''Raven'' is a 1996 American

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

starring

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. He became well known in television series such as ''Gunsmoke'' (1962–1965), '' Hawk'' (1966) and '' Dan Augus ...

Plot

A secret government agency known as Four Star Group has sent a team of

black-ops A covert operation or undercover operation is a military or police operation involving a covert agent or troops acting under an assumed cover to conceal the identity of the party responsible. US law Under US law, the Central Intelligence Agen ...

soldiers into

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. Their mission is to retrieve a

top secret Classified information is confidential material that a government deems to be sensitive information which must be protected from unauthorized disclosure that requires special handling and dissemination controls. Access is restricted by law or ...

piece of military hardware. On their way home, "Raven" decides to go into business for himself. Raven plans to sell the device on the

black market A black market is a Secrecy, clandestine Market (economics), market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality, or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services who ...

. He tries to convince his partner, "Duce", to sell out as well. Duce refuses, effectively ending their friendship, and leaving Raven no choice but to terminate Duce. Duce escapes with the device, and refuses to give it to Four Star Group. On returning stateside, Raven assembles a team of ex-special-forces soldiers to help him eliminate Four Star Group. Raven even tracks down Duce, asking if he would like to bury the hatchet and help him take out their former employers. Duce again declines Raven's offer, which doesn't sit well with Raven, placing the two of them on a direct collision course with one another.

Cast

as Jerome "Raven" Katz * Matt Battaglia as Martin "Duce" Grant *

Krista Allen Krista Allen (born April 5, 1971) is an American actress and model. Allen is known for playing Billie Reed in the soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'' (1996–1999) and Taylor Hayes (The Bold and the Beautiful), Taylor Hayes on the soap opera ''The ...

as Cali Goodwin *

David Ackroyd David Ackroyd (born May 30, 1940) is an American actor, who first came to prominence in soap operas such as ''The Secret Storm'' and ''Another World (TV series), Another World''. Early life On May 30, 1940, Ackroyd was born in East Orange, N ...

as Bill Gilley *

Richard Gant Richard Gant (born March 10, 1944) is an American actor. His credits include the film ''Rocky V'' (1990), where he played the Don King-esque George Washington Duke; Hostetler in '' Deadwood'' (2004–2006); and Owen in ''Men of a Certain Age'' ( ...

as Russ Carlson *

Angela Harry Angela Harry (born April 12, 1963) is an American model, actress and voice actress. Early life and career Harry was born on April 12, 1963, while her father, a colonel in the US Air Force, was stationed in Japan. Her mother was born in Korea. S ...

as Eva * Walter Olkewicz as Bernie DeFrewd * Christopher Mayer as Hub * Madison Mason as Governor Sklar * Kim Chase as Sharon * Charles Wahlheim as Ablin * Michael Saad as Adeeb * Charles Walker as Al Ryan * Peter Savard as Senator Berg * Mike White as Mike * Steve Decker as Steve * Lauren Hays as Sexy Brunette In Limo * Julie Bilotta as Sexy Jogger * Avalon Anders as Marsha (uncredited)

Production

The film was originally called ''Raven Team''. Reynolds said he changed every one of his lines in the script. "The really talented ones understand it's a collaborative effort and if you say something funny they say, 'I wrote that.'" He added, "This movie is very much a copy of that Travolta movie, '' Broken Arrow''... I play the Travolta part. It's a part I can play. It's my part, my persona. And if you play a pink flamingo, you can play one for life, if it's a hit." In addition to attending the Burt Reynolds Institute for Film and Theatre, co-star Battaglia was a personal acquaintance and

protégé Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

of Reynolds, due to a friendship the veteran actor had struck with his father Carmello Battaglia during their days as

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

teammates. Battaglia had already appeared next to Reynolds on several occasions, including a two-episode role on ''

Evening Shade ''Evening Shade'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 21, 1990, to May 23, 1994. The series stars Burt Reynolds as Woodrow "Wood" Newton, an ex-professional football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who returns to rural ...

''. But according to him, the star was unaware that he had been cast in ''Raven'' until the beginning of the shoot. The two would co-star again in two

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

'' Universal Soldier''

sequels A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

in 1998.

References

External links

* 1996 films 1996 direct-to-video films 1996 action films American action films American direct-to-video films Films scored by Harry Manfredini 1990s English-language films 1990s American films English-language action films {{1990s-US-film-stub