Renegades - Mission of Honor - DVD

Movie: Sarajevo in 1995: Actually, the US Navy SEAL unit of Matt Barnes (Sullivan Stapleton) is stationed in the former Yugoslavia to hunt war criminals on behalf of NATO. But after a mission that went completely off the rails, the men are to be pulled out. But that's when they learn from local girl Lara (Sylvia Hoecks), who's having a secret affair with Matt's chambermate Stanton (Charlie Bewley), about a lost treasure of gold that's been lying at the bottom of a nearby lake since World War II. The men are to help her recover the multi-million dollar treasure - but they're not the only ones looking for the gold.

Renegades - Mission of Honor may have a very prominent name behind it, with star director Luc Besson responsible for script and production. Nevertheless, it was a small miracle that this B-movie made it to the big screen. The action is partly quite decent and especially the underwater set is really impressive. It's just a pity that apparently the whole budget was spent on it, because there wasn't much left for the script. There's no other way to explain the terrible dialogue, which alternates with stale clichés with nice regularity.

The staging feels like it's somehow stuck in the 80s. You actually expect Michael Dudikoff to turn the corner at any moment - anyone who grew up with the typical mercenary action movies that flooded video stores in the 80s and 90s in particular will be able to understand what I mean after just a few minutes. This may have a certain charm, but it too ultimately suffers the same fate as the action and the set: due to the poor script and the not exactly Oscar-worthy performances of the actors, any potential for a really good action thriller is ruined.

However, it must also be said that the film is clearly better off in the home theater and quite decent material for an enjoyable men's evening provides, After all, there are some scenes in which Renegades - Mission of Honor works really well and can even entertain properly. The bottom line is that this is solid B-ware that is easily consumed, but also forgotten in a flash.

Picture + Sound: The picture can convince with a solid overall sharpness, especially in brighter outdoor scenes. In contrast, some detail is lost in the many nighttime and underwater shots. The colour scheme is coherent and the contrasts are also satisfactorily mixed. The audio is in a fairly powerful Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that scores with decent surround moments, especially in the action scenes. Good.

Extras: The bonus material is comparatively meagre. Besides the trailer, there are two short promo featurettes about the story (approx. 8:40 min.) and its realization, as well as about the sets (approx. 7:13 min.). Especially the latter short documentary is really worth watching. The trailer closes the well-arranged additional offer.

Conclusion: Renegades - Mission of Honor is not really great cinema, but solid B-movie entertainment, which has quite a few weaknesses and clichés, but which also offers some decent show values and entertaining action sequences. The DVD is technically well done, the bonus material is short, but worth watching. All in all, this gets a: recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp