146 reviews
Arnold at his peak as a one-man wrecking crew as he demolishes a crime family single-handed. It reminds me of the Stallone film where Rambo takes on Russia in Afghanistan. This film has good acting though, and the ever-evil Robert Davi at his slimy best. The shoot-out at the gravel pit with "Satisfaction" playing is a classic. And don't forget the classic line :"You should not drink and bake"!
- al_phillips2000
- Dec 15, 2001
- Permalink
I own this movie. Well, I own most of Arnold's movies. But I've only watched this one 3 or 4 times over the last decade. It's not a great movie although I think I enjoy it a little bit more with each viewing. The flick does have its moments. I like the interplay between Max and Brenner. And Arnold plays a very cool Mafia-like guy. The ending -- if you could even call it that -- is terrible. Did the script say, "Insert ending here"? Nevertheless, I liked the action even if it was corny at times. And the style of the movie grows on you with each viewing. I give it a 6/10 for been slightly more enjoyable than average.
- MyOpinionIsFact
- May 20, 2000
- Permalink
In Arnold's best period of his film career, it is unquestionable that Raw Deal is his worst film from that era. Sandwiched between two of his best action movies, Commando and Predator. Raw Deal is real weak by comparison. The film is a mess and it seemed that those involved with the production could not agree on what they were making. Also, it would appear that funds were too low for anyone's vision to get on screen. The editing and music for this movie is really poorly done. This film is definitely lacking in a consistent tone or focus. The action scenes seem out of place as well. Raw Deal was probably meant to be a low budget police thriller. Any way you slice it, this film is not a cohesive piece of work and is filled with plot holes. Arnold, at this point in his career had massive physicality and charisma. However, he was lacking in acting skills and was horrendous in the more dramatic scenes here. The supporting cast was pretty good for the most part. Even though this is not Arnie's highest quality production, it still remains fairly entertaining. There is quite a bit of funny stuff here(some intentional and some not). Also, there is plenty of Arnold one liners with one of my favorites, "You should not drink and bake". While Raw Deal is not a well made movie, it is not totally unwatchable and is still quite amusing and outrageous.
- dworldeater
- Aug 12, 2015
- Permalink
Don't be angry with me for only awarding "Raw Deal" 5 stars out of 10. It's a 'strong, almost a 6' 5, not a 'weak, barely above a 4' 5. If that makes any sense.
I think that part of the problem is that I saw this after I saw "Terminator" and "Commando", and it was a bit of a let-down. (And I might have been suffering from a bit of "Schwarzenegger-overexposure".) Arnold is a bit wasted here. It's as if someone mistakenly cast him in a role meant for someone like Chuck Norris. Let's face it, this is a smaller scale movie with a seemingly smaller budget; Dolph Lundgren or Rutger Hauer or Micheal Biehn or even that guy from "Eddie And The Cruisers" could have filled in for the S-man in this movie and you would hardly have noticed the difference, except for a few one-liners. Not to mention the director for "Raw Deal" seemed to be nowhere near Cameron's or Lester's class. Same thing goes for the cast (with all respect to Darren McGavin and Robert Davi). Kathryn Harrold is not a substitute for Linda Hamilton. She's OK, but she's a Ford Taurus to Hamilton's Corvette Stingray.
There are pacing problems, too. The screenwriter felt the need to include several filler sequences that are meant to advance the plot and fill in back story and give the other cast members something to do. But most of these sequences are pretty lackluster: a fistfight in a women's clothing store goes nowhere; a romantic confrontation between Davi and Harrold leaves no lasting impact (though it does let Harrold get off a good put-down line); and the 10 minute car chase scene where a crime boss winds up hamburger is an exercise in by-the-numbers padding if there ever was one (good sound design, though).
But the last 20 minutes serves as a payoff to the first part of the film, and it is basically one long bullet-fest. Arnold basically shoots everything short of LAWs and RPGs at the bad guys, and they obligingly miss with all their shots and fall over and die. None of this is staged with anything like the panache of the firefights in "Commando" or the desperate high speed run-and-gun highway fights in "Terminator". It's all very meat-and-potatoes stuff that wouldn't have be out of place in a typical Cannon/Golan-Globus production. But there's plenty of it, and the S-man is appropriately grim and indestructible, and any fan will be satisfied once the final bad guy goes down in the final hail of bullets.
After 3 viewings, I still don't understand why no one can hit the huge, slow-moving white guy when they shoot at him, but it's his movie, so I'll just attribute it to Arnold's penchant for bringing a Browning Automatic Rifle to a revolver fight, and let it pass.
And I don't discount this movie just because it was an Arnold vehicle - I felt that his follow-up "The Running Man" was a return to form (although still not as good as "Terminator" and "Commando").
Anyway, "Raw Deal" doesn't place in the top 5 (or even 10) Arnold films, but any Schwarzenegger completist will want to have it, and will probably find much to enjoy. And fans of "Crime Story" and gangster films in general will also find this to their liking.
I think that part of the problem is that I saw this after I saw "Terminator" and "Commando", and it was a bit of a let-down. (And I might have been suffering from a bit of "Schwarzenegger-overexposure".) Arnold is a bit wasted here. It's as if someone mistakenly cast him in a role meant for someone like Chuck Norris. Let's face it, this is a smaller scale movie with a seemingly smaller budget; Dolph Lundgren or Rutger Hauer or Micheal Biehn or even that guy from "Eddie And The Cruisers" could have filled in for the S-man in this movie and you would hardly have noticed the difference, except for a few one-liners. Not to mention the director for "Raw Deal" seemed to be nowhere near Cameron's or Lester's class. Same thing goes for the cast (with all respect to Darren McGavin and Robert Davi). Kathryn Harrold is not a substitute for Linda Hamilton. She's OK, but she's a Ford Taurus to Hamilton's Corvette Stingray.
There are pacing problems, too. The screenwriter felt the need to include several filler sequences that are meant to advance the plot and fill in back story and give the other cast members something to do. But most of these sequences are pretty lackluster: a fistfight in a women's clothing store goes nowhere; a romantic confrontation between Davi and Harrold leaves no lasting impact (though it does let Harrold get off a good put-down line); and the 10 minute car chase scene where a crime boss winds up hamburger is an exercise in by-the-numbers padding if there ever was one (good sound design, though).
