All language subtitles for A.RAD.Documentary.2025.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

Rad is the story of a small-town boy,
Crew Jones, who is getting ready to take

his SATs, and there is a big BMX event
coming to town called Hell Track.

Through a series of unlikely events,
Crew Jones qualifies for Hell Track and

eventually races and wins Hell Track.

How was that guy?

If you have a sport and you have a movie
about your sport, that's it.

For BMX, it's Rad.

Rad the movie, you couldn't have named
it anything else except Rad.

I understand the development of Rad came
through the writer Sam Bernard, who just

happened to see some BMX riders on the
street one day. Sam came to me with the

idea to make a Rocky-esque type story
about... this new, fast-growing

sport called BMX. And I thought it was a
good idea, and I went to Hal Needham,

who directed Smoking the Bandit, and
written it with him.

Robert Levy and I had worked together on
Smoking the Bandit, and he and Sam

were good friends. I didn't know Sam,
and told me what they thought it would

do and their plans and everything and
what I cared to get involved.

Never dreaming it was going to be what
it is.

Never even give it a thought.

The Karate Kid, I think, was a little
bit before us, and I think that that was

very much on our minds. It was
successful.

It was about something that was just
becoming into the media consciousness.

So I think we had a lot of help, but I
think it was natural.

My reputation as a director was Smokey
and the Bandit, Hooper, Cannonball Run,

and all those kind of things. This was a
little different, and I wanted to give

it a whirl. And when we met the
wonderful man, Jack Schwartzman, And his

wife, Talia Shire, and they had a
company that was funding movies.

And they had a number of young children.
And it was kind of a perfect marriage

because they wanted to make something
for the kids. This was a kid's movie.

Listen, we called it Rocky on Bikes as
it fits.

I said, oh, I think this is something I
could be different with.

The script, as I read it the first time,
was pretty much how we shot it. I think

the title Rad was a working title.

A lot of people weren't.

really understood what that word meant.

I mean, it wasn't that much in the
lexicon quite yet.

And Hal was the go-to guy for stunt
movies at the time.

Hal, you know, was a legend in every
way. And, yeah, he was such an icon. I

mean, he shot fast.

He energized the crew.

He knew exactly what he wanted. So if he
had it, he moved on.

He'd done every car stunt there ever
was.

you know, basically.

So that was like trying to bring his
talent to a different kind of... I was

real familiar with motorcycle because I
raced the Desert, I raced TT and so on

and so forth.

And there's a great similarity, you
know. And when they gave me the script

for Rad, I compared the one to the other
and

I...

Got a hold of some of the pros and found
out what they could do and what they

couldn't and everything.

And I just thought it would be a step
forward for BMX. And so that's the

reason I took the job.

And he didn't believe any of this at
first.

We really had to talk him into it. We
really had to talk him into it. He just

was like, eh, bicycle.

We were, at the time, we were casting
for Rad, and I was watching Hill Street

Blues, or was it? I don't know. Anyway,
I think it was a Cop and Robber thing.

But I watched him, and I thought, that
kid's got to look.

He's got the age and everything.

So I went into Jack Schwartzman, the
producer.

I went in and told him, I said, I've got
a kid I want you to look at because I

think he's really got what we're looking
for.

And he said, do you like him? I said,
yeah. He said, we'll cast him. And

that's the way he got the part.

Well, I was something of an anomaly
because I wasn't a Hollywood actor, had

no acting experience, and I wasn't a BMX
rider.

But shortly after the 1984 Olympics, I
had a fairly high amount of visibility.

I had an agent in New York, and I was
doing appearances and promotional

things, and I got a call one day, and
they said, there's a director in L.A.

named Hal Needham. You might remember
him from Smokey and the Bandit and

Cannonball Run. He wants to talk to you
about a movie they're doing about BMX.

And this is completely out of the blue.
So I'm like, wow, I mean, I don't ride,

but any athlete is excited about an
opportunity that comes along, especially

from Hollywood, I mean, of course.

And so he said, I'm going to stop in
Oklahoma. I'd like to have a cup of

coffee with you. And they sent me some
lines and stuff. So I was practicing the

lines. I've never auditioned for
anything and kind of nervous to meet

him. And he shows up at the airport and
I went up to pick him up. And I'm a car

guy as well. And I pick him up in a
turbo Porsche.

And we drove around town and we talked
about cars for about an hour.

And I said, do you want to sit down
somewhere and run some of these lines?

And he goes, oh, no, you're in my movie.
Just take me back to the airport. We're

good. And so that was my audition. We
just talked cars for an hour.

How is your typical Southern gentleman?
And you would not know that just by

meeting the guy right off the bat. All I
knew was, here's a guy who directed

Smokey the Bandit.

But being a guy from the South and being
used to being around good old boys, we

got along great. I can tell you that the
night before filming, he asked that I

show up on time.

And he just related to me a story of...

directing Cannonball Run 2 with Frank
Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine right after

she won the Oscar and Dino and Sammy
Davis Jr.

He said he had 25 star trailers out in
the desert and nobody would show up onto

the set until everybody else was on the
set.

He said, so just please be on time. I'm
like, it's not going to be a problem. It

only took about two seconds to figure
out that Hal Needham was the boss.

And I suffered two chew-outs.

But on the same hand, I suffered a
couple of attaboys from Hal Needham,

too. But he was the big cheese and a
great guy.

Lori Loughlin was my co-star in the
movie. And the reason you hire a Lori

Loughlin, or Lori Loughlin in
particular, is so that you can fall in

love with her from frame one. There
doesn't have to be explanation. There

doesn't have to be a whole backstory.

She's the kind of person you fall in
love with just by seeing her. She was so

nice and so sweet to all of us that, you
know, no wonder we all had a crush on

her. Did I have a crush on her? Well,
yes, of course.

Jack Weston, watching Jack Weston.

Twilight Zone episodes and a million
movies.

Ray Walston, who played Mr. Timmer in
it, he was in the original production of

South Pacific.

HB obviously was fun.

HB was our first choice, but, you know,
I mean, he was so perfect for it, and he

was great.

You know, he would have been a wrestler.

But we wanted a wrestler. We wanted that
kind of guy. We wanted bigger than life.

We wanted, you know, very Americana, you
know, apple pie.

Ray Walston and those guys, Alfie Wise,
I mean... That was so cool because these

are all Hal's buddies. You know, he just
bought all of his pals up there to be in

that film. And so for us, that was a
thrill because we're just a bunch of

kids in our first movie, and all of a
sudden we're in scenes with these, you

know, Hollywood icons. That was so
sweet.

I was surprisingly cast in I think what
they call a principal role, a co-star in

the movie as Luke, who turns out to be
best friend to crew, boyfriend

to Becky, and just all around. a great
BMX rider.

