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:

kiss | man wearing glasses | newspaper boy | song during opening credits | breaking the fourth wall | 

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Taglines:

Gettin ready to break the ice, feels like time is standin still. And you ride for your heart, ready to take another spill.

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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

The original title of the film was "Balls Out".

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Goofs

During the lumber yard chase when Cru rides up the stack of logs. The plywood is visible for where Cru rode on the logs.

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Quotes

Burton Timmer: [after being hit by a newspaper thrown by Cru and spilling his coffee] This world would be a lot better off without kids!

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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

Referenced in Turbo Kid (2015)

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Soundtracks

Music That You Can Dance To
Performed by Sparks
Written by Ron Mael & Russell Mael
Produced by Ron Mael & Russell Mael

User Reviews

Rad is...BAD and I don't mean "bad" in a good way.

When I brought up acquiring "Gleaming The Cube" (1989) on DVD to friends, they mentioned the film "Rad". Upon recent viewing of "Rad", it pales in comparison to "Gleaming...", staring Christian Slater. The only similarity both films share is that the main theme circles around extreme sports, respectively BMX and skateboarding.

The plot, characters, and script are all totally lackluster. For example, it is never explained WHY "Helltrack" has to take place in this small hick town. (Unless something happened while I was playing Spider Solitaire!) And there is no sympathy for "Cru" to take his SATs, is he even in school?

"Rad" just sucks. So unless you have the time to 1) hunt this film down, 2) wanna watch a man in a wig, stunt-doubling for Lori Loughlin, &/or 3) want to see just how people can "dance" while on BMX bikes, DON'T DO IT!

And what's this with it being released on DVD? Why-oh-why?