But the last 20 minutes serves as a payoff to the first part of the film, and it is basically one long bullet-fest. Arnold basically shoots everything short of LAWs and RPGs at the bad guys, and they obligingly miss with all their shots and fall over and die. None of this is staged with anything like the panache of the firefights in "Commando" or the desperate high speed run-and-gun highway fights in "Terminator". It's all very meat-and-potatoes stuff that wouldn't have be out of place in a typical Cannon/Golan-Globus production. But there's plenty of it, and the S-man is appropriately grim and indestructible, and any fan will be satisfied once the final bad guy goes down in the final hail of bullets.
After 3 viewings, I still don't understand why no one can hit the huge, slow-moving white guy when they shoot at him, but it's his movie, so I'll just attribute it to Arnold's penchant for bringing a Browning Automatic Rifle to a revolver fight, and let it pass.
And I don't discount this movie just because it was an Arnold vehicle - I felt that his follow-up "The Running Man" was a return to form (although still not as good as "Terminator" and "Commando").
Anyway, "Raw Deal" doesn't place in the top 5 (or even 10) Arnold films, but any Schwarzenegger completist will want to have it, and will probably find much to enjoy. And fans of "Crime Story" and gangster films in general will also find this to their liking.
- lemon_magic
- Nov 18, 2005
- Permalink
I have been soaking up a lot of vicarious aggression lately with Van Damme, Stallone, and Ahnuld. I bet a lot of Arnie's fans have missed this little gem. No, we don't look for quality here, but Schwarzenegger does a credible job of acting and he keeps throwing out these funny lines that keep you in stitches.
Nothing original here - failed FBI agent, now small town Sheriff (think Bruce Willis in Hostage or Striking Distance, Tom Selleck as Jesse Stone, or many others who are out in the cold because of their screw-ups or someone's evil deed - called to infiltrate the mob and bring them down.
You know Arnie's going to get the job done with muscle and firepower. He even manages a little romance - damn little - with Kathryn Harrold.
Paybacks are hell!
Nothing original here - failed FBI agent, now small town Sheriff (think Bruce Willis in Hostage or Striking Distance, Tom Selleck as Jesse Stone, or many others who are out in the cold because of their screw-ups or someone's evil deed - called to infiltrate the mob and bring them down.
You know Arnie's going to get the job done with muscle and firepower. He even manages a little romance - damn little - with Kathryn Harrold.
Paybacks are hell!
- lastliberal
- Jul 6, 2008
- Permalink
Arnold takes on the entire Chicago syndicate run by mob chief Luigi Petrovita, Sam Wanamaker, with predictable results.
Arnold, Mark Kaminski, is canned from the FBI because he was too rough with the bad guys and told by his boss Baxter, Joe Regalbuto, to "resign or be prosecuted". Now working in a dead end job as a lawman in some hick town in North Carolina a friend of his from the FBI Harry Shannon, Darren McGavin, gets in touch with Arnold for help in the death of his son who was killed in a mob attack on a FBI safe house.
Harry tells Anold that there's a mole in the FBI's higher ups that's tipping off the mob on what the FBI has as informers and witnesses and where there being kept from the mob to live long enough to testify against it and is responsible for his son's death. Arnold goes undercover as a hood and joins the mob to find out who's working with them from the FBI and bring him to justice in this action-packed Arnold Schwarznegger vehicle; and just guess who the FBI mole is?
A must for Schwarznegger fans with Arnold, for the first time in his movie career, speaking whole sentences and showing some sensitivity in scenes with his love interests in the movie his wife Amy, Balnche Baker, to whom Arnold utters the movie best line " You shouldn't drink and bake at the same time". There's also Arnolds sexy mob girlfriend Monique, Kathryn Harrold, whom he avoids having any action with and has no idea that Arnold is an undercover lawman as well as a loyal and happily married man.
Great action sequences sprinkled all throughout the film with a tremendous and unbelievable shoot-out at the end of the movie to the explosive and thumping music score of "The Kaminski Stomp" which raises the adrenaline level of the theater audience to it's limits.
Arnold, Mark Kaminski, is canned from the FBI because he was too rough with the bad guys and told by his boss Baxter, Joe Regalbuto, to "resign or be prosecuted". Now working in a dead end job as a lawman in some hick town in North Carolina a friend of his from the FBI Harry Shannon, Darren McGavin, gets in touch with Arnold for help in the death of his son who was killed in a mob attack on a FBI safe house.
Harry tells Anold that there's a mole in the FBI's higher ups that's tipping off the mob on what the FBI has as informers and witnesses and where there being kept from the mob to live long enough to testify against it and is responsible for his son's death. Arnold goes undercover as a hood and joins the mob to find out who's working with them from the FBI and bring him to justice in this action-packed Arnold Schwarznegger vehicle; and just guess who the FBI mole is?
A must for Schwarznegger fans with Arnold, for the first time in his movie career, speaking whole sentences and showing some sensitivity in scenes with his love interests in the movie his wife Amy, Balnche Baker, to whom Arnold utters the movie best line " You shouldn't drink and bake at the same time". There's also Arnolds sexy mob girlfriend Monique, Kathryn Harrold, whom he avoids having any action with and has no idea that Arnold is an undercover lawman as well as a loyal and happily married man.
Great action sequences sprinkled all throughout the film with a tremendous and unbelievable shoot-out at the end of the movie to the explosive and thumping music score of "The Kaminski Stomp" which raises the adrenaline level of the theater audience to it's limits.
