SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

TheLittleSongbird '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

willcundallreview Rating-4/10Raw Deal is an action movie fuelled by death, thrill pumping fighting and some pretty Arnie like lines+moves. The movie itself is kind of enjoyable if you take it for what it is and don't poke too many holes, but lets get serious for a moment, this movie isn't no masterpiece, this is pretty poor and one movie that has some big problems once looked into properly. It is fun though no doubt, the kind of film an Arnold Schwarzenegger fan looks forward to all week long.The story kind of works, and I mean that, it is pretty thrilling and you generally don't know what's going to happen. Now that doesn't mean the story is perfect far from it, it has a lot of parts where guys sit around talking about mob stuff, the kind of thing that in film, gets just a little boring. It has it's action quota as you would imagine, the blood is really fake but no matter, the body count is high and the way some of them die, well that kind of stuff would work in a comedy.Now Arnie isn't so bad here, he doesn't hit his heights as an action man hero but certainly gives off a good vibe when fighting all those bad guys. I think if you want real dramatic action, don't look here, leaving the supporting cast alone a minute, Schwarzenegger's cigar chomping under cover persona is insane, I mean he just looks suspicious, and then the way he delivers his lines, just not so good in that department. The cast isn't so bad, they support well they really do but the kind of basic plot coupled with bad directing and writing make this a hard one to turn into gold, I did feel Paul Shenar gives a good go at it, but that really isn't enough.John Irvin the man behind this movie shouldn't be ashamed of what he made, after all this movie is not detestable, just way under average. The major flaws are laid out before you in one, a script that really does nothing, and two directing that makes the people fall down in the most ridiculous ways. So what if your looking for the positives, I felt the technical side was pretty good, some nice stunts performed and there's one particular explosion that is very well made.Would I say don't watch this?, no I would fully recommend this, and to anyone even if you think action isn't for you, give it a go and take in the wonderful sight of an Austrian mafia member, just good fun. I think in all honesty this gives what you think it will, can please some but not others and this will not give you good drama so stay clear if you like a lot of that. The reviews are not pretty when it comes to this movie either, I don't really know what most people who have seen this think but I couldn't help feel that many will like this, but especially action movie junkies.Overall a movie that is not so kind in the career of Arnold Schwarznegger, but also one that I don't think deserves to go on his "Worst of Career" slideshow. This is good old action, thrills, maybe not so many car chases but there are some, and shoot outs, oh boy this has many of them. This even tries it's hand at emotion, I mean you'll have to see what I mean but it does, it's kind of funny really, because the next minute, Arnie's blowing someone 10 feet in the air with a pump shotgun.

bowmanblue 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.

AaronCapenBanner Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a former FBI agent(who had been fired under dubious circumstances) now small-town sheriff who is contacted by his former FBI boss Harry Shannon(played by "Kolchack: The Night Stalker" veteran Darren McGavin) to help him take down a Chicago mob family, who are responsible for the recent death of his son. Arnold agrees, but this requires him to go undercover in the family, to confirm their responsibility, and gather evidence.A bit better than "Commando", which this film resembles, though it is still very familiar, unconvincing stuff. McGavin in particular is wasted, though he does enliven the scenes he is in. Has a funny action climax involving the song "Satisfaction", but otherwise, strictly routine.