BMX Bandits (1983)

Director:

Brian Trenchard-Smith

Writers:

Patrick Edgeworth (written by)
Russell Hagg (written by)

Release Date:

29 December 1983 (Australia)

Genre:

Adventure | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

A High Flying Ride To Adventure

Plot:

Two BMX expert bikers and a friend of theirs (Kidman) become entangled with a group of bank robbers after discovering a carton of walkie-talkies. |

Plot Keywords:

Cycling | Independent Film

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

David Argue	...	Whitey
John Ley	...	Moustache
Nicole Kidman	...	Judy
Angelo D'Angelo	...	P.J.
James Lugton	...	Goose
Bryan Marshall	...	The Boss
Brian Sloman	...	The Creep
Peter Browne	...	Police Constable
Bill Brady	...	Police Sergeant
Linda Newton	...	Police Woman
Bob Hicks	...	Heavy #1
Guy Norris	...	Heavy #2
Chris Hession	...	Heavy #3
Norman Hodges	...	The Drunk
Tracy Wallace	...	Buxom Lady

Also Known As:

Short Wave (USA) (video title (bootleg title))

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Norway:7 | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | West Germany:6 | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Manly, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Nilsen Premiere

Trivia:

Nicole Kidman's first movie role.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the bike is seen going down the water slide, the pedal on the underside has been removed.

Quotes:

Judy: [to kidnappers] And they all turned into Zombies!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008)

australian bicycle exploitation kid-flick that's wheelie good!

I went to see BMX Bandits when it first came out with an eleventh birthday party gang of mates. We were mostly BMX fanatics and figured we'd be running out of the cinema pulling pretend stunts on our handy imaginary bikes but alas we'd kinda just wheeled out, a little let down. Cut to many years later and I catch it on saturday afternoon TV and that's when I flip. I was too harsh on the pic as a kid coz i thought it pandered to a younger audience but now looking back on my days as a kid it's got some innocent magic like those british children's film foundation pics. Nicole Kidman is a star and her fellow BMX bandits form a fun team but it's the pursuing criminals that steal the show with their manic and obviously improvised actions and dialogue. And hey, any movie that ends with a flour bomb fight on wheels and a huge explosion of foam [which always renders the baddies useless] it's just gotta be top!