Raw Deal was in the classic Arnie era, the era of one line classics and bad acting. How quality is this film, its just non-stop from start to finish. You've got the classic good guy joins the mobsters gang in order to bring them down - Arnie sports a classic lumberjack shirt in this film as he plays a small town sheriff (check out the car chase at the beginning). He rolls of classic line after classic line, there is one instance where him and his wife have a argument - she throws are cake at him after she has had a few drinks, he says
"You shouldn't drink...and bake"
how cool is that
this looks surprisingly low budget for Arnie, but you have to watch it for its comedy value
"You shouldn't drink...and bake"
how cool is that
this looks surprisingly low budget for Arnie, but you have to watch it for its comedy value
- matthew-lamb
- Apr 17, 2005
- Permalink
Big Arnold stars in this action-packed movie as a former FBYI agent who goes back in action , being recruited by his previous chief (Darren McGavin) as an act of vengeance, to infitrate the Chicago mafia led by a nasty villain (Sam Wanamaker) and his henchman (Paul Shenar) . The government gave him a raw deal . Nobody gives him a raw deal. Nobody gives him a Raw Deal . His trigger has all the answers. The system gave him a raw dea l. Nobody gives him a raw deal.
Thiis is a predictable , run-of-the-mill thriller , even formulaic , but the usual formula works , at times . Arnie as an ex raw deal infitrated agent is nice and , of course , he shoots lots of people , as our hero will eventually take a machine-gun and mow down the entire syndicate of bad guys just like Charles Bronson and Chuck Norris . Violence , profanity , sex , grisly killings and bloodshed ensue here and there , that's why it's rated R . Main and support cast are pretty well , as Arnold Schwarzenegger is well accompanied by a good cast , such as :Darren McGavin , Kathryn Harrold , Sam Wanamaker , Paul Shenar , Blanche Baker , Robert Davi , Ed Lauter and Joe Regalbuto.
It displays an adequate cinematogrphy by director of photography Alex Thomson , shot in Chicago city . As well as atmospheric musical score composed y means of synthesizer by Boardman .The motion picture was professionally directed by John Irvin who managed to stage some excellent action scenes , stunning scenarios and clever edition. Irvin has made some thrilling action and wartime movies such as : Dogs of war , Hamburger Hill, When Trumpets Fade , The Fourth Angel , Freefall , Shinner , Next of kin , Robin Hood , City of industry , among others. Rating : 6/10. Acceptable and passable . An Arnold typical vehicle that will appeal to his fans . Worthwhile seeing .
Thiis is a predictable , run-of-the-mill thriller , even formulaic , but the usual formula works , at times . Arnie as an ex raw deal infitrated agent is nice and , of course , he shoots lots of people , as our hero will eventually take a machine-gun and mow down the entire syndicate of bad guys just like Charles Bronson and Chuck Norris . Violence , profanity , sex , grisly killings and bloodshed ensue here and there , that's why it's rated R . Main and support cast are pretty well , as Arnold Schwarzenegger is well accompanied by a good cast , such as :Darren McGavin , Kathryn Harrold , Sam Wanamaker , Paul Shenar , Blanche Baker , Robert Davi , Ed Lauter and Joe Regalbuto.
It displays an adequate cinematogrphy by director of photography Alex Thomson , shot in Chicago city . As well as atmospheric musical score composed y means of synthesizer by Boardman .The motion picture was professionally directed by John Irvin who managed to stage some excellent action scenes , stunning scenarios and clever edition. Irvin has made some thrilling action and wartime movies such as : Dogs of war , Hamburger Hill, When Trumpets Fade , The Fourth Angel , Freefall , Shinner , Next of kin , Robin Hood , City of industry , among others. Rating : 6/10. Acceptable and passable . An Arnold typical vehicle that will appeal to his fans . Worthwhile seeing .
"Raw deal" is a rather forgotten movie in Arnold's movie career. It's not strange , when you compare it to the hits like "Conan The Barbarian" , "Terminator" or "Predator ". Even lesser movies like "The Running man" and "Commando" easily overshadow this flick. However , it doesn't mean that you can have some fun with this flick.
Arnold Schwarzenegger only agreed to star in this picture after much haggling in exchange for dissolving his multi-picture agreement with Dino De Laurentiis. He had one picture left with the producer and was actually very interested in doing "Total recall" , but De Laurentiis objected, so "Raw deal " was made instead (Thankfully we still got "Total recall" made few years later).
The budget probably was rather low , because the production values are rather poor. "RD" looks more like one of those Cannon/Golan-Globus production than a Schwarzenegger movie. The editing is pretty bad.
The other problem is that the movie has some identity crisis. The basic plot premise ( cop goes undercover) begs for a serious tone , depth and complex story. None of which appears here. So , it's no "Donnie Brasco" or "License to kill" . Arnold looks like he is trapped in a cop thriller that would suit better Chuck Norris or Rutger Hauer. He seems wasted here. The plot is a mess with plot holes , unnecessary filler scenes and action scenes that seem out of place. Oh and the ending is one of the cheesiest in action movie history.
The action is strangely uninspired . Action scenes appear without any real rhyme or reason. They aren't also anything special with the exception of ending. At the end of the movie we have 20 minutes long bullet fest that obviously wants to imitate the climax of "Commando". While not exactly well staged and edited it's fun to watch (for all the right and wrong reasons).
Arnold is obviously lacking in acting skills. He learned how to give good low key performances with "Predator", but before that he was very bad at acting. Here he is horrendous in dramatic scenes . In his defence his one liners are often pure gold ("You should not drink and bake").The supporting cast (Robert Davi , Kathryn Harrold , Darren McGavin) is pretty good.
The rock music is fun and the use of Rolling Stones "Satisfaction" was brilliant. The pacing by director John Irvin ("Dogs of war") is not bad .
I give it 4/10. "Raw deal" its not Arnold's worst movie from the 80's ("Conan The Destroyer" and "Red Sonja" anyone ?) and is not his worst movie overall. Any Schwarzenegger completist will want to have it, and will probably find much to enjoy. Even if it's pretty forgettable movie overall.
Arnold Schwarzenegger only agreed to star in this picture after much haggling in exchange for dissolving his multi-picture agreement with Dino De Laurentiis. He had one picture left with the producer and was actually very interested in doing "Total recall" , but De Laurentiis objected, so "Raw deal " was made instead (Thankfully we still got "Total recall" made few years later).
