• Read an interview with Bill Allen
• Read an interview with Bill Allen and San Francisco Bay Guardian
• Go to a site on Bill Allen in RAD 
An 80's movie that has become a classic to many BMX racers out there. Rad is one of the best BMXer movies from a classic period.
In true 80's style, Rad is based on a story of a small town BMXer
who competes against big time BMXers who have sponsors behind them
(Mongoose, GT, etc.) and... see the movie and find out!.
Rad! has many good points to it, including
incredible stunts by BMX legends Eddie Fiola and RL Osborn,
music and the normal 80's love story. As for the
stunts, both the intro and credits to the movie are just about
4-5 minutes of freestyle riders showing off.
Rad has
bike stunts/races throughout, starting with the intro, then
Cru and his friends delivering papers to local
businesses/residents, then the Cru/Christian show at the
Helltrack Dance, and the main race/credits with various other
stunts thrown in here and there.
All in all, Rad is one
of the best Bike/BMX/Freestyle movies ever made.
It's a shame that both the Movie and the Soundtrack are out of print
because Rad has suddenly made a comeback due to one thing: BMX is
back! The mountain bike is fading.
Some BMX bikers hang out and talk trivia about this movie. Some RAD trivia:
 The
character of "Cru" was loosely based on the life story
of "The King" Eddie Fiola. Had he been an actor he most
likely would have played the part. In the park where Cru says "What's
all this #1 stuff about" and then they ride in the park, Eddie
Fiola stunt doubles for "Christian".
What was Cru's real name (in the movie)? If you listen closely at
the part where he is asking his Mom for permission to qualify he
says, "Dad always told me... when your gut talks to you, you
listen" Then Mom says, "Christopher, that won't wash with
me, just because he is dead doesn't change anything"... So
there is your answer.. Christopher! [Thanks to Chuck M]
When "Christian" and "Cru" ass slide, the river
actually has a thin sheet of ice on it.
Beetle Rosecrans
doubled for "Bart Taylor".
In one race sequence "Cru" is
sporting an upside-down #1 plate on his bike, later he has a #2
plate.
In the scene where "Cru" bashes through the fence he
does the "trick" on his own but there are 2 guys on wires pulling on
the fence.
During practice Rick Moliterno broke his leg.
[Thanks to Jason Cook]
 The classic BMX movie, Rad was
released in 1986 to the theaters, and promptly disappeared due to
poor box office attendance. Like many cult movies, that hasn't
stopped the flick from becoming a BMX classic. It was in the top ten
video rentals for two years after it's release.
Eddie Fiola
is responsible for Bill Allen's the stunt work in RAD. Bill, the
star of the movie was forced to dye his hair darker for the movie so
that he and Eddie would look more alike.
Bart Conner, who
played the "enemy" BMXer Bart Taylor, is a world and Olympic
champion. He is America's most decorated gymnast and has also been a
TV sports commentator. In addition, he runs a gymnastics academy
with wife Nadia Comeneci, also an Olympic champion. [Thanks to
Erin]
Cru Jones's stunt double Jose Yanez performed the first
and only on-screen BMX backflip ever on Helltrack.
In the Dance Scene, when Cru's Stuntman bunny hops up onto the railing,
the railing has been "widened" with another platform.
You cannot see it do to camera angle. I guess you could call this
"trick" cinematography. You can actually see the extended
platform when Cru's Stuntman rides off of the end.
I remember BMX Plus magazine reported the movie was slightly delayed
because the starting ramp was originally built so high non of the
factory riders would go down it, so the ramp was cut down to the
25 foot tall version shown in the movie. [Thanks to John Creed]
Also, I always found it
hard to believe Cru was riding over the pile of logs. Ever try this?
