Rad

Dude, they should have called this film Awesome! or even Totally Rad cause I'm not sure the title Rad is as rad as Rad is. This is way up on my list of must-see films -- it ranks up there with Thrashin', North Shore, The Dirt Bike Kid and The Search for Animal Chin! That hottie, Lori Loughlin, sure knows how to slide down a slide...Anyways, my favorite scene is the BMX dance sequence. We start off with some awesome 80's dance footage that brought back intense (I mean INTENSE) memories. The twins, Rod and Rex do such an amazing number on their date (some broad with slits up the side of her dress) I was wishing I had a twin AND a broad with slits up the side of her dress. This sequence is done to the song "Music That You Can Dance To" by Sparks. As soon as the number ends, Cru and Christian barge in on their rad bikes. The dance is so well choreographed to "Send Me An Angel". Just when you thought it couldn't get better, a disco ball shines its glorious sparkles all over the feisty Cru and Christian.

From a technical standpoint, Rad is radical! The ADR work was so ahead of its time, it sent chills through the industry AND down my spine. Some favorite moments include, "O-KAAAYYY!" "Okay?!" "Oh, kay?" and "I have a pie in my oven... This parade is so un-American!"

Dude, Rad is rad, okay?

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

I can't even count how many times I've watched this movie. Such a fun trip down memory lane. Takes me back to cruising the neighborhood with my friends on our BMX.

'Rad' is more 80's than Ronald Reagan sitting on Arnold Schwarzenegger's shoulders while playing Pac-Man and singing "Beat it". That is not meant as a criticism by the way.

True to the "Can do" zeitgeist of the decade, 'Rad' is an underdog story about a kid who overcomes the odds. Oops, spoiler alert. But come on, you know how these things turn out. It's all about how we get there and how satisfying it is to see our hero succeed.

Said hero is Cru Jones, a likeably bland character who is easy to root for. The villains are all card stock, which is more than okay in these kinds of movies. Again, you want shade, go sit under a tree.

Director Hal Needham ('Smokey and the Bandit') does a good job of capturing all of the BMX action, and the soundtrack--as many 80's soundtrack do--acts as an emotional desktop shortcut for the drama.

This isn't quite 'Karate Kid' on a bike, but if you like that sort of feel good 80's underdog tale, 'Rad' is aptly titled.

Before the huge X-Games explosion of the late 90s, there was another place where extreme sports thrived; The 80s. Like any fad, there were numerous exploitation movies based on it. Thrashin was the cream of the crop to focus on skateboarding, but when it came to BMX there was a real debate. Was it BMX Bandits or Rad? In my mind, there has never been a doubt. While BMX Bandits is pretty good, it can't even come close to Rad. Likely both films spawned hardcore punk bands named after the movies, and Rad the band is far superior to BMX Bandits. (Although really neither are that great) So what makes Rad so good? To start, the star power: a pre-Full House Lori Laughlin is the love interest of our hero Cru, Talia `stop calling me Adrian' Shire has a great turn as Cru's mom, and veteran character actor Ray Walston is hilarious as a crankity old bike shop owner (`The world would be a lot better off without kids'). The movie also has one of my favorite scummy villains of the 80s, Jack Weston of Dirty Dancing, Short Circuit 2, and Can't Stop the Music (the fictionalized Village People biopic). With a cast this great you know you're in for a treat. The next key ingredient of Rad is the stunts. Instead of hiring BMX stuntmen and only using them for stunts, Rad gives them roles, playing themselves. It is set around a fictional BMX race called `Hell Track' and it draws some of the best riders from around the world. It is always a special treat seeing some of my favorite riders of yore on the screen along with Cru. It gives the movie an authentic feeling. It also has spectacular stunt scenes in the opening credits where they just let the riders do there thing and they really show off their skills which are highlighted by interesting angles and slow motion. Another great thing about Rad is the soundtrack. It's the typical eighties teen targeting soundtrack full of various genres aimed to get kids attention; rock, dance, new wave, even some ballads. They all work though and you'll be humming the tunes long after the movie has stopped. The hit `Send Me An Angel' (which was later used to great effect in the Fred Savage vehicle / Nintendo commercial The Wizard) is especially great and has found its way onto mix tapes of mine ever since the I first bought the soundtrack in 87 with it's catchy, haunting synth line. All in all, Rad is more than just a fun trip down nostalgia lane. Even if you haven't grown up in the 80's or gotten caught up in the BMX craze, it is still a lot of fun. And besides, what other movie do you get to see Ray Walston give the middle finger with such conviction?