The budget probably was rather low , because the production values are rather poor. "RD" looks more like one of those Cannon/Golan-Globus production than a Schwarzenegger movie. The editing is pretty bad.
The other problem is that the movie has some identity crisis. The basic plot premise ( cop goes undercover) begs for a serious tone , depth and complex story. None of which appears here. So , it's no "Donnie Brasco" or "License to kill" . Arnold looks like he is trapped in a cop thriller that would suit better Chuck Norris or Rutger Hauer. He seems wasted here. The plot is a mess with plot holes , unnecessary filler scenes and action scenes that seem out of place. Oh and the ending is one of the cheesiest in action movie history.
The action is strangely uninspired . Action scenes appear without any real rhyme or reason. They aren't also anything special with the exception of ending. At the end of the movie we have 20 minutes long bullet fest that obviously wants to imitate the climax of "Commando". While not exactly well staged and edited it's fun to watch (for all the right and wrong reasons).
Arnold is obviously lacking in acting skills. He learned how to give good low key performances with "Predator", but before that he was very bad at acting. Here he is horrendous in dramatic scenes . In his defence his one liners are often pure gold ("You should not drink and bake").The supporting cast (Robert Davi , Kathryn Harrold , Darren McGavin) is pretty good.
The rock music is fun and the use of Rolling Stones "Satisfaction" was brilliant. The pacing by director John Irvin ("Dogs of war") is not bad .
I give it 4/10. "Raw deal" its not Arnold's worst movie from the 80's ("Conan The Destroyer" and "Red Sonja" anyone ?) and is not his worst movie overall. Any Schwarzenegger completist will want to have it, and will probably find much to enjoy. Even if it's pretty forgettable movie overall.
- Harlekwin_UK
- Apr 15, 2023
- Permalink
'Raw Deal' is for me somewhat of a tough film to rate and review. It is not a great, or even a good, film and is as close to ridiculous as Arnold Schwarznegger films get. At the same time, it's difficult to be too hard on 'Raw Deal' because there is some entertainment value.
Let's start with the good things. Schwarznegger is not the greatest of actors and never has been, but he has always had a hugely charismatic screen presence, a larger-than-life likability and a knack for action sequences. One gets all of this from his performance in 'Raw Deal', even with some expressionless and moments where he does struggle with lines he is immensely watchable and it is very vintage Schwarznegger. Generally it is the cast that come off best. Robert Davi is a rightly hiss-able bad guy and Kathryn Harrold has charm and sass. Sam Wanamaker and Paul Shenar make much of relatively little, they bring colourful menace to their stereotypical roles despite (particularly Shenar) being underused.
There are a few fun one-liners here and there and some excitement in the action. Can't say that on the whole as individual components the script and action were great, but the entertainment was there. The soundtrack is cool too and the scenery has atmosphere.
On the other hand, the story is not just ridiculous (even by Schwarznegger film standards) and generic but has too many scenes that feel like filler and either drag the story out or confuse it. A few nice one-liners here and there, but the script is quite weak and there is a lot of unintentional humour and next to no care developing the characters in a film littered with stereotypes (only Kaminski has any kind of development).
Action-wise, 'Raw Deal' is hardly amateurish and has some exciting moments but too much of it is too routine and a huge amount of suspension of disbelief is needed. Although the ending is certainly memorable, more so than most of the stuff before it, it's for all the wrong reasons. Visually, it has a low-budget made-for-TV-production-like look to it. Ed Lauter is pretty wasted and while the direction is competent it's never more than that.
In conclusion, watchable but doesn't feel cooked all the way through. 5/10 Bethany Cox
Let's start with the good things. Schwarznegger is not the greatest of actors and never has been, but he has always had a hugely charismatic screen presence, a larger-than-life likability and a knack for action sequences. One gets all of this from his performance in 'Raw Deal', even with some expressionless and moments where he does struggle with lines he is immensely watchable and it is very vintage Schwarznegger. Generally it is the cast that come off best. Robert Davi is a rightly hiss-able bad guy and Kathryn Harrold has charm and sass. Sam Wanamaker and Paul Shenar make much of relatively little, they bring colourful menace to their stereotypical roles despite (particularly Shenar) being underused.
There are a few fun one-liners here and there and some excitement in the action. Can't say that on the whole as individual components the script and action were great, but the entertainment was there. The soundtrack is cool too and the scenery has atmosphere.
On the other hand, the story is not just ridiculous (even by Schwarznegger film standards) and generic but has too many scenes that feel like filler and either drag the story out or confuse it. A few nice one-liners here and there, but the script is quite weak and there is a lot of unintentional humour and next to no care developing the characters in a film littered with stereotypes (only Kaminski has any kind of development).
Action-wise, 'Raw Deal' is hardly amateurish and has some exciting moments but too much of it is too routine and a huge amount of suspension of disbelief is needed. Although the ending is certainly memorable, more so than most of the stuff before it, it's for all the wrong reasons. Visually, it has a low-budget made-for-TV-production-like look to it. Ed Lauter is pretty wasted and while the direction is competent it's never more than that.
In conclusion, watchable but doesn't feel cooked all the way through. 5/10 Bethany Cox
- TheLittleSongbird
- Nov 6, 2017
- Permalink
A routine 80s action film elevated considerably by the presence of then rising star Arnold Schwarzenegger, Raw Deal is one of Arnold's earlier screen appearances, and more forgotten action movies.
There's really nothing to set it apart. A super cop taking down a gang of criminals. That's the plot. The undercover plot was interesting, but there was a weird abundance of plot for such a bland-looking action film.
The action scenes are the film's strength for sure. The action abounds here, with a great opening shootout, car/motorcycle chase, bar fight, alley fight, store fight, car chase, and the long climax consisting of two long and awesome shootouts. There's a long shootout where Arnold drives around in a car shooting fools to the tune of "Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones. The best part? He puts the tape into the player at the start of the scene.
This is a severely blood-soaked action film, even by 80s standards, with lots of bloody violence. It's a little excessive. It also has an underrated acting performance from Arnold, a cool rocky 80s theme, and one of the best gear-up scenes ever. It's almost as good as the one in Hot Fuzz (2007).
