Why is Schwarzenegger’s Raw Deal So Obscure?

by the time 1986 rolled around Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn't just a hot property in Hollywood he was a pinup for the entire muscles and Mayhem revolution of the decade it was a time of big hair steroid filled pumped up muscles and Arie was to put it simply one of the most prominent characters blowing bad guys away on the Silver Screen wrong of course he had competition in this regard we can't Overlook other notable action heroes of the time and the Rivalry between Schwarzenegger and Sylvester salon for example was almost as legendary as the classic movies they both Unleashed on audiences an has since admitted that their rivalry got out of control at the time but they simply push both men to up their game as much as possible for better and worse right both Stars had already f fir ly established some of their most iconic characters by the mid 80s who are you your worst nightmare Stallone was up to part four in his Rocky Balo Saga while Arie already had the Terminator and Corin the Barbarian in the bag plus he'd also just obliterated about 10,000 wrongin in Commando Lance and I'm we're here to make do me a favor don't disturb my friend he's dead tired this rivalry may have been the Catalyst that spurred the musclebound actors to up their game and for Schwarz leer in particular his next movie would be key which brings us nicely to the movie we're focusing on in this episode of on Revisited 1986's Raw Deal released just a couple of months before Stallone's legendary Cobra I remember there being a fun video game tiing for Cobra on the ZX Spectrum at the time where you had to dodge babies in Proms and headb bad guys not the other way around around thankfully I don't seem to recall one for Raw Deal M so does that mean that Arie struck an early misfire with the movie well slick your hair back and slap on that tight white vest as we're about to find out here on Revisited who do you think I'll look like Dirty Harry stick around you should not drink and fake I'll be back I remember first seeing Raw Deal on VHS when it was released here in the UK it was an 18 which meant I had no chance of seeing it at our local Cinema despite me and my Pal's planning an elaborate Oceans 11 style Heist to sneak into the movie theater no that infantile plan was always doomed to failure so VHS it was and I'm not talking about a pristine just bought from HMV copy no sir my older brother had friends who had an uncanny ability to source movies from the high seas I was nonone the wiser and just happy that our folks were out so we could see if Anie could follow up Commando with another balls to the wall action Masterpiece I even had a Commando poster on the wall alongside some Metallica guns and roses skidrow and Iron Maiden ones because metal and movies go together perfectly when Ro deal was released Midsummer in 1986 it was in the same Marketplace as Stallone's Cobra the c 2 plus comedies Ruthless People and class of nem High all films whose key demographic would have a vested interest in wanting to see Arie slick his air back and lay out some punishment at all and sunry Arie at that point was a massive influence on high octane Cinema and was in the peak era of his badass and batshit crazy action movies the general consensus of the movie from all accounts is that it's a lesser only vehicle and with it being sandwiched in between commander and predator on his resume this may be a fair point however did it have a production team and cast that would help to elevate it above expectations looking back on the movie almost 40 years later raw Deal's director John Irving began his career working on documentaries and TV shows including adaptations of Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy as well as Hollywood movies such as 1980s the Dogs of War ghost story from 1981 and the excellent Hamburger Hill from 1987 his pedigree is great with a CV full of excellent projects and some decent Awards to his name over a career that has spanned over 30 years and is still going strong the two years prior to Megan Raw Deal saw him take on some dramatic horse action with 1984's Champions plus the romantic drama turtle diary from 1985 his versatility as a director was very apparent so when the chance to Direct One of Hollywood's biggest stars in the followup to one of his most iconic movies must have been a no-brainer pretty daunting also to be fair but a challenge that any director at the time would have jumped at as well as director Irving the production had a wide and varied cast and production team on board Prime to oversee Arie kicking some serious ass again the story was written by Italian screenwriters luchano vinzon and Sergio donatti both highly prolific writers at the time with credits on Films such as The Good the Bad and Yugi and Once Upon a Time in the West between them the movie screenplay was written by Gary dvor who was best known for witty action movies alongside Norman Wexler while producing duties went to Hannibal's Martha schoemaker of course the lead actor and the film's main protagonist was played by the inimitable legend that is Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Austrian orc had a pretty good cast alongside him playing his troubled