Well, not me personally, but the great
fellows who did the stunt work. I got

along with Laura Jacoby was her name
really well.

You want to be careful about working
with kids or animals because, man, they

can steal a scene just like that. And
she was one of those scene stealers.

Talia Shire was my boss on this shoot.

Not only was she my boss, but I had seen
her in all the Rocky films. I had seen

her in the Godfather films. A very huge
thing for a young actor to be around

somebody who is such a luminary in the
business.

And the best thing is she's like
everybody's mom on the set.

She's the most wonderful, warm-hearted
person.

Rad is such a stunt-heavy movie that...

I pretty much had to fit into the mold
that they had for me, not vice versa.

Eddie Fiola, who did most of my stunt
writings, very dark skin, dark hair, so

I ended up dyeing my hair black to match
the stunt guy. That never happens.

You know, I'm just what happened to be
crew's stunt double most of the time, or

you could say that crew was my acting
double.

It just shows you how much the stunts
meant to this movie and how important it

was for me.

to look like a stunt writer. What's good
is that Martin and I, we do a lot of

different tricks. So I'm like, he
doesn't do a lot of tricks I do. I don't

do a lot of tricks he does. So in the
movie, it really made a lot of sense to

keep us both in it to where he could do
the things that I couldn't do, and it

worked out really well.

Even after knowing what they can do, I
was in awe.

How's innovation as a director, however,
is that he sets up maybe a half a dozen

cameras in these action scenes and lets
the writers do what they do, crash as

they do, and weave that into the
storyline. So that, I would say, is how

things change to take events that
actually took place on the set and weave

that into the storyline.

I used to consider myself a pretty good
gymnast and athlete, you know, but they

were doing things I'm going, how the
hell they do that?

I mean, a guy was doing a handstand,
feet up in the air, riding on the front

wheel and everything, and I'm going,
wow, what balance, what strength it

takes to do that. They were wonderful.

Hal has a reputation for being rough on
stuntmen because he was the highest paid

stuntman of his time.

No special effects back then, you know,
everything was real.

If we crashed and got hurt, you have to
wait a couple hours until we got better.

Luckily, I was an actor under Hal, not a
stuntman, because these guys...

earned their pay.

The interesting thing about this shoot
was it was probably the only stunt-heavy

film that Hal was ever on, I don't think
he was ever on any other kind of movie,

that he didn't know the stunts better
than Stuntman. He was not a BMX rider,

so he had to trust these kids.

Being a stuntman, I didn't want to take
advantage of those kids, so when they

did something accidental or on purpose,
we compensated them for it.

But I got quite a few freebies, if you
want to call them that, things that

weren't planned.

There's free stunts. The free stunts are
when guys just eat it great on camera,

unplanned, but that's a free stunt.

And there were a couple memorable free
stunts. Eddie Fiola.

As Crew Jones wiping out. All I remember
is getting up from off the ground and

saying, where am I at? What am I doing?

We regrouped and Hal just said, okay,
now we're going to take it from here. As

if you already fell, you'll get out of
the bushes and then take off again. So

that's what we did. That was not
planned. And he suffered a concussion.

If you watch that thing again, now that
you know that that wasn't planned, he

got racked.

And he was a trooper. And that rung his
bell really good. So we're talking about

very dangerous stunts.

And that's what Hal needed. And that was
his stock in trade.

And I thought he just did a brilliant
job at capturing that.

You know, people out there riding the
bikes are real. But I remember that

headshot that Eddie took was quite
scary. But that dude, to his credit, you

know, stayed in his character and got up
and took off and I think asked for more

money.

I would have paid him.

And we knew that the backflip was going
to be the biggest stunt.

And I found out it was also the highest
paid stunt.

So I had this brainstorm.

Oh, wow.

So I saddled myself up next to Hal
Needham, and I said, Hal, you don't have

a really spectacular crash yet. Do you
think maybe when we go around this turn

here, this berm, what if I fly out over
the top and wreck?

And he said, yeah, that'd be great.

I said, okay.

You know, I'll do that for $300.

And he just kind of looked at me, and he
goes, okay, Hollywood, go ahead.

So we shot the movie, and you know what
I'm doing, and I fly over the berm, and

I pull my bike over, and it looks
spectacular, and it was great.

A few days later, we're shooting the
part where we're going up, jumping the

Canyon of Death or whatever it was,
making it up to the top of the ramp.

We're shooting that, and just as I found
out we were shooting that, I saddled

myself over to Hal Needham, and I got up
next to him, and I said,

Hey, Hal, you know, wouldn't it be kind
of cool if somebody went up there and

they didn't quite make it and they fell
all the way to the bottom?

And he just looked at me and he laughed
and he goes, how much is that going to

cost me, Hollywood?

Barely making it.

And Mike Miranda is out.

Being a stuntman.

I did the same thing. I'd look for a
spot to go talk to the director and say,

hey, what if while you're doing that
scene, what if the guy did a fall over

here or something, you know? So I picked
up a lot of stunts like that. And so

that's what he was doing. He said, hey,
listen, what if I come over here and I

slid off and I went in the water or
whatever it might be? And I said, do it.

You know, I mean, if he wanted to make a
few bucks, I'm willing to go for that.

Now, not being a Hollywood stuntman, but
knowing that Hal Needham came from these

big stunt movies, I thought, oh, this is
going to be great. There'll probably be

helicopters filming overhead and these
giant airbags.

No, we were on a budget. I fell into
three cardboard boxes. That's it, into

cardboard boxes.

And, you know, the funny thing was, you
know, I'm no stuntman, like I said. So

all I tried to do was fall and, you
know, try to dive off and make sure I

landed flat on my back.

And nobody told me, hey, don't hold your
breath.

When I hit those boxes, all my wind came
out, man. And I was like, oh, and I

scrambled out of the boxes.

And people were clapping. And Hal
Needham was right there when I stepped

out of the box. How about another take?

First of all, we came to Canada because
at that time, the American dollar was

stronger. And so we could get more for
less here.

So I decided I'd shot a movie up here in
Canada, in Calgary, in fact, called

Little Big Man. So I kind of knew the
area.

So I called the film commissioner and
told him what I was looking for, and I

knew what I wanted, and they understood
real quick. So it worked out.

Calgary was, Calgary, basically, we went
to Calgary because Calgary was one of

the first places to actually embrace.

and help finance movies, you know, and
incentives.

And they had a commission, basically
opened the doors, you know,

for Cochran and for Calgary to us and
gave us access to everything. So we knew

that park, everything around.

And also we could fly nonstop from Los
Angeles.

That was a great hotel deal. You know,
made it really fun and easy for us to

make the movie there.