Definitely give it a watch if you're an Arnold fan, or even an 80s action junkie. I still can't get over the greatness of the gloriously OTT final shootouts. This movie is painfully Arnold, and I love it.
There's really nothing to set it apart. A super cop taking down a gang of criminals. That's the plot. The undercover plot was interesting, but there was a weird abundance of plot for such a bland-looking action film.
The action scenes are the film's strength for sure. The action abounds here, with a great opening shootout, car/motorcycle chase, bar fight, alley fight, store fight, car chase, and the long climax consisting of two long and awesome shootouts. There's a long shootout where Arnold drives around in a car shooting fools to the tune of "Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones. The best part? He puts the tape into the player at the start of the scene.
This is a severely blood-soaked action film, even by 80s standards, with lots of bloody violence. It's a little excessive. It also has an underrated acting performance from Arnold, a cool rocky 80s theme, and one of the best gear-up scenes ever. It's almost as good as the one in Hot Fuzz (2007).
Definitely give it a watch if you're an Arnold fan, or even an 80s action junkie. I still can't get over the greatness of the gloriously OTT final shootouts. This movie is painfully Arnold, and I love it.
- monkeysgalore
- Apr 6, 2020
- Permalink
- tarbosh22000
- Jan 6, 2011
- Permalink
The premise of this familiar actioner had some potential, with Arnold Schwarzenegger getting to act like a "bad guy" at least for a while, but unfortunately the theme is "explored" in just ONE scene, where he admits that he likes his new lifestyle as the right hand of a mob boss. But eventually he loses his patience, gets his machine gun and decides to wipe out the bad guys the old-fashioned way. And the viewer is inevitably going to wonder: why did they torture us for over an hour with all the secret-agent business, just to get to a "Commando"-type final showdown, where Arnie is able to kill dozens of enemies simply because they are too stupid and slow to get him first? There is no answer to that question, and that's what makes this film ultimately excruciating. (*1/2)
Throughout the eighties Arnold Schwarzenegger reigned supreme, but most people remember his films for Terminator, Predator and Commando. 'Raw Deal' often gets missed off the list of his movies. It's kind of understandable; when you compare it to the affore-mentioned classics, it does seem a little subdued.
Yes, Arnie breaks a lot of bad-guys' bones along the way, as he goes from smalltown Sheriff to undercover gang syndicate member, but it never seems to have the required action that fans were synonymous with during this stage of his career. You could almost call it a 'thriller,' only that would definitely be miss-selling it. It's more of a crime drama which has had action scenes added into it as a result of having Arnie fronting the bill and naturally wanting to play to his strengths.
People may criticise the 'big man' for his lack of acting talent. I always thought he does what he does well and am normally quite happy with his performance. However, he does seem to struggle a bit here and there during 'Raw Deal,' leaving some of his lines coming out as a bit awkward. At least it does have a decent (if not as long as usual) action sequence near the end which is pretty fun where Arnie slays countless henchmen while driving round a gravel-pit listening to the Rolling Stones.
If you're a fan of Arnie in general, you'll probably enjoy Raw Deal. Again, if you just like your crime/action films, you may also get something out of it. However, if you're just a casual fan of the genre/actor then it may come across as a bit forgettable, especially in the wake of Arnie's other hits of the day.
Just don't ask Arnie's (on-screen) wife to bake you a cake.
Yes, Arnie breaks a lot of bad-guys' bones along the way, as he goes from smalltown Sheriff to undercover gang syndicate member, but it never seems to have the required action that fans were synonymous with during this stage of his career. You could almost call it a 'thriller,' only that would definitely be miss-selling it. It's more of a crime drama which has had action scenes added into it as a result of having Arnie fronting the bill and naturally wanting to play to his strengths.
People may criticise the 'big man' for his lack of acting talent. I always thought he does what he does well and am normally quite happy with his performance. However, he does seem to struggle a bit here and there during 'Raw Deal,' leaving some of his lines coming out as a bit awkward. At least it does have a decent (if not as long as usual) action sequence near the end which is pretty fun where Arnie slays countless henchmen while driving round a gravel-pit listening to the Rolling Stones.
If you're a fan of Arnie in general, you'll probably enjoy Raw Deal. Again, if you just like your crime/action films, you may also get something out of it. However, if you're just a casual fan of the genre/actor then it may come across as a bit forgettable, especially in the wake of Arnie's other hits of the day.
Just don't ask Arnie's (on-screen) wife to bake you a cake.
- bowmanblue
- May 27, 2015
- Permalink
Primitive, bare-bones action crime romp that's nothing more than a hardy vehicle for Arnold Schwarzenegger to do his thing. However you could say "Raw Deal" is middle ground as it's not all that great but at the same time far from terrible. So it's no raw deal. Simply put it's a modest action joint directed with confidence and touch of flair by John Irvin (who brought us "The Dogs of War", "Ghost Story" and "Hamburger Hill"), but it's rather sparse on the vigorous activity leaning on story mechanisms with Schwarzenegger spending most of his time wooing the gorgeous Kathryn Harrold and trying to be best buddies with the mobsters he's infiltrating (Sam Wanamaker, Paul Shenar and Robert Davi who seems born to play these roles), but when it kicks into gear it doesn't disappoint as it can be quite violent with a full-out assault in the climatic 15 minutes where it has Schwarzenegger going on a shooting spree while driving his car with The Rolling Stone's "Satisfaction" blaring. Quite a change from the beginning when he's a small town sheriff who spends his spare time sitting in the lounge room listening to classical music. Schwarzenegger fit's the role perfectly with his timing of the wry one-liners, chomping on a cigar and delivery of the action. The support cast are an able group with Darren McGavin, Joe Regalbuto, Steven Hill, Ed Lauter and Victor Argo. The best moments occur when Schwarzenegger and Davi's characters come to blows, but the worst has got to be cheery tact on ending. While generically laid-out and a little slow in parts, it's competently slick and amusingly bruising by sticking to its strengths.
