaay too hard to have a viewer actually not go into watching a movie with a closed mind nowadays unless someone like Tom Cruise or Brad pitt is in it. I didn't really see any boring parts in it and Sutherland,Phillips and Gertz all together have some charisma on screen. Surprising with Phillips who is usually hot and cold in his flicks.

RENEGADES is your standard buddy-buddy action cop thriller from the late '80s, with the twist here that one of the central twosome is a Native American and the other's, well, Kiefer Sutherland. Otherwise it's business as usual as the pair are forced into an unlikely partnership when they have to track down a gang of diamond thieves.

The film benefits immensely from the presence of skilled director Jack Sholder, straight from the excellent B-flick gem THE HIDDEN and bringing plenty of style in his wake. The early heist-turned-chase sequence is the definite highlight of the whole movie and although it never regains this level of expertise, it proves to be perfectly adequate.

The script is fairly routine but the addition of some Indian philosophy (and more than a little mumbo-jumbo) makes for a welcome change. Sutherland is a solid leading man even this early in his career, but Lou Diamond Phillips is the real star, bringing a zen-like calm to his character. RENEGADES isn't brilliant and certainly doesn't have the intensity of the likes of the first two LETHAL WEAPONs but it does pass the time well enough.

Kiefer plays an undercover cop who infiltrates a gang and takes part in a heist. Enter Phillips as a quiet dignified Lakota Indian who teams up with Kiefer because the baddies stole his people's sacred lance. Yes, I said sacred lance. The supporting cast don't help. 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 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. They don't use it as an attempt at mixing cultures. It's only surface level. Another variation on the whole buddy cop movie. Who's going to be the white guy's partner. Teaming up because of the sacred lance is equal parts funny and lazy. 'They stole my secret lance now we're partners'. Give me a break. 'Renegades' is somehow a nearly two hour long caper.

THE film RENEGADES, was a movie shot in ONTARIO and used such locations as a building used by TORONTO POLICE 42 division or a similar unit. The film was also shot partially in Pennsylvania. The film had moments of on screen brillance which is a trademark of all the JACK SHOULDER aka SHOLDER movies I have seen. The film should have had a alternate version. I am a fan of such films as the COWBOY WAY which use projects modeled after the "big city modern western approach" of film plots. This film has a big city western feel yet, also has a supernatural polt which ties in with indian myths and religion. RENEGADES also featued a early appearance by the respected actor who played LIAM KINCAID on EARTH FINAL CONFLICT (VON FLORES. I would have done things differently yet, i am nobody. The film was not a bad film, yet, could not LOU DIAMOND PHILLIPS have played a triabla cop in pursuit of a criminal or a PI? Yet, giving him the role of a normal citizen who can handle himself is possibly better. This avoids cop movie cliches. In the film BUSTER and "CHIEF" played by Phillips get caught up in a mob war after a well financed mob thug steals a sacred relic. This film is not the DEER HUNTER but is worth a evenings view and features BILL SMITROVICH doing a great job playing a role we have seen in the movies one hundred times...I liked the character. Formula, well made formula sells. Or is that statement trite on my part? RENEGADES has the edge on being a restrianed action piece which brings it down to earth on believability. I enjoy seeing Sutherland playing agood guy hot off the heels of playing a psychotic in THE KILLING TIME...one of his best roles.