You know, this is my backyard, being
here in Calgary and in Cochrane shooting

this movie. So I was living this double
life for a while. I had a trailer.

I had a little chair with my name on it.
Yet I knew all along that, you know, the

jackass that I really was, yet here I
was sort of placed in this sort of

special spot. So I was kind of living
this double life as some sort of a fancy

guy on the set, yet...

There was my friends in the audience or
people hanging around that I knew. So it

was a weird sort of double existence for
me, but I don't think I ever, well,

maybe I did, but I don't think I ever
lost touch with the reality of it. But

it was very surreal to be here, to be in
this place, my home, a place I'd been

in, and yet now it had been descended
upon by this filmmaking crew.

And to this day, people ask me, well,
are you enjoying your visit from L.A.?

No, no, I live here all the time.

No, I really don't remember Cochran
much. It was a small town, and I had

never heard of it. But, you know, I'm
like most Americans. I couldn't tell you

who the king of Canada is.

On a movie set, there's often click.

And certainly the writers were a click.

The cast was another click. The crew was
another click.

Generally at the daily screenings, that
was an opportunity for most of us to

mix. Since I was heavily involved in the
stunt, I did spend a lot of time with

the stunt writers.

That, to me, really what a masterful
director will do. He takes all these

factions. He had old Hollywood with
people like Jack Weston. He had young

Hollywood with people like Laurie.

He had the BMX people. He had me, the
token Olympic guy.

And yet, he made us all feel like we had
an important part in the film. He makes

the dailies a party for the cast and
crew.

It's an opportunity. for them to
celebrate what they did, blow some steam

off, have some drinks, and to watch
these great action sequences in an

atmosphere with all the riders, and it
demystified the process.

It was unforgettable.

Even though we were from completely
diverse backgrounds, he made us all feel

like we were part of something special.

And he did it in his own way. I mean,
he's old Hollywood, rough, tough, hard

-drinking kind of tough guy.

And yet he made us all feel like we were
family. It was beautiful.

Working with Hal Needham was definitely
an experience.

When he wanted something done, you did
it. I mean, it was like, either you do

it or I'll get your sister to do it.

you know and and it's like okay so you
did it it was just the way he he put

things in perspective and uh this whole
stuntman mentality got it done well

with the bigger films you got big stars
you got bigger budget a little more time

and you can do more spectacular things
and all that and rad

I mean, we were up against it with
budget, with time, with everything. So

you had to be pretty creative and take
advantage of everything you could.

As an actor, obviously, my favorite
parts were getting to act with Talia

Shire and Laurie and Jack and these
wonderful people.

I think Hal, Bill, Laurie, the whole
crew, Marta, who played my girlfriend,

they were all very generous and kind to
me, knowing that I was so out of my

element and basically so incapable.

So I think the best memory that I have
are just those...

Those friendship scenes that we shot
throughout the whole movie, hanging out,

getting their guidance, you know, just
relax, helping me out, those are the

best memories that I have.

Hal tends to undershoot. He doesn't
shoot a lot of close-ups. It's a lot of

masters, and then on to the next thing.
He's an action director. He wants to cut

to the chase, literally and
figuratively.

So the dialogue scenes were smooth.

And I was surrounded by professionals,
so it went very quickly. The action

sequence days were more difficult.

We're talking injuries. We're talking
teenage kids, 15-, 16-year-old kids out

there doing stunts on a major movie for
the first time in their lives. So there

was a lot going on. There was a lot of
moving parts.

It required a lot of cuts, a lot of
angles, a lot of...

really output by the bikers. I mean,
those kids really worked their butts off

in there. And, you know, you know, in
order to get that much footage of

something, you got to have angles and
cameras and do it over and over and

over. And they never gave up and they
never said, I'm tired. They never,

nothing. They were ready all the time.
Well, you know, it's exciting and it's

boring. You're there, you're shooting a
scene, you're riding, you're energetic,

and then it comes cut.

And then you'd sit around for two and a
half hours. And that was time for

shenanigans. We played a lot of
practical jokes during those times.

And I got away with murder.

It was the second time I'd been a lead
in a motion picture. That's very

exciting to be around all these amazing
athletes and these wonderful actors.

I can tell you it's very daunting to,
quote, carry a film.

It seems silly, but it's not when it's
your first time out of the gate, really,

as a big national release.

And all you want to do is do the best
you can.

You look around the set, and you're
seeing people who are the best at what

they do.

And you look in the mirror, and you go,
well, who am I? When that camera turns

on, you've got to turn it on.

So I was supported by the best.

players, had an amazing director, an
amazing cast around me, so there was no

reason why I should do a horrible job.

I was a trained actor by that time. I
had a couple of chops in my bag of

tricks, but it is a nerve-wracking
process.

I gotta tell you, I had nothing to do
with the music.

Nothing. But they brought in whoever it
was, I'm telling you.

The first time I heard it, I said, God
damn, that's good.

I mean, that stuff's going to work. And
I listen, as I watch it with audiences,

I listen to them, and they really like
that music.

It's a jump. Well,

it's an expensive needle drop.

Very expensive song, especially when
there were giant hits, the biggest hits

of that time. But Break the Ice was the
one that I think got a lot of MTV

players. I mean, it's classic 80s rock,
and, you know, it...

The music is incredible.

And, you know, how lucky we are that we
had that, you know, outstanding

soundtrack. And that music so captures
that time period.

When you hear that music, you hear those
soundtracks, you think of the movie Rad.

What is the best scene of Rad? The very
beginning?

The very end.

Yeah, they talk about the very
beginning, the end, and the dance scene.

The dance scene is the most talked about
scene.

But when you get the hardcore bikers and
they come in to see the movie, the

beginning and the end. There you go.
It's the roots, it's the blend, and it

was accepted by everybody because...

What you were seeing in the freestyle
opening credits were probably the best

riders. Ron Wilkerson, R.L. Osborne,
Martin, Eddie, Mike Dominguez. Those are

the pioneers and they're legends and
they're still riding today.

It sure sets the tone for what these
guys can do and what you're about to

see. First time we saw them in the movie
theater, it's the first time most of us

saw that scene because we were the BMX
racers, so we didn't see the freestyle.

The first thing I noticed was, hey, I
know where that's at. That's down at

Torrance Beach. The locals call it
burnout. Everybody showed up at Wizard

Publications, and it was an overcast
day.

We were all just supposed to sit there.

and wait to find out where we were going
to film this.

But because of the overcast and the
fogginess of the street, they decided to

film right then and there, right there
on the street. Every once in a while,

have fun. That's getting you to have a
good time. We looked at that and went,

well, I mean, come on. I mean, it's got
to be the first thing you see in the

movie. Okay, dude, let's walk this
sucker.