- lost-in-limbo
- Jan 24, 2013
- Permalink
In looking back to 1986, it seems that Raw Deal probably represents a lull in Arnie's career. Back then his only major hit had been the Terminator, so I imagine people must have seen him as a strange foreigner overblown with muscles and shooting and blowing up everything in sight. In watching Raw Deal again now for the first time since I was about 10 years old, I can't help thinking that people must have been more entertained by Arnie's bad acting than his action movie presence. The one liners in this thing are hilarious!
Now, he is very much a part of American culture and American film lore, which I think makes his bad acting in this movie even more entertaining, although sadly it doesn't make the movie any better. When I first saw it 20 years ago, I remember being deeply disappointed. The Terminator and Commando were my favorite movies in the world at that time, and I remember assuming that Raw Deal would be equally amazing to me, but it was a real let down.
It still is a let down, but as a hilarious bit of 80s bad action entertainment, it can still make for a pretty entertaining time. It's yet another one of those old action movies where Arnie with his thick accent plays an all-American guy, this time an FBI agent named Joseph Brenner living in exile for treating a suspect too roughly. He has been sent off to work as a small town sheriff, using his FBI training skills to bring down backwoods criminals.
His wife, however, is unimpressed with their new life in the small pond, and is growing increasingly irritated and irritating. One day Brenner comes home from work and he and his wife get into an argument that culminates in her throwing a freshly baked cake at him and one of his funniest lines in the entire movie "You should not drink and bake!"
So this is where it gets a little weird. An FBI agent approaches him and tells him about a sensitive situation where they need him to infiltrate a criminal organization and bring it down from the inside. The only problem is that no one can know about it. It's highly illegal, so only this one guy will know that Brenner is involved, so if anything goes wrong no one will be there to help him.
Sort of reminds me of First Blood Part 2, for some reason, but where I get lost is when they decide to fake Brenner's death, funeral and all, and I missed the part where they explained how successfully completing an illegal mission will get him reinstated in the FBI. Not the least reason for which, of course, is that they deemed the mission sufficiently important to completely destroy a petro-chemical plant in order to fake his death. Wouldn't they have some explaining to do after bringing down the crime boss? And wouldn't they have noticed that there was no body in his squad car at the site of the explosion?
At any rate, the rest of the movie is the kind of Commando-style action that Arnie is best at. He drives a tow truck through a building, casually destroys an illegal gambling den full of gamblers and bookies, and drives around shooting people from his car. Nice!
Raw Deal differentiates itself from some of Arnie's other bad action movies because it doesn't take itself seriously. It's basically over the top action just for fun. Just before driving the tow truck through a building and nearly bringing the entire thing down, they clever place a group of old people just in front of the truck's grill late at night so that Brenner can politely ask them to please step to the side and then remind him to turn on his headlights before he drives through the building. At one point, a man gets shot in the chest and shouts, "He got me!"
Yeah, no kidding! But of course my favorite one liner in the whole movie, followed closely by the cake-fight, is when someone asks Brenner, "Where are you going?" And he gives an answer that somehow perfectly illustrates the entire movie.
"I'm going to do what an old friend asked me to do. Knock 'em dead!"
Now, he is very much a part of American culture and American film lore, which I think makes his bad acting in this movie even more entertaining, although sadly it doesn't make the movie any better. When I first saw it 20 years ago, I remember being deeply disappointed. The Terminator and Commando were my favorite movies in the world at that time, and I remember assuming that Raw Deal would be equally amazing to me, but it was a real let down.
It still is a let down, but as a hilarious bit of 80s bad action entertainment, it can still make for a pretty entertaining time. It's yet another one of those old action movies where Arnie with his thick accent plays an all-American guy, this time an FBI agent named Joseph Brenner living in exile for treating a suspect too roughly. He has been sent off to work as a small town sheriff, using his FBI training skills to bring down backwoods criminals.
His wife, however, is unimpressed with their new life in the small pond, and is growing increasingly irritated and irritating. One day Brenner comes home from work and he and his wife get into an argument that culminates in her throwing a freshly baked cake at him and one of his funniest lines in the entire movie "You should not drink and bake!"
So this is where it gets a little weird. An FBI agent approaches him and tells him about a sensitive situation where they need him to infiltrate a criminal organization and bring it down from the inside. The only problem is that no one can know about it. It's highly illegal, so only this one guy will know that Brenner is involved, so if anything goes wrong no one will be there to help him.
Sort of reminds me of First Blood Part 2, for some reason, but where I get lost is when they decide to fake Brenner's death, funeral and all, and I missed the part where they explained how successfully completing an illegal mission will get him reinstated in the FBI. Not the least reason for which, of course, is that they deemed the mission sufficiently important to completely destroy a petro-chemical plant in order to fake his death. Wouldn't they have some explaining to do after bringing down the crime boss? And wouldn't they have noticed that there was no body in his squad car at the site of the explosion?
At any rate, the rest of the movie is the kind of Commando-style action that Arnie is best at. He drives a tow truck through a building, casually destroys an illegal gambling den full of gamblers and bookies, and drives around shooting people from his car. Nice!
Raw Deal differentiates itself from some of Arnie's other bad action movies because it doesn't take itself seriously. It's basically over the top action just for fun. Just before driving the tow truck through a building and nearly bringing the entire thing down, they clever place a group of old people just in front of the truck's grill late at night so that Brenner can politely ask them to please step to the side and then remind him to turn on his headlights before he drives through the building. At one point, a man gets shot in the chest and shouts, "He got me!"
Yeah, no kidding! But of course my favorite one liner in the whole movie, followed closely by the cake-fight, is when someone asks Brenner, "Where are you going?" And he gives an answer that somehow perfectly illustrates the entire movie.
"I'm going to do what an old friend asked me to do. Knock 'em dead!"
