The story of Cru Jones, a young man who can overcome all obstacles that prevent him from participating in the BMX race "Helltrack." As he works towards his dream, Cru falls in love with Christian, an amateur racer. With the help of Christian and her friends, can Cru's "Rad Racing Team" defeat the top BMX factory rider, Bart Taylor ?Written by
Josh Petras <petras@andrew.cmu.edu>
Bill Allen (Cru) has since made a book called "My Rad Career". See more »
Goofs
When Cru finally delivers the papers in record time, the older bank lady, from behind, doesn't have her arms crossed. But, from the outside shot you can see her inside with her arms crossed. See more »
Quotes
Wesley:
Cru! I have something for you. I made it myself, so you can wear it when you race.
Writing on T-Shirt:
Cru is... RAD
See more »
Crazy Credits
R.L. Osborn besides Martin Apariljo perform BMX feats throughout much of the finishing credits. See more »
Alternate Versions
Scenes included in the final airing on the Canadian cable movie station Superchannel, but absent from the home video version;
A short sequence, actually made up of three different scenes, right after the confrontation at the Rad Racing T-Shirt stand. These scenes are;
Luke is sitting at the dinner table with his parents. His father tells him it isn't the end of the world. He excuses himself from the table.
Amy is sitting in her room listening to music when her mother comes in. They have a short exchange where her mother scolds her for acting childish.
An unnamed boy storms out of his house late at night.
Right after this comes a scene where a drunken Bart Taylor stumbles into the restaurant where Cru works just as it's closing. Shouting, Bart challenges him to a one on one race, since Cru has been disqualified from HellTrack. Bart winds up falling over and doing a face plant into a piece of pie on the table where the bald cop is sitting.
Another scene just before the race, after Duke Best has warned Bart about Cru and instructed the Reynolds twins to take him out;
Cru thanks Mr. Pratt for him and the town getting behind him and supporting Rad Racing. Mr. Pratt gives Cru a brand new bike from his store.
All of the characters from the deleted scenes are listed in the credits on the home video version.
I can't say I've ever been apart of the BMX crowd, but that certainly doesn't stop "Rad" from delivering the goods. What's really amusing about this movie is that it doesn't take long for its weaknesses to somehow become strengths, and that's all part of the charm. It's familiar (The Karate Kid, E.T.), it's bizarre (was that a school dance or a disco scene?) and I get a smile from seeing Canada as small-town America. But this is the kind of underdog story you can't help but like, and that's not even covering the movie's greatest weapon: the music. Farnham's "Thunder In Your Heart" is every bit the '80s time capsule that is "Rad".
It's a fun movie.
7/10
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I can't say I've ever been apart of the BMX crowd, but that certainly doesn't stop "Rad" from delivering the goods. What's really amusing about this movie is that it doesn't take long for its weaknesses to somehow become strengths, and that's all part of the charm. It's familiar (The Karate Kid, E.T.), it's bizarre (was that a school dance or a disco scene?) and I get a smile from seeing Canada as small-town America. But this is the kind of underdog story you can't help but like, and that's not even covering the movie's greatest weapon: the music. Farnham's "Thunder In Your Heart" is every bit the '80s time capsule that is "Rad".
It's a fun movie.
7/10