Very well executed

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

"Ravenhawk" turns out to be far better than one might expect of a TV movie. Rachel McLish is wrongly convicted of killing her parents, to the benefit of a large toxic waste recycling plant. Twelve years later she escapes from confinement and unleashes revenge on the villains who set her up. This comes across like a female version of "Rolling Thunder", with McLish instead of William Devane dishing out the punishment. The desert locations are used to full advantage, and there is a nice assortment of stunts. If you would enjoy a buffed female heroine in place of the usual, usual, then seek this one out. I thoroughly enjoyed "Ravenhawk". - MERK

As the folks at "Fametracker.com" would put it, the tag-line to "Ravenhawk" should be:'Rachel MacLish has an ass! Would you like to see it???"There is always JUST ENOUGH good stuff in Albert Pyun movies to keep you watching, but the good stuff is always mixed in with a bunch of hokey, crappy, clichéd storytelling and camera work that make it hard to KEEP watching. So you can't just turn it off, because something good, or cool, or at least picturesque might come along, but you can't pay attention because you have to wade through endless stupid clichés to do it. Case in point: Rachel MacLish in "Ravenhawk". MacLish (the first Ms. Olympia) runs around in front of the camera in spectacularly "cut" condition, and she's not wearing a whole lot of clothing to hide her muscle definition. She's got killer cheekbones; huge, dark eyes; and hair to die for. So we are talking major eye candy here. However, we are NOT talking about dramatic range. As striking as MacLish is, she isn't an actress in any sense of the word. She has two expressions - furious intensity and angry confusion - and she alternates between them almost at random. Rachel, honey, you look fabulous and I love you, but you can't carry a feature movie, anymore than Cory Everson could.So Pyun's response to this problem is to exploit MacLish's body far more than even the biggest MacLish fan could ever want. There really is no need for this - MacLish (or her stunt double) can actually move fairly well, and she is reasonably convincing in the mid-shot action scenes. But every chance he gets, Pyun zooms the camera in for close-up shots of various parts of the lady's anatomy, held for many more seconds (and some times in slow motion zooms) than anyone but a bodybuilding fetishist would desire. It's actually pretty distracting and ludicrous after the fourth or fifth time. It's as if Pyun is simply admitting to the viewer, "OK, we really don't have a single bloody idea for something new, so here is a shot of Rachel's heaving, sweaty muscles to pass the time." Pyun also tries to justify the use of MacLish's exotic looks and stone-cut physique by mixing in plot elements involving tribal Indian traditions, shamanistic mysticism and and obsessed revenge against the men who killed her parents...but the results are ham-handed and cliché ridden.The 'bad guys' are so slimy and one-dimensional that no one could possibly swallow it. (One exception: poor William Atherton, who tries to salvage a modicum of dignity as the front-man for the bad-guys). The tribal folks are cardboard cutouts who suffer mutely and have the moral high ground because they are victims.One especially egregious example is the young man who plays the character of the reservation police guy. The actor playing the part is like Lorenzo Lamas without the sense of humor. Someone needed to sit down with him and talk to him about acting being more than projecting an attitude on camera, but it's obvious that no one did. Nothing personal against the young man, who is obviously some kind of clothes model in real life, and who was undoubtedly cast for his ability to wear slim cut jeans and to grow attractive beard stubble - he just sucks as an actor and needs acting lessons even more than MacLish. So in summary, "Ravenhawk" is typical Pyun - 2nd rate movie making based on third rate screen writing, with just enough flash here and there (including a good chase sequence among the mountain cliffs and some spectacular scenery) to keep the viewer from turning it off in irritation. I hope MacLish gets her agent to sign her up for some real acting lessons, and holds out for parts that show her as a woman and an actress, not just a Body.

Beautiful southwestern scenery is the only redeeming virtue of this by-the-numbers revenge film. The ecological, pro-Native American theme seems more exploitive veneer than imaginative twist, and the direction lacks suspense or even much of a climax. Acting is dull and unconvincing, though William Atherton is on board to lend his trademarked sneer to the chief villain. There is little more to the plot than "heroine framed for parents murder; heroine kills the real murderers." None of the characters are developed at all, even to the limited extent of an action film. That's too bad, because I was prepared to like this movie, and yes, the scenery was nice.

For the first half of the movie I thought McLish wouldn't talk, for the second half I wished she hadn't. Not since Bolo has a lead character had so few lines, both with merit.First of all, what is with the naked woman at the beginning? No joke, just sitting in the background being naked, basically a part of the set.I realize this was a movie about the horrible ways that people take advantage of the Native Americans, but that ended up being such a subplot, that it was almost insulting. Basically this movie was about revenge, plain and simple, oh and if the toxic chemical plant happens to suffer to, all the better.There is also the "professional" bounty hunters, who suffer from all the classic problems. They are really good at luring the hapless hero in, and/or tracking him/her. Then they can't shoot their victim, who is able to get away and hunt them. Only in this case it worse than most.And I will end with the question, how the heck can she run around and climb and stuff with a bullet through her thigh? I mean most heroes at least attempt to limp or have a pained/stoic look on their face.And this is from a fan of the "you killed my ____ prepare to die" genre.