Raw Deal
Directed by John IrvinMark Kaminsky is kicked out of the FBI for his rough treatment of a suspect. He winds up as the sheriff of a small town in North Carolina. FBI Chief Harry Shannon, whose son has been killed by a mobster named Patrovina, enlists Kaminsky in a personal vendetta with a promise of reinstatement into the FBI if Patrovina is taken down. To accomplish this, he must go undercover and join Patrovina's gang.
Raw Deal Ratings & Reviews
- ZokkiieApril 18, 2026Such a blast. Pure 80s attitude from start to finish—kind of clunky, kind of cheesy, but that’s half the charm. It never tries to be smarter than it is, just leans into the action and keeps things moving. Not something you’ll think about later, but while it’s on, it’s a good time.
- ርልዪረJanuary 24, 2026A 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.
Raw Deal Trivia
Raw Deal was released on June 6, 1986.
Raw Deal was directed by John Irvin.
Raw Deal has a runtime of 1h 45m.
Raw Deal was produced by Martha De Laurentiis, Dino De Laurentiis.
Mark Kaminsky is kicked out of the FBI for his rough treatment of a suspect. He winds up as the sheriff of a small town in North Carolina. FBI Chief Harry Shannon, whose son has been killed by a mobster named Patrovina, enlists Kaminsky in a personal vendetta with a promise of reinstatement into the FBI if Patrovina is taken down. To accomplish this, he must go undercover and join Patrovina's gang.
The key characters in Raw Deal are Mark Kaminski / Joseph P. Brenner (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Monique (Kathryn Harrold), Luigi Patrovita (Sam Wanamaker).
Raw Deal is rated R.
Raw Deal is an Action, Crime, Thriller film.
Raw Deal has an audience rating of 2.9 out of 10.
Raw Deal had a budget of $8.5M.
Raw Deal has made $16.2M at the box office.