Renegades

Plot synopsis:
Buster McHenry (Kiefer Sutherland) works as an undercover agent for the Philadelphia Police. Currently he investigates on police corruption and is in big trouble when he gets arrested while trying to stop a carjacking. He distracts the suspect with a beer bottle and assaults an officer. His task makes him break the law, he participates in a robbery at an Auction House where a million dollars worth of diamonds are stored. Things really screw up as not only are two men shot, but an ancient Indian spear is stolen and Buster is wounded.
Marino (Rob Knepper), a crime boss, thinks that the spear might be worth something to his associates. Hank Storm (Lou Diamond Phillips), a young Indian, is now after the spear and Buster is after his criminal 'comrades'. Hank rescues Buster and nurses him back to health. Hank starts to blame Buster for what happened at the Auction House, but Buster tells him he was doing his job. Marino discovers where Buster has been hiding out. With Hank's help, both of them escape.
Both of them are outsiders in their way, but now they have the same target. They despise each other at first, but learn to set aside their differences and work together. Meanwhile, Marino and his men visit Hank's father, whom they shoot and kill when he refused to cooperate in locating his son.
After interrogating some of Marino's associates, they now realize that some of Buster's partners want him dead, because he knows too much, and that there is corruption in the police force. Buster comes to conclude that his partners sold him out to Marino. The film ends with Buster and Hank infiltrating and destroying Marino's hideout. They start killing many of Marino's men, as well as the corrupt policemen. Buster kills Marino by throwing the spear right into his chest when he was about to kill Hank. A month later, Hank gets a job as a tour guide in Texas, while Buster visits him and tells him he has his job back as a policeman, hoping it will turn his life around.
Buster thanks Hank for showing him the error of his ways. They shake hands as both men realize they have better futures. Hank promises Buster he'll come visit him sometime soon. Buster drives off as Hank waves good-bye.

Tags: comedy, suspenseful, neo noir, murder, cult, violence, revenge

Review:
The film tells the tale of police corruption, mafia dirty dealings and the theft of a sacred lance from a native american tribe.
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.
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.
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.
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..
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.
The plot is simple as you like fluff surrounding undercover Kiefer Sutherland tracking down a typical, yet without doubt very dangerous bad guy criminal who just so happens to steal a native American spear and kill a family member of Lou Diamond Phillips (big mistake) which of course leads to an unlikely team-up.
For fans of police action movies this is well worth a look, as it does give most of what one could possibly want from a mid-budget 80's flick..
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.
I can't understand why the cop drama/action film 'Renegades' has such a steady following (relegating it, of course, to cult status), although I can guess that it's familiar cast--Sutherland, Phillips, and Gertz--had much to do with it, because this is certainly one bland, if not condescending "thriller." Kiefer Sutherland plays good cop and bad cop.
When the leader decides to take with him a valuable Native American relic, killing one young man's brother in the action, Lou Diamond Phillips seeks revenge like a martial arts film.This movie is wholly unconvincing.
The story lingers on far longer than it should, especially with all of the effects of car chases and explosions of a good (if not cheesy) action film, minus the need for all of it.
With either Sutherland's arrogant and seemingly out-of-place character or Phillip's "spiritual-mined" character-with-a-vengeance, this film probably would've been much better, even if following more of a martial arts genre routine, with just the story of the Native American family seeking revenge on the drug dealer.
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 not a bad film, yet, could not LOU DIAMOND PHILLIPS have played a triabla cop in pursuit of a criminal or a PI?
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.
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.
After appearing in "Young Guns" a year earlier, Kiefer Sutherland and Lou Diamond Phillips would reunite again in this very clear-cut and wry, but well executed chase action thriller by director Jack Sholder (The Hidden '87').
An undercover maverick cop is left for dead after a diamond heist, but is saved by a Lakota Indian who needs him alive as a sacred lance of his people was stolen by one of the robbers who also shot his brother.