- Anonymous_Maxine
- Dec 8, 2008
- Permalink
- callanvass
- Dec 24, 2013
- Permalink
Raw Deal is saved from being barely a five out of ten, to a solid six literally by the last half of this film which turns in a typical, rather campy action, vengeance follow up that redeems the rather drab slow moving plot of the rest of the film. Say what you will about Arnold Schwarzenegger, the man's films have grossed well over two and a half BILLION dollars in an almost four decade career. Now I will grant that some bad actors pull off some lucky films but practically every film this man stars in rakes in the cash from the infamous and classic Terminator films to Jingle All The Way (which by the way grossed over 100 million dollars.) It's true that his acting range is limited but Arnold has two incredible things going for him...his personality both on screen and off and he is a bad ass. He's the perfect action hero, when someone says action hero, you think Schwarzenegger!! He's built like a brick wall, has the face of an angry man and that trademark voice. If he can't blow it up put him in an unusual situation so that it's funny (ie: Pregnant, Kingergarten Teacher, twin to a 4 foot high fat man) and you've got gold. Raw Deal isn't quite that gold but it still is during his high time as the action King.
Raw Deal is a stereotypical story of a former FBI man who goes undercover for a personal vendetta on behalf of his mentor and best friend. The story is a little slow and spends far too much time establishing all these supposed drama between the two warring mob factions, the Patrovita crime family, and the Lamanski crime family. This film isn't a drama and should have just been about the action but instead director John Irvin tries to make it more of a tale than it needs to be. Schwarzenegger's cover is ridiculous and they barely spend any time setting it up which is only noticeable because of the slow break in him KILLING THINGS!!! Plot holes are not noticeable if there lots of gory action especially in an eighties flick!! But finally Schwarzenegger has had his fill and goes on a rampage wiping out both families and getting his revenge. The acting from everyone involved in the film is sub standard and extremely campy. The film will always be a classic likely for it's campy special effects and downright absurd action scenes. Schwarzenegger sprays a machine gun like a bottle of windex. The explosions and gunfire is also done with campy goodness so fans of that type of film will love this. You can't help but watch Schwarzenegger, he's just fun...he always looks like he's having a great time. Raw Deal is not one of his best by any means but it's not bad and if you're a fan of the eighties action genre like I am or even just Schwarzenegger himself than you need to see this one. But if you're not a fan and you're just looking for an action film, steer clear of this one because there is far better out there. This one falls face first for most of it and only recovers in the later half of the film. 6/10
Raw Deal is a stereotypical story of a former FBI man who goes undercover for a personal vendetta on behalf of his mentor and best friend. The story is a little slow and spends far too much time establishing all these supposed drama between the two warring mob factions, the Patrovita crime family, and the Lamanski crime family. This film isn't a drama and should have just been about the action but instead director John Irvin tries to make it more of a tale than it needs to be. Schwarzenegger's cover is ridiculous and they barely spend any time setting it up which is only noticeable because of the slow break in him KILLING THINGS!!! Plot holes are not noticeable if there lots of gory action especially in an eighties flick!! But finally Schwarzenegger has had his fill and goes on a rampage wiping out both families and getting his revenge. The acting from everyone involved in the film is sub standard and extremely campy. The film will always be a classic likely for it's campy special effects and downright absurd action scenes. Schwarzenegger sprays a machine gun like a bottle of windex. The explosions and gunfire is also done with campy goodness so fans of that type of film will love this. You can't help but watch Schwarzenegger, he's just fun...he always looks like he's having a great time. Raw Deal is not one of his best by any means but it's not bad and if you're a fan of the eighties action genre like I am or even just Schwarzenegger himself than you need to see this one. But if you're not a fan and you're just looking for an action film, steer clear of this one because there is far better out there. This one falls face first for most of it and only recovers in the later half of the film. 6/10
- Robert_duder
- Oct 11, 2005
- Permalink
That seems to be the message of Raw Deal, an absurd Schwarzenegger vehicle from the 1980s, in which an intricate plot of mob wars and double-crosses is resolved with a hail of perfectly aimed, vengeance-fueled bullets.
Arnold plays Mark Kaminsky, a small-town sheriff who used to be in the FBI, before he was forced to resign because he brutally beat a man who had raped a small child. His wife (Blanche Baker) hates him because he resigned instead of fighting for his job, she's bored in small-town America, prompting her to ice a cake with an expletive frosted on the top. After she throws it at his head, Arnold returns with the immortal line, "You should not drink and bake."
That sort of depressed but oddly humorous atmosphere permeates all hour and forty minutes of Raw Deal, as Mark is brought in by his old boss Harry (Darren McGavin) to infiltrate the Patrovita mob and bring it down from the inside. Soon the bitter wife is all but forgotten as Mark fakes his own death by blowing up an oil refinery. (Probably an effective way to fake a death, but would a law-loving sheriff fake his death in a way that ensures a hugely disastrous oil fire?)
The plot trudges along through double-crosses and betrayals involving various police officers, mobsters, and the obligatory love interest (Kathryn Harrold, given little do since, even though his wife is awful to him and he's technically dead, he's still a dutiful married man). Arnold bides his time, cracking jokes and doing battle with the minimal threats that come along, until a surprising hit prompts him to forget his weeks of careful planning and simply kill everyone in the mob. It's a shame that hit hadn't happened earlier, it would have saved everyone involved a good deal of time. Wait, make that a RAW deal of time.
The shoot-em-up ending is preceded by a odd scene in which Arnold takes out his vast arsenal, and lovingly inspects and loads each weapon. The scene is filmed with such drawn out zeal that it could only be defined as sexual. As for the climactic battle itself, Arnold breaks the windshield off his car, pops "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones in the tape deck, and drives around a construction site firing at will.
Handling the scene in a such a ridiculous manner speaks to the way this movie could never have worked as an exciting action movie. When the hero is so invulnerable that he can put on rock tunes as he blows away his enemies, there's no audience investment in his fate. As soon as Arnold joins the mob we know everyone but him is going to be dead at the end, and not only that, he will be rewarded for his mass genocide (He gets reinstated for killing roughly fifty men, forty-nine more than it took to get him kicked out in the first place). As silly Arnold-tinged action, this movie can be laughed at, and enjoyed to a certain extent, but never without acknowledging that for the most part the entertainment is at the movie's expense.