All right.

The whole paper route thing was great.
The holding the paper route and the dog

grabbing it and, you know, a race
against the clock.

Pat Romano is the girl and starts taking
off on a wheelie. I'm crew at that time.

Oh, you can tell. If you're a BMX pro,
you can tell when it's Eddie and when

it's Bill Allen pedaling. Just a
different style. The most intricate part

of the scene, I believe, is Eddie going
into the swimming pool and then doing

the 180.

He can do that in his sleep. I think the
paper route is really a great, great

opening for this movie in that it just
gives a great representative of what

bicycles mean.

It all sets his character that, you
know, he's polite and nice, but he will

push the rules. And people look forward
to him. When I think about, you know,

Ray Walsh getting the coffee cups
knocked out of his hand.

Oops. The world would be a lot better
off.

And who's the guy who says, the porch,
the porch. I said, the porch. The porch.

I mean,

it's just so great because these, you
know, typical irreverent teenagers, you

know, that I think really identified
with lots of teenage boys at that time

because they were, you know, they were a
little bit rebels and they were a little

bit like punk and they're always trying
to get away with something. And that to

me was, you know, I think it set the
mood for the film right off the top.

No, he may not be the perfect kid.

He has fun and he'll push the rules,
doesn't break the rules.

The first day that I was on the film was
when we were shooting

at the lumber mill and the little
hangout area.

And that to me was a great way to begin
because it didn't actually require any

acting, which is pretty good for me if I
don't have to do that.

But what it enabled me was to be able to
ride the bike.

and the team were subtly happy that, you
know, at least you don't look like a

total moron on the bike.

So it was a great way for me to start,
because I could do something I felt

comfortable. I could ride the bike, I
could laugh and goof and roll over, you

know, the garbage can and all the rest
of it. I think Luke, historically, and

I'd have to check with the creative
geniuses behind the whole script, but I

think Luke has always had desires to be
crew in a lot of different ways, and had

circumstances been different, you know,
I think that he would have preferred the

chase and probably would have been
successful as well. But, you know, I

understood my place in this movie, my
friend.

And that was a second fiddle to Mr.
Jones.

And I was happy to be there.

The police chase in the lumber yard was
fun for me because I'm actually up on

lumber and looking about 40, 50 feet
down. And you had the motorcycle going

through the scenes. It's a kid's...

So we had a lot of fun shooting that,
and there was a lot of leeway in how we

shot it and how it came together in the
editing room. Whenever you don't see

Bill's face, it's pretty much me from
the legs down. My knees, my shins, my

ankles. The dirty little secret is that
I was not allowed to ride a bike as a

child. My mother watched my brother
nearly get smeared all over the pavement

when I was probably eight.

years old, maybe a little younger. So I
was never allowed to ride a bike. I knew

how to ride a bike, but that was not
part of my upbringing.

Music was.

So there's a couple of scenes where you
can pick this out. When I'm coming

through the fence and the Hell Track
sign pops up, man, I'm barely able to

hang on to that bike. So if you compare
that rider...

To the guy in the qualifying races,
you're going to see a little bit of

difference. But anyway, it was the best
I could do at the time.

And I was so impressed that Bill Allen
actually learned how to ride a bike

during the movie Rad.

And he got better and better as time
progressed.

If you watch the film today on a big
screen, yeah, you can pick out times

where the stuntmen are taking on our
role.

Still, the stunt work is so spectacular,
it doesn't seem to matter, and that's

why we're talking about it today.

You can see through the lumber yard, or
the lumber, and you can see plywood up

on there, and I had to make it look like
I was doing, you know, logs.

Riding on logs, yeah.

There's a scene in the lumber yard where
he's, you know, trying to get away from

the police.

It was going to be through a factory.

And for some reason, the factory, he
wasn't happy with it, the director.

And so he went out on his own and found
this lumber yard and said, we're going

to shoot in this lumber yard. It's
actually the factory they used in Shoot

to Kill. I think the thing I loved about
the police chase was

just seeing H.B. Haggerty, the actor.

And, you know, he's a former
professional wrestler.

just to have that guy, knowing that he's
going to catch you. And that bike, that

motorcycle, you know, again, you knew
that there was some behind-the-scenes

stuff going on there. Obviously, he
wasn't riding that bike over those logs.

It was still cool. That was a realistic
scene. When we were kids, we did that

exact same thing.

Knott's Prairie Farm would have the
donkey trails.

And in the daytime, they had the donkeys
going through the trails. But at

nighttime, they'd close it. We'd hook
our bikes over the top, get on top of

the platform, shoot up.

20 of us would be bolting through the
donkey trails, all wet and just mud all

over us. But that's the kind of thing
you do. When you're a kid, you did that

type of stuff. And I thought it was
authentic.

Oh, yeah. Now, I remember, you know,
going down the street on a late night

and putting my bike on some church roof
and starting riding the roof trail.

So yeah, it's as real as it gets. I
think the cool thing about the parade

scene was that it involved the whole
community.

And that was typical of Hal Needham. He
figured out a way, let's get the whole

community involved in this and let them
feel a part of this picture. So all of

those folks lining the streets, they're
all locals. And they felt like they

mattered and their part in the film was
essential.

One thing people might not know about my
participation in the parade scene, about

a month before the film was shot up in
Canada, I was doing a gymnastics tour

and I was performing in an exhibition.

And I landed on a dismount and I
completely dislocated. my knee because

my leg was in an immobilizer I couldn't
straighten my leg so I had to get out of

the car and walk back and talk to Lori
in her car and I had to keep both knees

bent as I walked along and they shot me
from the waist up so it didn't look like

I was limping so you know for me when I
think of that scene it looks like okay

I'm going back to flirt with Lori but
all I can remember is I was walking

along like this and they were shooting
me from the waist up but

Yeah, it was fun.

The bicycle boogie scene is probably the
most celebrated part of the movie. It's

been recreated at weddings, I
understand.

Man, the music is what made it because
even to this day you hear Send Me An

Angel and your brain just goes boom.

Let me tell you, it speaks for itself. I
remember thinking, I don't know how he's

going to edit it together. I don't know
how it's going to work.

The whole idea was Saturday Night Fever,
Flashdance. These movies for this

audience, you need a dance sequence.

Okay, so they could have danced
romantically, gone there on a bike,

danced romantically like a normal kind
of scene. Or we could do a dance. We

need a dance in the movie.

It has to be on bikes. So let's do it on
bikes then. And everyone looked at us

like we were from Mars, obviously. And
everybody worked really hard on it. And

how to put it in a sequence, which I
think worked so well. I mean, it was the

80s. And the flashing everywhere.

