The Corner Penthouse

For a movie that never even had a DVD release, the 1986 BMX classic Rad sure has gotten quite a lot of Blu-ray releases....and just in the past two years! On May 22, 2020, Vinegar Syndrome released the film onto 4K UHD & Blu-ray, marking the film's FIRST disc release. Limited to 12,000 copies, Vinegar Syndrome's combo pack sold out quickly and is going for over $250 on Amazon Marketplace. On March 16, 2021, Mill Creek Entertainment gave fans a "second chance" to own the film, using the same transfer that was "scanned and restored in 4K from the original 35mm original camera negative", with a Blu-ray in Steelbook packaging release for a MSRP of $39.99.

Recently, on August 17, 2021, Mill Creek re-released the film on Blu-ray in standard packaging - and finally gave it a DVD release, too - only it's NOT THE SAME BLU-RAY that was in the Steelbook. Read on to find out more...


Rad (1986) is the tale of Cru Jones (Bill Allen), the best BMX biker in Cochrane. He's got the talent to become the best BMX daredevil in the world. Bart Taylor (Bart Conner) is the best BMX biker in the world, and he's in town to race in the $100,000 Helltrack competition, the most grueling BMX race in history. Cru wants a shot at winning the title, but his mom (Talia Shire) insists that he take his college entrance exams which fall on the same day. He decides to go for Helltrack, but race promoter Duke Best (Jack Weston) has a dirty scheme for keeping the local whiz kid out of the race and away from his prized champion. Only the gorgeous Christian (Lori Loughlin), a member of the opposing team, can get Cru on track for Helltrack...and teach him a few other things while she's at it!


Maybe it's because I've never been interested in BMX racing, or the fact that the movie has never been available on DVD, but I've never seen Rad before. Not even on VHS. I was nine years old when this movie came out, and while I rode around on a bicycle like other children of the '80s, I would have been just a wee bit out of this movie's target audience at the time. Having seen it now for the first time, I really feel like I missed out on one of the awesomest insane totally '80s movies ever made!


The story ain't Shakespeare. It's a pretty simple underdog story. It felt a bit like a BMX version of Rocky, a connection made all the more solid by the casting of Rocky's love interest Talia Shire as the mother. (Talia's then-husband Jack Schwartzman is the film's executive producer.) Cru's prerequisite love interest is Christian, portrayed by Lori Loughlin. Although Cru shows interest in one of the girls at his high school early on, as soon as Christian enters the picture, it's all about her. The character of Christian exists, pretty much, just to be a love interest, and to give our hero some insight into the world of professional BMX racing. She comes to town on the rival Mongoose team, but she doesn't participate in any races or spend any time with her "team". Why did Mongoose even hire her if she does nothing for them?


What Christian does bring to the table is a particular set of skills... "bicycle boogeying" and "ass sliding". Instead of going in to the gymnasium to dance with his classmates, Cru stays just outside the door doing tricks on his bike. Christian notices, and is instantly smitten. Soon enough, she's pulled out her bike and, before long, they're both in the gym with the spotlight on them. When ensues is a "bicycle boogie" dance number where Cru and Christian wow the crowd with graceful feats on their bikes set to Real Life's "Send Me an Angel". Later, our young lovers solidify their relationship by going down a concrete slide into the lake below in an act that is constantly referred to as "ass sliding". That phrase is now a permanent part of my vocabulary.


Although Cru's mom doesn't get much screen time - even though the actress was sleeping with the producer! - his smart aleck little sister Wesley (Laura Jacoby) is one of the highlights of the film. She has several one-liners that truly made me chuckle. The rest of the cast includes my favorite Martian Ray Walston, Olympic gymnast Bart Connors (as BMX rival Bart Taylor), and a truly great performance by Jack Weston as the sleazy promoter Duke Best.


