Renegade (1987)

Also known as ‘They call me Renegade’

Director: Enzo Barboni (as E.B. Clucher)

Starring: Terence Hill, Robert Vaughn, Ross Hill

Renegade Luke has been living an easy life so far, travelling through the southwest with his horse Joe, making money by running small-time scams. All this comes to an end when he encounters Moose, an imprisoned convict with a young son. Moose makes Luke an offer: move into his property and become the legal guardian of his son, and in return he won’t get his friends to make legal trouble for Luke. Things don’t go smoothly for the drifter and the boy at first, but gradually they come to settle into their new situation.

‘Renegade’ is such a delightful movie. This is a joyride of fun and adventure, centered around an unlikely friendship. Fate throws together a carefree traveler and a troubled youngster, and it was great to see how these two individuals realized they actually have more in common than they ever could have imagined.

I enjoyed the simplicity of the film and characters, without any forced love interests or complicated back stories. Terence Hill is awesome as Luke. He is a legend and a very likable actor who makes a likable hero. Ross Hill is also very good as Matt, the young son.  Wanting to know more about him, I was distraught to learn that he died shortly after the film in a road accident, at the tender age of only 16.

The horse steals the show on several occasions! This is a wonderful coming of age, fun-filled adventure ride. I loved it!