That's what it was. It was trying to
have a great dance sequence for the

audience. but do it on bikes, because
everything on the movie is done on

bikes. Yeah, you know, a lot of the BMX
guys, we don't dance, you know, so I

don't know where they came up with that.
You know, Hollywood, I guess.

I remember Hal Needham saying, how the
hell are we going to pull this off?

First of all, I think that would be
impossible to do a couple of things that

we did in there for real.

So I built...

A platform on wheels that would hold the
bikes up like this so they could sit on

them and pedal and do all that kind of
stuff and spin the wheels and turn

around everything.

I think my stunt career, my creativity
in stunts and coming up with new

equipment and things like that, I think
it all came together right there on that

thing to make it work.

They had me on dollies a lot of time
with the bike in fixed position. If you

see the one where I'm... on the bike and
kind of doing the bunny hop.

It's silly.

Yeah, I was the guy on the balance beam.
The balance beam was actually, you know,

a normal balance beam is like this. It
was double the width.

But it was still normal height, so I had
to bunny hop on that.

Then it was both myself and Pat Romano,
that very first scene when we went over

the camera.

I was the first guy, Pat was the second
guy. We almost hit the camera.

Then we went in there and started doing
all our tricks and that stuff. And not

only that, but the lighting was such
that...

When I was using doubles, you couldn't
see who it was, but yet you could see

the outline, and you knew that it was
supposed to be them. In your mind, it's

them when you're looking at it on the
screen.

So you were in the white pants, on the
high heel?

At one point.

Just at one point. I knew that was
coming.

And obviously the song, you know, helped
a lot, and that was, you know, we were

fortunate to find that song. I don't
remember any other movie having that

song in it. I mean, like, when you hear
that song, it's like...

There's a rat. The rat's on TV. I can
hear it.

Bike dancing. Who does bike dancing?
That's like great. Whatever we remember.

The bicycle boogie is. And we haven't
called it bicycle boogie, but I've heard

that many times. And when you brought it
up, that's really the moniker. But there

was a Time magazine or Newsweek magazine
article back then, and there was a

little blurb about the bicycle dance and
rat.

And it worked out pretty well, actually.
I remember when we were doing the

bicycle boogie dance scene. When we were
filming it, they were actually playing

White Wedding, Billy Idol, so we could
dance to it. Obviously, they didn't use

that for the movie, but that's the time
period that we're talking about. The

fact that it's kind of cheesy makes
it...

So cool.

And the twins in those sort of space
outfits doing those funky push-ups.

I mean, it was pure 80s gold, right?

And they wanted me to dress kind of like
a Miami Vice kind of guy. That's why I

had the sport coat pulled up and all
this stuff.

You know, when you sign on to do a
movie, you go along with whatever the

director wants you to do. So I said,
okay, I'm in.

Come on, dude. I mean, that was out of
time at the time. You know, that was

like so 70s. But it added to the
kitschiness and the flavor of it. So it

was great.

Hey, dude, we're going ass sliding.

You want to come?

No. Ass sliding with you guys? I'm going
to wait for my ass sliding with somebody

special, you know? Oh, my coot, Katie.

Well, maybe.

Ass sliding.

Just an unfortunate term. I don't know
how he came up with that. I don't know

why, but that's what we were left with,
and that was a plot point in the movie,

that Laurie and I go ass-sliding. As far
as the innovator of the ass-sliding,

I've got to put that on Sam Bernard, and
I really need to talk to him more about

that, because it's disturbing to me.

It was maybe called something else, and
Hal loved it, and Hal really thought it

was great, and I think it was almost...

kind of a throwaway of, like, what are
these two kids going to do? And what

would Crew do with the hottest baby
ever, like, seen in person?

You know, it's just like, hey, let's go
ass-lighting. And it was just all just,

in all the reviews and stuff, people,
like, in the special personal reviews, I

want to go ass-lighting. In my mind, it
suited.

what I had envisioned, all right? And it
looked like a slide. It looked like

something maybe they might have built
just for that, you know? The unfortunate

thing about that is we're shooting in
Canada. There is no warm water in

Canada. So us going into that mountain
stream, it was probably about 40-degree

water, and we had a wet suit on, which
does no good if you're jumping in and

out of the water. So it was fun and
refreshing.

And so cold, parts of a man disappear.

We'll talk about that some other time.
And I didn't, you know, even in the

dailies, the little vignettes we saw
every day of what they shot the day

before, we never saw that.

So the first time I saw that was at the
premiere.

And the aft sliding, the reason it's my
favorite is because we knew how cold

that water had to be.

So when we saw them hit the water, it
was like, oh, my gosh, that had to hurt.

That had to hurt. That had to be a
one-take wonder, right? That water was

ice.

I mean, it was a killer.

And even though you see it twice in the
movie, they only did it one time because

they were freezing to death.

So what I did was I had felt the water,
and I knew there was going to be

rebellious about doing another one.

So I put two cameras at the end of the
slide. I had one on the side and one

looking right up the slide.

The first time they did it, I used this
angle for them going into the water. And

the last one, I used the one out here
because when they hit the water, the

water just blocked them out to the
camera lens. So they only did it one

time, but I tell you what, I knew they
were good.

I knew I needed blankets and heaters and
things when they came out there.

You over-rotated.

No shit.

One of the other great scenes was the
backflip.

This was like, you know, the coming out
story of BMX. You know, all the riders,

all the bike companies, everybody wanted
to be involved.

You know, Teltrap was sponsored by
7-Eleven, you know, and it was in every

7-Eleven in America. So everyone knew
what we were doing. So we were contacted

about, well, there's this guy who can do
a backflip. A backflip? A backflip.

Okay, we'll put that in. What does that
look like? I couldn't imagine really

what it was going to look like. He went
home and did like a home video or

something, a movie. Sent it up to us. We
looked at it.

We can do this. We'll put this in.

I don't even know how the subject came
up, but we were trying to think of all

kinds of things that we could put in
that had never been done before, never

been seen on film especially.

And we heard about this kid and brought
him up there.

And I said, you know, let me see what it
looks like.

And he built a little ramp and he went
up there and come backward. And I said.

Go no further. That's good enough.

Well, we all knew it was Jose Yanez.
That was the only guy that could do

backflips back then. He was fantastic.

We were teammates on the same bicycle
team at the time.

Even BMX pros, we were just amazed at
what that guy could do. To see him do a

backflip on a bike was insane.

He had toe clips and he would ride.

Jose was not a talented rider. He
couldn't have rode a lap around a BMX

track without crashing.

But the guy could do these backflips.

Oh, man, it was amazing.

And he can't ride. He couldn't ride a
bike. He can't ride from here to there.

He could just do a backflip. He could do
a backflip. The only one in the world.