It was one of the early scenes of conflict between the main characters (Kiefer Sutherland and Lou Diamond Phillips).
This starts with the setting in Philadelphia's decaying urban jungle, continues with the score (no bombastic 1980s pop-rock but a sad Native American pipe) and finishes with an ending that, although a victory for our two leads, is weighted down by a sense of great loss for both of them.What I also like are the subtle deviations from the standard elements of the genre.
But in this film, Kiefer Sutherland's maverick cop is sometimes a real a**hole just to relieve tension, his undercover work leads to the death of innocents, and confronts the villain's girlfriend under a mistaken notion of her level of involvement.
Speaking of the villain's girlfriend, I can't write much about Jamie Gertz's role without spoilers, but suffice to say she makes an impression even though the film completely omits the development of a romantic story-line.What I found particularly interesting in this latest re-watch was the non-black-and-white bad cop character (Bill Smitrovich), a corrupt person who still has some conscience left.
But, instead of projecting flair like Sean Connery in The Great Train Robbery or Alan Rickman in Die Hard, Knepper expertly brings out the character's notion of entitlement: it's in the scene that puts Lou Diamond Phillips's character on a war path, in his treatment of his henchmen, and especially in his displeasure at failing to control Smitrovich's bad cop.Finally, I was surprised to find that the film has such a low IMDb score and many negative reviews, almost exclusively from the USA.
I accept tastes differ, but I can't chase away the thought that at east part of it (especially the contemporary reception) was down to unwillingness to confront the Native American themes, from the poverty shown in the opening scene through the racism Lou Diamond Phillips's character confronts as an aside to the history reminder at the end..
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.
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.
Kiefer plays an undercover cop who infiltrates a gang and takes part in a diamond heist where things get messy.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The two guys are Buster McHenry (Keifer Sutherland) and Hank Storm (Lou Diamond Phillips) who play an undercover cop and a person of Native American heritage respectively, an Indian for the cheap seats.
Keeping with the broad stereotypes the bad guys are a faceless Italian-American crime syndicate lead by a charismatic but vicious bloke who looks like a 5% off Johnny Depp, the real JD would have made this the perfect 80s movie, but I think he was still Jump Streeting at this stage.
So once the boys band together to further unite them against a common foe events transpire that they are being hunted by both the Mafia crime family and the cops, meaning they must rely solely on each other, for a brief time the film also introduces a young woman, for what reason I am unsure, as she is not a love interest as much as someone who is in a few scenes before being shot.
In the case of the finale no sooner has the last shot rung out and the required bad guys have eaten lead the cops are there, which might not be such a big deal if the film hadn't indicated that the location was in the middle of nowhere and a long drive though empty territory!
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.
If you like a very violent, blood everywhere, with thoroughly evil "baddies" who will kill anyone and everyone, swear profusely and blaspheme almost constantly then this is the movie for you...the good guys language isn't much better.
The premise of a stolen indian lance is a good one, but given the language and violence, not an easy film to watch.
Toronto lensed movie starring the always dependable Canadian actor Kiefer Sutherland ....
A great little action movie, lensed on the streets of Toronto, Canada.
Kiefer Sutherland plays a tough plainclothes cop.
Renegades is set in Philadelphia where detective Buster McHenry (Kiefer Sutherland) is working undercover to try & bring down a dirty cop by arranging a robbery to steal six million dollars worth of diamonds, however things don't go to plan & the dirty cop doesn't show up & instead McHenry is forced to go through with the armed robbery with local mobster Marino (Robert Knepper) & his men.
Things go from bad to worse for McHenry as bullets start to fly & people are shot & killed, the cops show up & all hell breaks loose & Marino, his men & McHenry try to escape en-route stopping off at an art gallery where Marino takes a fancy to an ancient Indian tribal lance on display & decides to steal it shooting Goerge Storm (Gary Farmer) in the process.