Arnold plays Mark Kaminsky, a small-town sheriff who used to be in the FBI, before he was forced to resign because he brutally beat a man who had raped a small child. His wife (Blanche Baker) hates him because he resigned instead of fighting for his job, she's bored in small-town America, prompting her to ice a cake with an expletive frosted on the top. After she throws it at his head, Arnold returns with the immortal line, "You should not drink and bake."
That sort of depressed but oddly humorous atmosphere permeates all hour and forty minutes of Raw Deal, as Mark is brought in by his old boss Harry (Darren McGavin) to infiltrate the Patrovita mob and bring it down from the inside. Soon the bitter wife is all but forgotten as Mark fakes his own death by blowing up an oil refinery. (Probably an effective way to fake a death, but would a law-loving sheriff fake his death in a way that ensures a hugely disastrous oil fire?)
The plot trudges along through double-crosses and betrayals involving various police officers, mobsters, and the obligatory love interest (Kathryn Harrold, given little do since, even though his wife is awful to him and he's technically dead, he's still a dutiful married man). Arnold bides his time, cracking jokes and doing battle with the minimal threats that come along, until a surprising hit prompts him to forget his weeks of careful planning and simply kill everyone in the mob. It's a shame that hit hadn't happened earlier, it would have saved everyone involved a good deal of time. Wait, make that a RAW deal of time.
The shoot-em-up ending is preceded by a odd scene in which Arnold takes out his vast arsenal, and lovingly inspects and loads each weapon. The scene is filmed with such drawn out zeal that it could only be defined as sexual. As for the climactic battle itself, Arnold breaks the windshield off his car, pops "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones in the tape deck, and drives around a construction site firing at will.
Handling the scene in a such a ridiculous manner speaks to the way this movie could never have worked as an exciting action movie. When the hero is so invulnerable that he can put on rock tunes as he blows away his enemies, there's no audience investment in his fate. As soon as Arnold joins the mob we know everyone but him is going to be dead at the end, and not only that, he will be rewarded for his mass genocide (He gets reinstated for killing roughly fifty men, forty-nine more than it took to get him kicked out in the first place). As silly Arnold-tinged action, this movie can be laughed at, and enjoyed to a certain extent, but never without acknowledging that for the most part the entertainment is at the movie's expense.
This Arnie action flick which isn't badly acted by our man of brawn, sees him back in action, at the request of an old cop friend, FBI chief (Darren McGavin), whose son was killed by the Chicago mafia, while working undercover. A certain leak was involved. Arnie must find this SOB. So he leaves his position as small town sheriff, no one more disapproving than his wife of his current rut, who throws a chocolate cake at him with the word S..T decorated on it. Luckily Arnie ducks, then says in that block voice, "You shouldn't drink and bake". So he suits up, fakes his death, in one cool explosion scene (Arnie great, at lighting fires with his cigar) and moves to Chicago, under an assumed named, with a character, that of a bad arse. It isn't soon, before Arnie's mixing with mafia, making waves, etc. Arnie, too has his own score to settle, with a certain guy in the FBI, that led to his sacking in the bureau, and deportment, where his new occupancy, in this little town, would put you on quite a downer for a while. So it's good that we've got the revenge aspect of it to, not just for McGavin. Arnie strikes up a relationship, with a girl (Harrold-Mcgruder And Loud) of one the mob's cronies, (Davi). Davi kind of smells something fishy about this new guy from the word, "Go", where it's great to see Arnie and him square off in particular scenes, and Davi's got the classic, ugly skinned, unattractive, villainous look, that's made him shine in so many other films, whether either playing good or bad. Just when the action dies in this, it starts up again. Something's always happening. The baddies here are really bad, some of them, visually, real ugly sorts, who don't care who you have to waste, to get the job done. You should see one of them get frustrated at golf. Arnie' inserting a Rolling Stones's tape, and single handedly, taking out many bad folk, on a construction site to Jagger's "Satisfaction" with just another cool moment. It was sad though, McGavin's ill fortune, the result of a bungled shootout in a cemetery, where everything came up roses for Arnie in the end. Raw Deal is quite a smart action, if enthusiastic movie, with a lot of great scenes that are addictive, with some great sticking dialogue, from writers you'd like to have on board your project. It's and a cool opening score if I ever heard one, that warrants a few rewinds and plays, with establishing shots of our baddies, one of them Victor Argo, who went on to many other roles. Arnie, standing tall, prominent, and cool in the black jacket, delivering that line on "poetic justice" to our leak, was another highpoint Schwarzenegger moment, making him choose between resigning or being prosecuted, like he did with Arnie. The pacey country music theme after the opening shootout, where the credits come up is most unfitting.
- PeterMitchell-506-564364
- Feb 23, 2013
- Permalink
- jboothmillard
- Jul 27, 2009
- Permalink
This is a great film for what it purports to be. It's an action picture, but it also has curious storyline that keeps one interested in Joey P. Brenner's travails, and it's not all that predictable until the very end. Moreover, it does have a human element at times (plus we see a still-massive Arnold sporting a wife-beater). Granted, Arnold doesn't have much depth of dialogue, but it's not Shakespeare. I don't understand why everyone else dislikes "Raw Deal" to such an intense degree, as one must first understand where it is coming from. It is a fun film, one of the few Schwarzenegger films that is a must-have on dvd.
- malkane316
- Mar 22, 2005
- Permalink
Arnold Schwarzenegger "classic" actioner full of unintentional comedy. Arnold plays a small town sheriff who used to be an FBI agent. He was kicked out of the FBI because he roughed up a suspect ("He molested, murdered and mutilated her!"). But now Arnold has a chance to get back in if he goes undercover inside a mobster's gang. So naturally he agrees, fakes his death, and doesn't tell his wife a thing! Laughable to the extreme, this movie would have killed a lesser mortal's career. But not Ah-nold. Riding high after the Conan films, Terminator, and Commando, I suppose he was allowed one stinker. He would follow this with Predator and Running Man to prove to the world he was still the action champ. Honestly, it's not a great movie. Even for a dumb action movie, it's especially stupid. But it does have a lot of funny moments; most of which are unintended. If you are an Arnold fan or a fan of '80s action movies, regardless of quality, definitely give it a shot.