Raw Deal 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		2.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		2.0

Raw Deal 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 8, 2022

John Irwin's "Raw Deal" (1986) arrives on 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. The supplemental features on the release include an archival documentary; short archival featurette; and vintage trailer for the film. In English, French, and German, with optional English SDH, French, and German subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Note: The text below was first used in our review of British label Optimum Home Entertainment's release of Raw Deal, which was published in 2010.

Mark Kaminski (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Predator) is an ex-FBI agent who has been demoted to the position of Sheriff in a small town somewhere in North Carolina. His wife, Amy (Blanche Baker, Bum Rap), absolutely hates the place, which is why she constantly gets drunk.

An old friend, Harry Shannon (Darren McGavin, Zero to Sixty), phones Kaminski with an interesting offer: If he infiltrates the Chicago mob and helps the police put its leaders behind bars, the FBI will forget about his wrongdoings and give him his job back. Without thinking much, Kaminski immediately fakes his death and heads to Chicago.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, powerful mob bosses Luigi Patrovita (Sam Wanamaker, The Competition) and Martin Lamanski (Steven Hill, Yentl) are in the middle of a turf war, which has annoyed both of them. Kaminski discovers that it is so, approaches Patrovita, and asks for a job. Before he gets it, he meets the beautiful Monique (Kathryn Harrold, Modern Romance), who helps Patrovita’s men run a quick background check on him.

Soon after, Kaminski and Monique start seeing each other regularly, which is why they upset Max Keller (Robert Davi, Showgirls), one of Patrovita’s best men, who desperately wants to bed Monique. When Kaminski warns him to stay away from her, Keller does a little bit of research on him and discovers who he really is. Not too long after that, Kaminski begins breaking things and hurting Italians.

Director John Irwin’s Raw Deal is one of those so-bad-it-is-actually-good films that are perfect to see late at night. It is the first film in which Schwarzenegger freely uttered his lines in English, aware of what they meant, and, needless to say, most are absolutely hilarious. “You should not bake and drink”. Okay, boss.

But I can’t quite tell if Schwarzenegger enjoyed making Raw Deal as there are parts in it where he looks borderline annoyed. In a short but insightful featurette included on this release, Dave Saunders, author of "Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Movies", mentions that producer Dino De Laurentiis requested a sexual relationship of some sort between Kaminski and Monique, which Schwarzenegger openly opposed, for a variety of different reasons. I am not surprised he did as I believe that he certainly sensed what his limitations as an actor were, but I wonder if it was what killed off his enthusiasm, and why some scenes turned out as awkward as they did.

What I like about Raw Deal is what most every other critic dislikes -- this isn’t a film that takes itself seriously. Unlike the rest of Schwarzenegger’s films, Raw Deal does not strive to deliver a social commentary of some sort that corrupts it. It is decent enough to be entertaining, and it is modest enough not to pretend to be something it cannot possibly be.

Cinematographer Alex Thompson (Excalibur, Hamlet) isn’t in top form here, which is why many of the panoramic vistas from downtown Chicago that are supposed to impress look dull. Anne V. Coates's (Lawrence of Arabia, The Elephant Man) editing leaves a lot to be desired, too. Some of the stunts, however, are rather decent.

All in all, I enjoyed Raw Deal because of its unpretentious tone, but some critics apparently take Schwarzenegger’s work a lot more seriously than I do. C’est la vie, I guess.

Raw Deal 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

StudioCanal's release of Raw Deal is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. The Blu-ray is Region-B "locked".

Please note that some of the screencaptures that appear with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and are downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc, including its actual color values.

Screencaptures #1-31 are from Raw Deal Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #36-40 are from Raw Deal 4K Blu-ray.

The release is sourced from an exclusive new 4K master that was prepared after Raw Deal was fully restored in 4K while accessing and combining different 35mm elements scanned in 16-bit. The 4K master was color graded at VDM Laboratory in France.