So, Jose, when he came out doing this
flip, I mean, like, nobody ever thought

of doing flips, you know, and making it.
So, afterwards, I asked him, I said,

how'd you learn to do that? And he said,
he lived at a... on a lake, and they had

a boat ramp out there. And what he'd do,
he built a ramp on the end of the boat

ramp, and he'd come down there, and he'd
do it into the water.

Jose, actually, he was one of the first
guys to perfect a backflip at that time

with that style. He had toe clips on his
bike, and he would practice into a lake,

go off onto a lake over and over again.
So he had a really, really weird style

of doing backflips compared to the X
Games type of styling of backflipping

now. That kid did that thing.

I don't know, half a dozen times, maybe
more, before he did the real backflip.

But landing on those boards and those
mattresses, that wasn't a piece of cake,

you know.

See, if you let your head lead, your
body will just follow naturally.

Really? Mm-hmm. And those lines about,
you know, like on the backflip, you

know, you lead with your head because
your body follows your head. I mean,

that all came from Hal, and he knows
that because Hal knew exactly what he

was talking about in terms of air
awareness and how to flip.

I remember Jose being there, and he
didn't get the backflip immediately.

No. I think he probably did eight times.
A lot of times, yeah.

He would come out and he'd practice his
flip and sometimes he'd make it and

sometimes he wouldn't. But he got paid
per single flip to do that thing.

And this was a big deal. This was like
Neil Armstrong landing on the moon.

Now we've got guys doing double and
triple backflips. Well, Jose was the

pioneer of this and he was the only guy
in the world who could do it. He could

come out and he could do a backflip on a
bike, excuse me.

So in preparing to do this stunt, there
would be complete silence on the set.

Jose, I guess he was a religious guy. He
got religion at that time because he

would get down on his knees and he would
pray that this stunt would go well.

And it blew everyone's mind.

You think now that, you know, the guys
in the X Games, I mean, they're doing

backflips on snowmobiles.

A backflip is no big deal. I'm a fat old
man now, and I can do them on a beach

cruiser. It's just not a big deal now.

But then it was incredible. And to have
a lineup of professional BMX racers

stop what they're doing and just in awe
of what talent, really what

guts that took to do the first one.

And it still is impressive that he did
it so far before anyone else did it.

Yeah, I was on the scene.

on the set when Jose was doing his
famous backflip onto the mattress and I

had to do some insert shots where I fell
into the frame but Jose had to do the

actual shots where he got the wind
knocked out of him.

And it wasn't supposed to work out, so
he was supposed to screw that up. He did

a great job.

Dude, he's a crazy nut.

Jose is just crazy nut.

I think the qualifying scenes, for me,
are the best part of the movie. It shows

these guys, unadorned, going through
parks as fast as they can. And if you

can watch Eddie Fiola and how fast he is
going on one of those one-speed BMX

bikes, you can't believe it.

How was it?

So easy to choke.

Even though we're supposed to be acting,
you're on your bike, you want to make it

look dramatic and all that type of
stuff, once we got going, it was a real

race.

That is still another marvel to me, how
they put that all together, because

all we knew was we would ride for 30
yards, cut, and that was it.

You know, and then two hours later you
go, okay, we're going to ride down this

trail. You're going to ride for 30 yards
and cut.

You know, it took a couple of days of
shooting.

The kids didn't understand. They think
if you're going to do a scene, you're

going to do a race. You just do the
whole race. You know, they don't know.

You have to do it in little bits and
pieces.

So, like, when it's coming down that
real rocky hill with the water and

everything, that was treacherous, you
know.

And so I said, well, let's do it three
or four times. And they went, what,

what, why, why, why? And I said, well, I
got to, you know, I'm doing a qualifying

race. I got to do it three or four
times. But I had to teach them that, you

know, you do it one piece at a time.

They filmed the end five times and they
filmed the corner five times. They

filmed a bunch of it. And then they, you
know, they placed the guys in the right.

numerical order where they're supposed
to be inside the race. We couldn't

understand a sequence because, you know,
Hal had his own system, and all we were

knowing, we were running down, we were
racing through the park, coming back,

racing through the park, going back and
forth, and we never knew how this thing

was going to work out. Once we saw the
dailies, it was incredible how they

really put that thing together.

There's a lot of challenging parts, like
jumping over the hay bale, over the

bridge. The hay bale was there. We saw
it, and since we're freestylers, we just

decided to jump over the hay bale, and
they kept that in there. That was pretty

cool.

speaking line that got cut edited out i
was crushed uh my big can i do it for

you now because i really think i you
deserve you know this this is an academy

award-winning go for it to get that
that's all it was you know i don't

remember who i said it to but i was
supposed to turn to them and this was uh

during the qualifier i turned to the guy
next to me and said go for it that's it

the best stuff left on the editing room
floor Well, in the trials, the prelims,

my character was savagely taken out of
the race, I believe because he was

targeted as a potential threat to all
the racers that would eventually make it

to Hell Track. Oh, man, that's a tough
brake lift. I'm sorry.

Gotta do it for all of us, dude.

So I was taken out, which was
unfortunate. I ended up tackling my

front wheel.

I think that that wheel, they actually
put on a curb and stomped out from what

I remember to get it to take its shape.
It was a very painful stunt performed

not by myself.

But I did watch it and cheer on those
who did it.

Helltrap was the, as they say, set
piece.

of the movie. It was the climactic theme
centered around a fictional track, and

it has elements from almost every
discipline.

The 20-foot drop-off at the beginning,
the little whoopty-doos, the cereal

bowl. These are things you will not find
in conventional BMX racing, but it was

done in such a way that it was exciting.

Essentially, I wrote a 90-page script.

And then I just had a page that said
Hell Track. And then the three of us sat

down night after night. Hal Needham and
Robert Levy and I were talking and

talking. I had Hal going on. Probably
took almost the same amount of time to

write down Hell Track in about 15 pages
than it took to write the previous 90

pages.

That's the truth. To me, that's one of
the real important legacies that Hal

Needham left is that, you know, had the
race track been just an average track,

I think it would have still been cool.

But being a Hollywood stuntman, it had
to be the most outrageous thing that

anybody had seen.

Well, Helltrack was created to be the
gnarliest, hardest, raddest track ever

created in history.

Helltrack was an experience.

I mean, really, if you look at it, it
would have been what...

A prelude to the new Supercross tracks.

BMX back in the 80s, most of the courses
were fairly flat. They didn't have a lot

of banks to the turn.

It was a flat-out drag race. Who was the
fastest from A to B? Whoever got to the

first corner first usually won. That
track was completely different. It was

amped up to the next level. We get to
the site, and you're like, are you

kidding me?

This is not a BMX track. And you see the
one scene where Rick Moliterno's in the

cast? Sign my cast?