His brother Hank Storm (Lou Diamond Phillips) is understandably annoyed & when he saves McHenry's life as Marino shoots him & leaves him for dead the two team up to bring Marino down, prove McHenry's innocence & get the Indian tribal lance back...Directed by Jack Sholder one has to say that Renegades is a really lacklustre & lifeless attempt at mismatched partners teaming up together to bring down some bad guy action thriller & is in fact maybe one of the worst examples I have seen.
The main aspect of these types of films that ultimately make or breaks them is the partnership, here it's a quick talking wise cracking Philadelphia cop with a blatant disregard for police procedure who gets teamed up with a quiet respectful native American Indian & it just doesn't come off since there's virtually no humour or memorable interplay between the two.
There's a supposed plot twist about a bad cop but it comes to early in the film & has no real impact on the story other than a cop is involved with the main bad guy.
The action scenes are poor & very forgettable, there's a dull car chase & a few seen it all before shoot-outs where the bad guys can't shoot straight, no-one ever runs out of bullets & it's just a case of men standing there holding guns firing at each other.
I also hated the ending, I mean after killing people, stealing cars, threatening people at gunpoint, taking part in an armed robbery where innocent people are killed & breaking every rule in the book McHenry gets off scott free & even gets a vacation out of it!The action scenes, if you can call them that, are poor with only a fairly sedate car chase to remember the film by & even that seems lethargic, slow & dull.
The occasional shoot-out are dull & all look the same as each other, the plot twists are handled poorly & have little to no impact & Renegades is one of the worst examples of the mismatched partner action thriller genre I can remember seeing.
Kiefer Sutherland looks fat, out of shape & has a really bad moustache but managed to live this down & has gone on to have a fine career as a respected actor while Lou Diamond Phillips has made dozens of low budget straight to video action films.Renegades is a really predicable, humourless, dull & plodding action thriller that throws two mismatched yet boring characters together to bring down an equally boring enemy.
Sutherland and Phillips take time out between the young gun movies, and make this pleasant little buddy film.Sutherland plays Buster, with a moustache of jealousy.
When a diamond heist goes wrong, Phillips' brother is killed and his beloved spear is stolen.so they team up and try to take down the bad guys...formulaic stuff, but thanks to the chemistry of the leads, it's a little above your usual action movie.Things are the same though.
Kiefer Sutherland And Lou Diamond Phillips Are Great In This Movie.
Today is Kiefer Sutherlands birth day and he is my favorite actor of all time so i am having a Kiefer Sutherland movie marathon and i am going to watch and comment on a few of his movies.This movie called Renegads is a good movie about an under cover cop called Buster Mchenry (Sutherland) and he is trying to find out which cops are corrupt but the under cover operation gos wrong when he has to participate in a diamond robbery and 2 people get shot.And as they are trying to escape though another building where some Indians are one of the bad guys shots one of the Indians and steals a sacred Indian spear from an exhibit and buster (Sutherland) gets wounded and one of the Indians named Hank Storm (Lou Diamond Phillips) from the exhibit follows him and captures him and fixes his wound.Hank Storm then makes buster help him find the bad guys that killed his brother and that stole the sacred spear.This is the 2nd movie that Kiefer Sutherland and Loudimod Phillips have done together the first movie was Young Guns in 1988 and they have been in 4 movies together and a couple of TV episodes over the last 17 years and on screen they have such good chemistry between them and in my opinion they should do a couple of new movies together in the near future.And if u are are a fan of Kiefer Sutherland or good action movies u should rent or buy this movie and u will really like it.Over all this movie is good and this movie is one of the most underrated movies on this web site and it is not a 4.7 out of 10 this movie is a 6 and a half out out of 10..
Very poor and unimaginative action pic which finds detective Buster McHenry (Kiefer Sutherland) teaming reluctantly with American-Indian Hank Storm (Lou Diamond Phillips) in order to catch some crooks who stole a priceless Indian spear.The story, from David Rich, is little more than an excuse to get these two former brat-packers back together for one last fling.