The 4K makeover of Raw Deal is very disappointing. But it is not the restoration work that makes it disappointing. Rather, it is the grading job that was completed at the French laboratory. To make a long story short, large sections of the film now look like extracts from a modern video game. Why? The reason is twofold. On one hand, a very harsh cyan either merges with or replaces ranges of proper blues and in some instances whites. As a result, many visuals have a garish neon-esque appearance that essentially reveals digital video roots, not 35mm roots. You can see examples in screencaptures #8 and 21. On the other hand, the improper color values -- cyan being the main offender, but compromised blues, reds, and white contributing as well -- either partially or fully collapse the native dynamic range of the visuals. As a result, plenty of areas look as if they have been digitally filtered. You can see examples in screencaptures 11, 28, and 29. All of this is very unfortunate because there are areas of the film that still manage to look better, in 1080p and native 4K, than they did on this ancient Blu-ray release from 2010. However, it is only because in these areas the errors that are described above cannot do maxim damage. For example, the short sequence screencapture #4 is taken from looks better on this release because there is too much blue in it, not because the color balance is right. In other words, this sequence would look quite striking, with lush blue(s), without the damage introduced by the cyan curve.

How does Raw Deal look in native 4K and what is the impact of the HDR grade? Well, the HDR grade makes the effects of the faulty color grade even more pronounced. For example, all of the nighttime and club footage shifts the reds, blues, browns, and yellows and creates visuals with a distinct digital video quality. For example, you can see the effects of the tealing in screencapture #5, but this time eroding the saturation levels of reds. Additionally, the obvious areas where the dynamic range of the visuals is compromised look even worse. The end result is a wildly inconsistent artificial presentation of Raw Deal that tweaks its appearance from start to finish. This isn't how a film shot on 35mm should look in high-definition.

Raw Deal 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three five standard audio tracks on this release: English LPCM 2.0, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French LPCM 2.0, French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and German LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH, French, and German subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, the split the image frame and the black bar below it.

I started viewing the film with the English LPCM 2.0 track and quickly switched to the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The latter sounded fantastic on my system. Raw Deal has plenty of intense action footage with some notable explosions as well, so the dynamic potency of the 5.1 track is very easy to appreciate. The audio is very healthy, too.

Raw Deal 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for Raw Deal. In 1.33:1 ratio. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Arnold Schwarzenegger - The Man Who Raised Hollywood - a long and very informative documentary feature focusing on the current Governor of California and his transformation from a famous bodybuilder into a famous movie star. A number of different directors share their thoughts about Schwarzenegger and the type of films he did during the years. In English and French, with optional English subtitles for the French portions. (17 min).

• A Generic Gangster Film - a short featurette in which Dave Saunders, author of "Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Movies", discusses Raw Deal and its production history. In English, not subtitled. (9 min).

BLU-RAY DISC

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for Raw Deal. In 1.33:1 ratio. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Arnold Schwarzenegger - The Man Who Raised Hollywood - a long and very informative documentary feature focusing on the current Governor of California and his transformation from a famous bodybuilder into a famous movie star. A number of different directors share their thoughts about Schwarzenegger and the type of films he did during the years. In English and French, with optional English subtitles for the French portions. (17 min).

• A Generic Gangster Film - a short featurette in which Dave Saunders, author of "Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Movies", discusses Raw Deal and its production history. In English, not subtitled. (9 min).

Raw Deal 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is the same old story with 4K -- and sadly 2K as well -- restorations that are color graded in France. One party delivers an immaculate, beautiful new 4K scan of a beloved cult or classic film, a brand new 4K master is prepared, and another party destroys the master in the color grading room. I just described to you why this 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack of Raw Deal does not offer a proper technical presentation of the film and is another giant fumble. Raw Deal could have looked sensational on 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray because the raw 4K files that were prepared for it after original 35mm elements were scanned in 16-bit 4K are of exceptionally high quality, but someone guessed how the film should look. Right now, large parts of it look as if they were extracted from a garish digital video game, not 35mm film. This is so frustrating. Hand these projects to the folks at Silver Salt Restoration in the United Kingdom and have them do proper color grading work on behalf of StudioCanal. They have proven that they know how a restored 35mm film should be graded and look on 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray and have done wonderful work for StudioCanal. There is an easy solution to this reoccurring and quite infuriating problem, so let's have it fixed in 2023. I cannot write that I am a big fan of Raw Deal. However, from time to time I enjoy revisiting it because Arnold Schwarzenegger is quite hilarious as an ex-FBI agent that goes on the warpath, so I would have liked to add a definitive home video release of it in my library. This 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack is not it.