That was not fit up. That was a real
deal. The first, second time on the

track to the moguls, he ended up
breaking his ankle. Don't be intimidated

by those guys out there. Just go for it.
Thanks, Rick. Yeah, Rick actually, you

know, with that broken leg and he having
crew sign it, he had actually broken his

leg during rehearsals and practice in
the mogul.

But I got to participate in the building
of the cereal bowl thing. So we had a

little path in the middle of the cereal
bowl, and you had to go up the ramp on

the cereal bowl platform and then off
it.

And so I would test it, and I'd go off
it, and I knew it had a little spring on

it, so I'd pull a little wheelie manual
and jump off.

Well, Chris Phoenix comes on that thing,
and he's riding, and he pulled his front

wheel a little bit premature, and his
front wheel goes over and then under.

With his hand stuck on the handlebars.
No letting go and doing this or bailing

the bike, and he went, and that was a
real... On film. That was like one of

the big smashes of that whole day. He
really got Nick's good. For the rest of

history, Chris Phoenix is our hero
because of that scene. It is so classic.

Two days before he starts filming, it
starts to ring.

Now we've created this mud, I don't know
what you want to call it. There's dirt

everywhere. And now all of a sudden
there's mud everywhere.

How much?

Everything was mushy. Everything was
soft. It was difficult to ride.

Some of the jumps, you can't tell, but
we laid plywood up the face of the jumps

just so we could get air because it was
so soft.

I don't even have stock car teams. I've
been racist with them. In the stock car

world, they use a helicopter to drive
the track.

That track was a mud hole.

And I went, oh, my God, because I didn't
have a big budget on that film. You

know, I was uptight for a time.

And so I called production, said, give
me some helicopters.

And an hour later, there are two
helicopters in the middle of this park,

which I've now closed down. They spent
two days hovering over this track with

helicopter blades. They could drive this
place down.

Everybody was like, what's going on?

Classic Hal Needham. We'll fix it.

What do we need to do? Get us a
helicopter.

Get us a helicopter, quick.

And we had one.

When the first time they went by, there
was water and mud going everywhere.

And as they kept on, it kept getting
less and less. And finally, the bikers,

the riders said, it's good.

It was the most extreme track any of us
had ever seen at the time.

A good example is the Hell Track Hill.
You had 25 of us that looked at that

hill initially and went, no way. We
thought it was a backdrop to the movie.

We didn't know we were actually going to
have to ride down it. You know, showing

up and seeing this three-story downhill
was just...

Unbelievable. There was a lot of the pro
athlete BMXers that were there.

Once they looked down the hill, they had
the same thought. It's like, there's no

way anybody's going to survive this.

That wall costs $100,000.

So I said, if I build this thing, we've
got to use it, you know?

Nobody wanted to ride down it.

Nobody wanted to.

We got there, and the guys got together
with the director and said, we cannot

ride down that.

It's a wall.

Nobody wanted to go down the track the
first time. Nobody wanted to take the

walls the first time. It really was
scary.

When they started, you know, I remember
probably smiling to myself going, wow,

they're kind of scared to go down this
thing. That's pretty cool.

You know, just to stand on top of that
wall was just terrifying.

I mean, that's one of the things that's
so cool is that you have the best riders

in the world, and Hal puts up this hell
track, and all these guys get out there

and go, we're not doing it.

No way are we going down that face.

And I didn't blame him because, you
know, I did hot falls and things as a

stuntman. And I got up there and looked
at it and I said, I wouldn't go off of

here because I'm not a bike rider, you
know. Jose was the first one to

actually, you know, just nut up, stand
up there, roll straight in.

And when he got down to the bottom, he
looped out backwards.

Oh, yeah.

So he goes, well, that didn't work.

Goes back to the top, leans a little
forward, just a little bit forward, and

goes over the handlebars at the very
bottom. I don't know if Jose was quite

all there. Again, he was the only guy
that could do the backflip at the time

because none of the rest of us would try
it. I think they hauled him off because

he was unconscious.

So we're all standing there watching
this going, well, I'm not sure if I

quite want to be next yet. But I think
Jose was the first one to go right from

the top.

Jose, he was kind of like our guinea
pig. We saw how he did it, and we said,

don't do it that way. Yeah. Be the road
cram.

was, you know, a freestyle ramp rider
back then. So they built a ladder, and

he started going up step by step, and he
was actually the first guy to go down

it. Beetle was the first one to go down.
I mean, like on a foot plant and then

dropping in. He had a ladder. He put a
ladder up against the wall, carried his

bike up there, and from the ladder, he
got on his bike and rode down about 20

feet. So what we did is we went up a
couple steps, did like a foot plan off

to the side, and then kind of rolled in.

Went up a little higher, a little
higher, a little higher. As we got to

the top, Beetle was the first one on
top, and he was actually the first one

to roll in to actually from very top to
very bottom. Being that BMX wasn't my

background, skateboarding was, it made
it a lot easier to drop in because that

was skateboarding, you know, dropping
and whatnot.

So when he worked to the bottom, gosh, I
wanted him to go 5 feet up, 10 feet up,

15 feet. And next thing you know, I was
already to the top. The trip was going

to be cut short if, you know, it didn't
happen to do it that day. My dad at the

time was saying, you know, either go
home or make this movie.

And finally did it after about an hour
and a half.

Well, after he did it, being the
youngest guy out there, the rest of the

guys had to go for it, you know. And
from there on, it was no problem.

A cult classic is a movie that can be
viewed and is viewed by a particular

segment of the population again and
again and again.

I think it's years after its initial
viewing.

still inspires people, still remember,
and still moves people, inspires people,

and they remember it fondly when they
rediscover it. They didn't have to be

popular movies, just movies that found
their audience.

Then they're watching, well, that's a
cult classic. Or they remember lines,

like ass-butting, or they remember that
song.

Words that you still remember.

What makes Rad a cult classic is the
fact that a lot of kids took

that VHS tape and watched it over.

And over and over and over and over
again. I know that no matter where I go,

I'm associated with a movie and people
want to ask me about it. So it's got to

be a cult classic.

People watch it religiously over and
over and over again. They learn the

words, they learn the songs.

At that time, they didn't have DVDs. You
had to buy a videotape.

Bicycle shops all over the United States
and I don't know, maybe Canada and the

world and everything else were selling.

tapes in their bicycle shops that's the
interesting thing about rad and i think

that's one of the things that's turned
it into a bit of a cult classic is that

the kids loved it and they wanted it and
they figured out a way to get it through

blockbuster video and rentals and stuff
i think that's where the studio probably

made most of their money and then it
started to catch on and then The tapes

and things started really going out the
door. And it built that reputation.

And from there on, it just kept growing.

