Memorable, crazy movie

I wanted to but couldn't!

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

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

Jack Sholder may do well with fantasy and horror (Aracnid, The Hidden), but not so well with cop dramas.I only tuned in as I like Lou Diamond Phillips (La Bamba, Courage Under Fire, Stand and Deliver, Young Guns); not so much his good buddy Kiefer Sutherland. The fact that this is the best of the four movies they have done together is no recommendation.Some funny scenes, and one of the most outstanding car chases I've seen, but the rest just stretches the imagination.A whole house full of mobsters against two intruders. It is so hard to get good help these days.

RENEGADES is a great formula film from Jack Sholder. The films format is action adventure with a heavy native american theme. The film tells the tale of police corruption, mafia dirty dealings and the theft of a sacred lance from a native american tribe. The film has predictable elements yet is worthwhile. Of note is the directing style of sholder which is kinetic enough to keep the audience interested. RENEGADES is formula but succeds at being good formula; good formula never fails. I recommend this film as a popcorn and coke film.

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.