Rad (film)

In the early 1980s, while looking for script ideas, co-writer and producer Sam Bernard noticed kids performing BMX tricks in a Los Angeles park. Bernard and Geoffrey Edwards pitched the project to Hal Needham by taking him to a BMX tournament; Needham signed on after watching the riders. Originally written for teenagers, the script was later aimed at a younger audience. ==Plot==

Cru Jones is a teenage BMX racer who lives in a small town with his younger sister Wesley and their mother. Cru faces a tough decision: qualify for Helltrack or take the SAT to attend college. Winning Helltrack means $100,000, a new Chevrolet Corvette, and fame. Against his mother's wishes, Cru chooses Helltrack. The Helltrack race is endorsed by the city and by Duke Best, the duplicitous president of FAB (the Federation of American Bicyclists), also the owner of Mongoose Racing. Duke keeps adjusting the rules to keep Cru out of the race and ensure BMX star Bart Taylor has an easy road to victory and a financial windfall for Mongoose Racing, Bart's sponsor. Numerous BMX racers show up for Helltrack. Cru meets Christian Hollings, who becomes his romantic interest. At Cru's senior prom, he and Christian perform freestyle bike stunts on the dance floor as their classmates watch. After being blocked from the race due to a last-minute rule change on participant sponsorship, Cru is ready to give up Helltrack until Wesley customizes a shirt for him to wear at the event. It reads "Cru is RAD." Inspired by this, Cru and his friends use the money he won from qualifying ($10,000) to found a small T-shirt business: "Rad Racing." However, a few days before the race, Duke changes the rules yet again, claiming any company sponsoring a racer must be worth at least $50,000. When the townspeople hear about this, they rally around Cru; their contributions, particularly a generous donation from wealthy Mr. Timmer, provide Rad Racing with enough money for Cru to enter Helltrack. During Helltrack, Duke bribes twins Rex and Rod Reynolds to take out Cru, but they fail. In the final stretch of the race, Taylor and Cru face each other; Cru ultimately wins Helltrack, while Taylor is dropped from Mongoose Racing. Now aware of Duke's true nature, the entire Mongoose team quits on him. Cru offers Taylor a spot in Rad Racing, while Duke is asked to resign from FAB. ==Cast==

The film was partially shot in Cochrane, Alberta, Canada, as well as at Bowness Sr. High School and Bowness Park, both in Calgary, Alberta. ==Reception==

The film received mixed reviews and under-performed commercially during its release. The New York Times stated "Teen-age ears may not split from the music or ache from the dialogue, but anybody over 20, beware: 'You're willing to sacrifice building a solid future for a bicycle race,' says the hero's mother. 'It's very self-destructive.' If only he had listened to mom – but who can blame him for preferring his bicycle?" On the website Rotten Tomatoes, Rad was given an approval rating of 46%, based on reviews from 13 critics. In 2013, The Guardian writer Nick Evershed found it had the largest discrepancy between critical and audience response (which at that time was 0% based on 5 reviews, versus 91%, based on 7,165 user ratings) in the Rotten Tomatoes database, from a pool of 10,000 movies analyzed. Metacritic gives the film a score of 24 out of 100, based on reviews from 6 critics, indicating "Generally Unfavorable" reviews. Film historian Leonard Maltin gave the movie a "BOMB" citation—the lowest possible rating in his annual Movie Guide—explaining, "Title is supposed to be short for Radical...as in, 'Radical, man!' Yeah, right...and we didn't see this same plotline used to death by 1950s hot-rod films, and also by 1970s roller-disco epics!" The film has since gained notoriety as a Cult film. In reporting on the film's 2020 Blu-ray release, The A.V. Club referred to Rad as the "holy grail of ’80s cult movies" and noted its "large and loyal cult following.". On March 22 and 24, 2026, to celebrate the film's 40th anniversary, Rad played in hundreds of AMC Theaters nationwide. In reporting on this "fifth official celebration of Rad Day," Collider called Rad "The Greatest 1980s Cult Classic Sports Movie." ==Home media==

The film was released on VHS and LaserDisc in 1986 and became a top-ten video rental for two years. Rad went more than 30 years without a DVD or Blu-ray release. Its distribution rights had been divided among multiple companies in the 1980s; over time, those rights reverted to executive producer Jack Schwartzman, who was married to Talia Shire until his death in 1994. The film was released on iTunes on July 24, 2020. ==Soundtrack==

The soundtrack was released on 12" vinyl and cassette, by Curb Records in late 1986, and featured various artists including John Farnham in his pre-Whispering Jack days, 3-Speed, Sparks, Hubert Kah and Real Life. On February 9, 2014, it was released for digital download at the iTunes Store. It is also available to stream on Spotify. Farnham's "Break the Ice" was featured on a special list of the best songs from '80s action film montages that appeared on music website No Echo. ;US vinyl-LP and cassette track listing ==See also==