wife Amy was blanch Baker who doesn't get to do much in the movie other than drink and Bemo their domestic situation you should not drink and bake Katherine Harold plays Monique the fem FAL who becomes kaminsky's Ally in his mission to take down the mob while the legendary Sam wer is highly memorable as villain Luigi patrita Darren McGavin is great as FBI agent Harry shannan who recruits on Mark Kaminsky in the key undercover operation at the center of the movie's plot The Supporting Cast also includes Paul shanar as patri V's ambitious lieutenant and Robert Davy is a corrupt FBI agent the movie had all of the ingredients to be another Arie classic but does it still hold up do you think I still pass the physical when I first saw the film I absolutely dug some of the Mad action but it always felt somewhat of a lesser vehicle for Anie rewatching it with slightly more mature eyes for this retrospective you can't help but think that the writers were going for an edier Thor provoking movie but that at some point they ditch this and went back to making a formul lake actioner which to be fair works in the film's favor the plot follows an elderly and emited high-ranking FBI Chief har shannan who wants to get revenge against a mafia organization and sends a former FBI agent and now small town sheriff Mark Kaminsky to destroy the mob from the inside the decision to revert back to action formula sees any sort of romantic subplot redundant within the first 10 or so minutes when Arie puts his drunk wife to bed PS himself a drink then proceeds to take on an undercover job with Tipsy Amy never to be seen again perhaps with the balls to the wall cornage of Commando in the minds of all involved there's an action sequence roughly every five or 6 minutes we get a square heavy opening blood bath on chasing a fake C in a jeep a team style plus he kills what seems to be around 20 or 30 men over the course of the movie and now it's your turn if you paid your hard-earned dollar to see an Ary flick in the 80s you'd be expecting a decent body count plus some killer on liners with plenty of the former are not so good examples of the latter in the movie Losing improves your character winning improves your wro also there must have been a fire sale at the local submachine gun prop store as it seems like everyone in the movie has one only has several while even the extras brandish him like they're going out of fashion 80s action Cinema went big on everything muscles Mayhem guns and sexy ladies most of which Raw Deal features in speeds towards the end of the movie were given not one but two climactic blood baths one in a quarry and one at the mob's HQ humorously there's no establishing shot of Arie going between them we're just thrown in the action each time it's as awesome as it is ridiculous and overall while a movie can't quite match an's other more well-known films it's a blast to revisit it's nice to be one of the family Ro de was released in the United States on June the 6th 1986 and made $5.4 million in its opening weekend it held the highest place in the box office charts for the new starts that weekend with fellow debutants space camp and Invaders from Mars down in number six and seven respectively oh and of course the My Little Pony movie that was down in 10th Place why do they always have to tell me I'm wrong smell sh salon's Cobra which had been on release for 3 weeks already had grossed almost $35 million while the Tom Cruz Mega Movie gun was still at the top of the box office listings I feel the need the Need for Speed rodal ultimately grw $16.2 million which based upon the talent involved and the success of other movies at the time was considered somewhat of a failure critically the movie was met with a mixed response to put it politely for most reviewers at the time of release Roger Ebert awarded it 1.5 stars and said this plot is so simple and has been told so many times before that perhaps the most amazing achievement of Raw Deal is its ability to screw it up this movie didn't just happened to be a mess the filmmakers had to work to make it so confusing however the New York Times were slightly more forgiving in their critique seeing that the film isn't exactly Oscar material it does nothing for the cause of nonviolence it will warm the hearts of gun lobbyists everywhere and its final body count may be even higher than that in Mr Stallone's cobra I don't think Anie or director Irving ever imagined that the movie would be Oscar worthy so that point is moot however despite a negative reaction from most the movie holds up for yours truly if just for the Crazy Action and arie's awesome slick back hair alone more importantly though what's your take on the movie did AR and Co deliver another kickass 80s actioner that still holds up well today or was that slick back hair and white vest wear and violence too much for Arie to handle let us know your thoughts in the comment section and we'll see you wonderful action fans next time here on Revisited thanks for watching down there is no down hey I'm not a cop I'm a [Music] player [Music] [Music]

Channel: JoBlo Originals

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Id: 9ZmWlDerPI4

Length: 11min 54sec (714 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 24 2024