I really don't have that much against the 80s. Hey I'm an '83 kid myself. That means I survived 7 years of the decade ... I wore a little mullet and a shell suit ... I'm sure of it ... <br /><br />But this was the age of the action hero and McB ... sorry I mean Raw Deal is just one of those types of film. Basically it's a vehicle for Arnie to look big, muscular and pretty darn tough. Of course he does it really well ... filling out some rather ugly 80s-wear very nicely indeed. He even has a mandatory arming up scene in there (I really think he filmed just one of these for time-effectiveness and posted it in on the last day of shooting for all his shoot 'em ups).<br /><br />I'd love to be able to say this a run of the mill all out action effort give it 6/10, lament about its lack of originality, point out its near cut and paste qualities and leave it at that, but damn, this is one confusing film.<br /><br />One of strangest opening sequences I can recall sees Arnie chasing what appears to be a cop on a motorbike before setting him alight. To the viewers relief we discover that this near homicide was committed by Sheriff Arnie before the biker was indeed revealed as an impostor (phew). Arnie (who 's past as some sort of government agent is briefly touched upon) is basically hired by a director in the agency to go unofficially undercover and basically wreak vengeance upon mobsters who have killed the director's son.<br /><br />The confusing part is how Arnie ends up in the fire fights he finds himself in and why seeing as he appears to be virtually invincible does he have to infiltrate the mob's ranks at all (the figures involved are all seemingly publicly known) before killing them. Thinking about it where does this small town all-American sheriff get all his guns for this rampage, and how does he rise up within the ranks of the mob so quickly ... I guess all this questions are things that will never be answered and really should never be asked.<br /><br />In the end of course the director who kicked Arnie out of the agency in the first place turns out to be working for the mob; vindicating Arnie's tactics as he becomes number 86 of his victims. By this time I could almost hear the Simpsons McBane character explain why women always leave the toilet seat up or remark that he indeed does wear loafers!<br /><br />Unfortunately the film can't even be relied on for classic one liners; the closest we get is after Arnie's wife throws a cake against the wall to which he replies <br /><br />"NEVER DRINK AND BAKE..."<br /><br />Go watch Total Recall, or Predator again instead!