I can't believe the color classic.

I mean, I think we're just proud that
people...

still remember and still are inspired,
still remember the movie. I'm always

honored and I'm always humbled by the
interest in this. I think it's great

it's a cult classic. I have no problem
accepting it. People keep asking me this

question. To be a cult classic means you
have to be old to begin with. Well, you

are. So I don't believe it. I'm not
going to give in to that question. I'm

not ready to hang above it. Well, you
always say you're old.

People think it's that, and it's
inspired people, and they remember it,

and they want to think it's a classic,
and it makes you feel great. We're

making a movie about a bunch of guys on
bikes who do spins and dance on bikes.

People thought we were from Mars.

Forget about it. Yeah, I remember. It
was a very sort of... Classic. I mean,

you know, what are you talking about?

People think it's a cult classic, and I
agree with it, because look what it's

done to...

bmx and and to the fans you find a rad
fan they're a fan i had a guy come in

the other day in my office from dhl he
was delivering a package and he saw a

poster of rad and he almost fell over
he's like 45 years old dhl delivery guy

and he said i can sing every word in
every song i know every line in that

movie i can't believe i'm meeting you
and i don't think he knew i was ever a

gymnast he just connected with me with
rad i think it's become a classic and i

i think i've done two movies that become
a classic i think smoky and the bandit

has become a classic so uh the 10 i've
done i've had two classics out of it

that ain't all bad well i think the
thing that makes rad watchable over and

over again is The kind of G-rated nature
of it, the kind of Frankie and Annette

innocence that it portrays, and then
it's interspersed with all this amazing

action. Perrin liked it. It was kind of
clean cut. It had to be a little edgy at

the time, because you had the word hell
and hell track, or you had the little

girl say what she said.

Shit. Yeah.

Oh, shit.

Well, you little shit.

Oh, shit.

That is bullshit. No shit.

Young kids liked it. The older kids
liked it. The hardcore BMXers may or may

not have liked it, but they're thankful
that it represented BMX. Every kid looks

back on that point in their life, that
time in their life, when we were just

enjoying life to the fullest, just out
on our BMX bike, riding the trails or

hitting the jumps.

That's the part of life we look back and
we cherish.

It could be for anybody.

You know, everyone has it through in
them. The fans wouldn't let this movie

go. To me, that's what made it.

magical. The kids wanted it. Now, it may
not have made a lot of sense in the big

dollar Hollywood box office accounting,
but it connected with kids.

These were just kids with bikes hopping
curbs, and all of a sudden there was a

movie for them.

And to me, it was the fans that make it
a cult classic.

It's a great story. It's not just
similar to what most of us probably did

in our own way.

There's a lot of great action footage
out there, but as every director knows,

if you don't have an emotional
connection to the characters, it's not

going to mean that much. So they were
able to create these characters that

people related to that were able to do
these extraordinary things.

And it's what the film is asking you to
do, whether your passion is BMX or

piloting or writing for a living, is
find that passion.

And then stick with it no matter what.
And I'm telling you, this message rings

through the ages. And I get email on a
daily basis saying what that movie

has meant to people for that reason.

How often does it come into my day?
Well, you know, every day. I try to

start my morning, I watch a few minutes.
You know, I always go to the

introduction part, you know, with me.
But it'll come up in conversations about

BMX, or as soon as they hear the name
Hollywood, they know. Hollywood McMoran

from the movie Rad happens all the time,
publicly.

I get messages on Facebook and Twitter
sometimes. Not a week goes by where

somebody doesn't run up to me and say
something about Rad.

I'm a musician. I do other acting jobs.
But this thing is something that has

really taken a hold.

And I don't think I would be doing
myself or the sport a service if I

didn't pay attention to that.

Because the story is classic. And that's
why Paper Route is so great. Because all

the kids were running Paper Routes.

or want to go out and have freedom. You
want your bike and you want to jump over

that fence and you want to do these
things to show your freedom and show

your guts. There's a simplicity to it.
And that doesn't change because, you

know, that's the roots it has.

It's a very well-loved movie. We went
and saw it when it was released. It was

only in the theaters for a week, maybe
two weeks.

Officially, it was somewhat of a flub.
It didn't make it well in the theaters

originally. But the fan base has just
grown exponentially through the

Internet. It's got legs, and I'm not
sure I ever anticipated that. You know,

the movie lasted about a minute and a
half in the theaters, and yet here we

are now over 30 years later still
talking about rad. It's kind of crazy.

Well, a lot of these kids now that are
being introduced to the movie are second

- or third-generation BMXers, so their
dads are saying...

As dads will do, this is the movie you
need to see because it was important to

me, so I think we're getting a lot of
fans that way.

They're learning about it from their
fathers, and so they're educating these

kids of where the history of BMX really
came from. The movie Rad is important

because it captures that part of our
lives when we were young and innocent.

Our greatest joy in life was riding our
bike.

I think that the reason they love the
movie the way they do, the way they've

latched onto it, is because they love
BMX.

And if you love BMX, Rad is your movie.

I can't really explain why it still
matters, but it does.

And to me, that's really powerful,
because it connected with these young

men and these young women at a very
impressionable age.

And it's part of their youth.

And they want to stay connected to that.
Get them on a bike, it'll keep them from

having a gun in their hand, robbing
stores, smoking dope.

I mean, it's kind of the only BMX movie
that's ever really been out there.

There's the BMX Bandits, but that wasn't
really BMX. This was actually about

racing and, you know, a local kid.

Coming out of nowhere to race the big
guys, the big factory riders, you know,

all the kids that saw it think, okay,
maybe I can do that. It showed that

sometimes it was going to be hard, but
you could do it. You could get past

whatever those struggles were just to
get out and ride your bike. And if it

was racing like it was for me, you know,
I had to overcome obstacles myself to be

able to race.

And I think if it connects to me that
way, I'm sure it connects to a lot of

kids too.

I've talked to Tony Hawk and guys like
that who are icons in the extreme sports

world, and a lot of them point to Rad as
being sort of the seminal moment for

extreme sports.

And I think it deserves the credit, and
I think that goes back once again to Hal

Needham. He didn't want an average
track. He wanted something so outrageous

that your jaw would drop.

It's unrealistic to think that somebody
could ride this track. He set it up, and

the pro stepped up and did it. It took
Eddie Fiola and Martin and Pat Romano,

and it's like they were standing around
in their lab coats, you know, figuring

out these tricks and how to perfectly
execute them. Before Rad, we had one

drywaller in Arizona who could hit a
backflip, and now we got a guy doing

triple backflips.

I think stream sports is not going to go
away. It's going to get better and

better. And I think as long as people
remember and always be looking back and

finding the roots of these things, then
Red will be around.