Rad (1986)

The story of one young man, Cru Jones, who has the intensity and desire to win a BMX race called Helltrack.

Director:

Hal Needham

Writers:

Sam Bernard, Geoffrey Edwards

Stars:

Bart Conner, Lori Loughlin, Bill Allen

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bill Allen	...	Cru
Lori Loughlin	...	Christian
Talia Shire	...	Mrs. Jones
Ray Walston	...	Burton Timmer
Alfie Wise	...	Eliott Dole
Jack Weston	...	Duke Best
Bart Conner	...	Bart Taylor
Marta Kober	...	Becky
Jamie Clarke	...	Luke
Laura Jacoby	...	Wesley Jones
H.B. Haggerty	...	Sgt. Smith
Chad Hayes	...	Rex Reynolds
Carey W. Hayes	...	Rod Reynolds (as Carey Hayes)
Kellie McQuiggin	...	Foxy
Beverley Hendry	...	Tiger (as Beverly Hendry)

Storyline

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 ?

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Plot Keywords:

german shepherd | kiss | man wearing glasses | newspaper boy | song during opening credits | 

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Taglines:

A hometown kid on his BMX against the best in the world. At Helltrack... the heat is on.

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 March 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hell Track

Filming Locations:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$408,980, 23 March 1986, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$2,015,882

Company Credits

Production Co:

TaliaFilm II Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During filming none of the stunt riders were able to complete one entire lap of Helltrack. The race scenes were filmed one section at a time - 5 times over, before filming the next section. The footage of the complete Helltrack race took 2 weeks to film.

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Goofs

When Cru cuts through the woods in the first race he get hit and his bike goes off to the left the screen but when he gets up, is bike is on the other side of the track right next to him.

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Quotes

Sergeant Smith: Cru, just pretend you're in the lumber yard... go balls out.

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Crazy Credits

R.L. Osborn besides Martin Apariljo perform BMX feats throughout much of the finishing credits.

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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.

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Connections

Edited into Tosh.0: Redemption Reunion Spectacular: Where Are They Now? (2013)

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Soundtracks

Love Theme from 'Rad'
Performed by John Farnham
Lyrics by Douglas Brayfield (as D. Brayfield)
Arranged and Composed by James Di Pasquale (as J. Di Pasquale)
Produced by James Di Pasquale (as J. Di Pasquale)

User Reviews

B-grade BMX flick set in a stereotypical 1980s high school, has attained an odd cult status.

It's your basic "High-school dork beats bully & gets girl using his worthless social-outcast skill that everyone in this little universe is oddly obsessed with" (happens all the time in the 80's). Nothing particularly original or interesting about it, but for some reason it withstands repeated viewings and still seems like fun. It's one of those movies that unintentionally became a cult flick just by being so straightforward.

The plot, the acting, the characters, the one-liners . . . everything about the production is reasonably serviceable for the era, but certainly not GOOD either. The whole thing feels sorta like a cheesy 80's sitcom doing its big 2-hour episode for sweeps week, and the network gave it some money for a real location shoot & some extra cuss words.

The bicycle stuntwork in "Rad" is stellar. Yes, of course it's outdated now, and modern X-games riders like Dave Mirra can demonstrate a lot more technical skill on multi-directional spins & stuff, but ultimately that's beside the point. In real life the average 13-year-old spends weeks teaching himself to do a decent bunny hop. And for that 13-year-old, it's plenty of fun watching a character in "Rad" just trying to learn an (outdated) backflip move in the schoolyard using a hockey helmet & some old bed mattresses. (Think: "Jackass" but not so intentional. And it's too bad this movie was made before the era of "goof reels" during the end credits, because they probably got some real whoppers on film during this production.)

I can quote every line of this movie, but I still can't put my finger on what aspect of it makes it hold up so well. It's got that same sort of odd quality that a "Duck Tales" or a "Saved by the Bell" episode has: You can't explain why on earth you're still watching & enjoying it as an intelligent adult . . . but you are. (And so is everyone else you've shown it to.) Either way you'd better get your insider-status and enjoy this movie now. Next thing we know they might put it on T-shirts at Sam Goody & take all the fun out of it.