Renegade Force

Yikes, this was not quite what I expected. Granted it was well depicted, good script. But the two leads were the coldest pair I have ever evinced a disinterest in. You really didn't care what happened to them. That closing line from the dying renegade, the one about himself and the FBI man being alike. Spot on the money. You sort of wished they'd killed each other and then only two people would be dead.

Graphic, but detached. You couldn't involve yourself with the characters they were all so cardboard.

I saw this movie for the first time two evenings ago on HBO. I guess my critcism of this movie is a culmination of seeing so many of the same mistakes in almost all movies. Even on a movie set some of these safety mistakes can be very dangerous. You'll never see a tactical team "SWEEP" their weapon across another officer. Even blanks can kill or seriously injure if discharged close to an individual. Entry teams will never walk in front of a window while approaching a building either.

I also couldn't believe the bad choice of camoflage they use when filming the sniper scene. Not to mention that they show a gross knowledge of the capability of their rifle when they over estimate it's effective range not by just a little bit. In this movie they "overshot" it's effective range by 1000 yards, which is double it's capability. An expert marksman couldn't have made two of the three shots with a .50 Caliber BMG, much less a .308 Winchester (7.62 X 51mm NATO). One thing that particularly sticks in my craw is that the gas tank on a car WILL NOT explode by simply putting a standard bullet through it. The mistakes and misconceptions in this movie go on and on and I can't go through every one of them with the room I have here. I think Michael Rooker and Robert Patrick were victimized in this film by shabby writing and directing. Both of their acting skills are far above what their parts in this movie offered them.

Ok this movie doesn't have a 100 million dollar budget, so what. At least the S.W.A.T teams are finally using REAL S.W.A.T tactics, equipment, weapons, training etc. and are not just a bunch of gung ho yahoos in blue jump suites with baseball caps on pretending to be an elite force like I have seen in most low budget films and even high budget films of the same nature. The Renegade Force looks like the real deal . Patrick and Rooker look like cops and act like... well cops. Yeah, the movie does suffer from a few plot holes but it makes more sense then some of these so call effects driven no story line and don't even ask about good acting multi-jillion dollar Hollywood block busters. If anybody is interested in a good authentic police action flick check this movie out. If you want unrealistic, lots of explosion really bad acting action, then rent Speed or any Dan "The Dragon" Wilson flick.

why do film directors always insist that actors portray fbi agents as dickheads? also, with the research facilities available to film makers, why do they make idiotic mistakes that mar their professionalism? case in point: in the court room scene where louis mandylor's trial is being held, his character is in full police uniform, including radio and sidearm. why? when the fbi guy walks out of the courtroom, he goes to a lockup to retrieve his sidearm. why was the person on trial allowed to have a gun in the courtroom but the fbi guy had to lock his up? at the scene where the fbi is preparing to storm the building where the baddies are hiding, one scene shows a cop loading the clip for his automatic weapon. that's utterly ridiculous! a cop would have his mags fully loaded before he showed up at an operation. it would be like a soldier loading his weapon at a battle.

"Rogue Force" delivers what it promises, and then some. You would be pressed to find more action per minute in a movie. While character development is minimal, obviously some thought went into the script, and that overcomes somewhat the undeveloped characters. Special mention must be made of the excellent, creative camera work, which greatly enhances the film. Michael Rooker, and Robert Patrick are both believable as the leads, while the supporting cast is merely adequate, and mostly just "cannon fodder". There are a few surprises along the way to the bang-up conclusion. If you enjoy action films, especially those with outrageous body counts, I highly recommend "Rogue Force". - MERK