Review of Rad (1986) by Jeff B — 28 Apr 2011

I went to the annual Bike Night at the Hammer Museum in LA, a get together for cyclists where we get the whole museum to ourselves for the night to roam about, eat, drink, and be merry. Oh, and they show us a movie for free. Two years ago they showed Breaking Away, last year was Pee Wee's Big Adventure (and Paul Reubens introduced the film), and this year was Rad. I brought my friend and fellow cyclist with me to the event, he's a big athletic Russian with a thick accent. It was my first time seeing Rad and I think it was his first time seeing an American 80s films. Luckily, Rad is probably the most 80s film I have ever seen.

This movie was hilarious, I loved every minute of it. A bunch of BMX riders live in a small town that somehow gets a giant dirt bike course called Helltrack that somehow attracts all of the nations top BMX riders (one of which who is treated like a good for some reason, and is of course the villain). Then there's the hero of the film, a kid just getting out of high school who doesn't know what to do with his life but knows that he loves biking. It's pretty much Karate Kid but with bikes. Anyway, this film is filled with 80s music, countless pointless yet hilarious montages, and the greatest dance sequence in 80s film history that puts Dirty Dancing and Footloose to shame. Lori Loughlin, aka Becky from Full House is brilliant in this. Throw in Ray Walston and you've got an awesome movie. The best part of the night was that the cast and crew of the film showed up (after all, it's the film's 25th anniversary). The lead actor Bill Allen "Cru" was there and he brought his bike with him, lucky 33.