'Raven' (1996) – Russell Solberg.

This spectacularly squib-slathered, persistently pyrotechnic 90s actioner happily finds fading 70s icon, Burt Reynolds, in remarkably robust fettle! Raven Team's ill-fated Black Ops mission to retrieve code-breaking hardware proves disastrous, as the corrupt cabal of high-level politicians have their own wholly treacherous agenda. While the guilelessly purloined plot is unleavened DTV dross, watching Teflon-haired maverick,Jerome 'Raven' Katz (Burt Reynolds)chew up stogies and bullet-ravaged scenery with carnivorously unfiltered zeal provides a wealth of guilty pleasures! Solberg's noisome, unsophisticated shoot 'em up nonetheless remains a crudely crafted, manifestly entertaining, Burt Reynolds time killer!

Macho muscle head,Matt Battaglia provides decent (ish) thesping support, and lust-interest, Krista Allen's garishly pulchritudinous physiognomy is a welcome erotic distraction from all the laboured, knuckle-dragging badinage. Likeable, reliably solid character actor, Richard Gant delivers the goods, and credibly, David Ackroyd subtly underplays Washington skell, Bill Gilley. The high-test, unjustly low-balled action-tastic Raven enjoys impeccable grindhouse credentials, having been co-produced by ex-sexploitation scion, Stu Segall, and Harry 'Friday 13^th Manfredi's dynamic score is quite splendid, arguably the most creative element of this riotously retrograde actioner.