Didn't think so... Anyway, If you look carefully between the logs in
certain areas you can see boards laid out to ride on. [Thanks to
Brett]
Luke (Cru's best friend in the movie) was played by
Jamie Clarke. Jamie wasn't actually just an actor (as you an tell by
his role in the movie) but in reality he was a local Canadian
Olympic Cross Country Team member. [Thanks to Tony
Ionno]
Lori Loughlin also starred in Secret
Admirer" and is now best known for the TV sitcom "Full
House".
Director Hal Needham is also a veteran & highly
respected Stunt Man and Stunt Co Ordinator. You could also call him
the 'road movie' king as he also wrote and directed many of his best
friend Burt Reynolds' stunt movies including Cannonball Run I &
II and Smokey & The Bandit.
Sadly, much of the BMX action
was changed to make the movie more understandable to non BMXers
& the general public, making true BMXers cringe.
The
racers in the Hell Track comp were made up of real members of
several different real Factory Teams, Kevin "Sheep Dog" Hull, a
talented GT Factory Team member was one of the featured riders who
says the Helltrack really was hell. The track was mad with a 25ft
sheer drop for the start, a ramp that looked like a piece of toast
into a Cereal bowl and out onto another ramp that looked like a
spoon, Helltrack even had a half-pipe with Moonrocks for a rhythm
section. The veteran BMX ace had this to say at BMX Mania about riding the
circuit "When I got there they were still finishing the track. I
could not believe what I was seeing. The starting hill was huge and
steep. The hardest things were the cereal bowl, the cliffhanger and
the starting hill. Everything was shot in sections starting with the
first turn and working around the track. The last thing to be filmed
at Helltrack was the start of the race. The reason for this was
because nobody wanted to be the first one to ride down it. Every day
we were there filming we would try to figure out the best way down
the start and who was going to try it first."
Star Bill Allen
now works as a writer/producer and has recently collaborated on
"Sioux City" and "Dangerous Touch" with his good friend Lou Diamond
Phillips -with whom he also has a rock band called "The Pipe
Fitters".
 Bill Allen got the part of Cru due to an episode of
Hillstreet Blues he did. Hal Needham, the director, saw it when he
was ready to cast Rad.
Talia Shire is best known for playing
Adrian, Rocky's wife.
Lori Loughlin was a junior lifeguard
before she became a model and actress. She began her career in front
of the camera as a print model at age 12. During her early teen
years she was featured in many television commercials and print ads
like the Sears catalog and Bradlees weekly flyers. Her first big
break nearly came when she was offered the lead role as Emmeline in
'The Blue Lagoon (1980)', but she turned it down. It went instead to
Brooke Shields.
BMX Rider Martin Aparijo was the stunt man for actress Lori Laughlin
at the nightclub scene, performing freestyle tricks while "Send
me an Angel" song (performed by Real Life) was around the place.
Apparition had to wear a wig to look alike Lori! [Thanks to Lou
Rosetti]
 As far as the "Send Me An
Angel" scene, not only was it Martin Aparijo performing the stunts
but also Pat Romano, also on the GT team. The last stunt before the
end of the song, when "she" spins the bike on the rear wheel....a
classic Pat Romano move, due to his bike being specialized to do
that stunt. (locked rear hub and a very small front sprocket)
[Thanks to Tre' Ridings]
Pat Romano, bicycle stuntman for
much of the movie, starred/coordinated stunts in several other 80's
movies, "Mannequin"
(McCarthy/Cattral) for one. [Thanks to Brian G]
This movie also features a classic 80s soundtrack. Tracks
include:
1. "Break The Ice" by John Farnham
2. "Love Theme
From `Rad'" by John Farnham
3. "Thunder In Your Heart" by John
Farnham
4. "Baby Come Back" by Jimmy Haddox
5. "Send Me An
Angel" by Real Life
6. "Riverside" by The Beat Farmers
7.
"Music That You Can Dance To" by Sparks
8. "Wind Me Up" by
3-Speed
9. "Get Strange" by Hubert Kah
10. "Caught Up In The
Crossfire" by The Charm Kings |