Rad is directed by Hal Needham, the former stuntman responsible for the Burt Reynolds classics Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Hooper (1978), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), The Cannonball Run (1981), Stroker Ace (1983), and Cannonball Run II (1984). (He made one more film after Rad, the wrestling comedy Body Slam (1986), which was released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber this past June.) All of those films have something in common, besides Uncle Burt. They are all heavy in motor vehicles and stunt work. So, it's no surprise that all of the trick riding scenes in Rad are exceptionally well filmed and are another highlight of the film.


The picture quality on this Blu-ray is beyond excellent. There are no real flaws to speak of, other than those in the original source material, such as a few jumping frames during the "bicycle boogie" sequence. There is a strange pink filter over the sky in the early paper delivery scenes, which makes those shots look dark and unnatural. After that minute or so, the rest of the movie is bright with vibrant colors.


Rad is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio with a runtime of 1:33:05 (includes a 10-second Utopia logo tacked onto the start of the film). Audio languages include English 5.1 DTS-HD MA. The film includes English SDH subtitles.


Here's a list of all of the bonus features that can be found on the Blu-ray disc.

• Against The Odds: Bill Allen on RAD (10:03) - An audio interview with the actor who played Cru Jones, while scenes from the movie play.
• Breaking The Ice: Sam Bernard on RAD (12:28) - An audio interview with the writer of the film, while scenes from the movie play.
• Ace in the Hole: Hall Needham in the 80's (13:18) - A video essay about the director's career, narrated by film critic/historian Don Guarisco.
• Rad Q&A Session (40:59) - Cast members Bill Allen, Talia Shire, and Bart Conner, along with screenwriter Sam Bernard, are interviewed via video conferencing by Jorma Taccone.
• Archival Interviews (10:47) - Four sets of interview clips from the Electronic Press Kit, individually chaptered, featuring Bart Conner, Lori Loughlin, Hal Needham, and Bill Allen.
• Original Behind-the-Scenes Featurette (5:00) - This EPK featurette includes a brief history of the bicycle, behind-the-scenes footage, cast and crew interviews, and film clips.
• Break The Ice Music Video (3:34) - A 1986 music video from John Farnham.
• Trailer (1:26) - This is the trailer for the 2020 re-release, not the original 1986 theatrical release. (This is the same trailer embedded at the end of this review.)

The first four are new items created by Mill Creek, while the last four are vintage materials that were provided to Mill Creek by the film's copyright owner, Utopia. None of the new content created by Vinegar Syndrome for their 2020 release are included here. I listed all of the missing material in my review of Mill Creek's Steelbook. (Also, the deleted scenes in the video embedded at the end of this review are not in any release.)

It really would have been great if Mill Creek could have included all of the content from the Vinegar Syndrome release, so that there would be one definitive "complete" release, but I'm guessing that Vinegar Syndrome owns the commentaries and featurettes, and doesn't want to share. In any case, to make up for it, Mill Creek added a few new exclusive interviews. That's why it's extremely hard to recommend one release over the other, as both Mill Creek and Vinegar Syndrome have their own exclusives with very little duplication. If you want ALL special features, and money is no object, you could just buy these two releases:

1. Vinegar Syndrome's 4K UHD/Blu-ray Combo Pack - For a 4K copy of the film and all of their exclusive special features. Do be aware that this is out-of-print and currently going for SEVERAL HUNDRED DOLLARS!

2. Mill Creek's Blu-ray in Standard Packaging - This release gets you ALL of Mill Creek's exclusive special features.

You really don't need Mill Creek's Blu-ray in Steelbook packaging, which I reviewed back in March, unless you absolutely need that sexy-looking Steelbook for your collection. The Blu-ray disc in that release is missing "Against The Odds", "Breaking The Ice", "Ace in the Hole", and the Trailer; which means that it contains LESS content than this new Blu-ray release from Mill Creek. Also, I think it may be out-of-print, as Amazon currently has it listed for double the original MSRP of $39.99.

Finally, if you don't have a 4K UHD or Blu-ray player, then Mill Creek's DVD release will suffice, though I suspect that it has no bonus features at all.



All images were taken from the IMDB gallery of the film. This item has been provided by Mill Creek Entertainment for review on this site.