A small-town BMX rider competes for his chance when a big competition comes to his town. The Bad Movie Classic RAD receives an upgraded 4k UHD and Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.
The Movie
Quick rhyme: Rad is bad. Rad is not a good movie in the traditional sense. But before you put my hand in the spokes of your tricked-out BMX bike, let me continue. But it’s freakin’ awesome. Rad, directed by Hal Needham, is the best kind of bad. Pure cheesy entertainment, made with a level of love and sheer enthusiasm that bursts off the screen. It’s a movie that fails as a movie but wins the race as an entertainment delivery system by making the wrong choice at just about every juncture. It’s small but thinks big. It severely overestimates BMX’s popularity. It has the blandest lead. It has some of the most inhuman-like dialogue delivered awkwardly.
But it has BMX DANCING.
BMX DANCING. That scene, perhaps the one most known to non-Rad enthusiasts, is crying and laughing so hard that it exists, and they gave it their all. This incredibly silly but done so stone-faced and straight up makes it something special. Said sequence comes in at thirty minutes and transforms a funny bad flick into a classic of bad movies.
Rad is a pure delight of so many strange things. I have questions. If BMX is so damned big, with a rival guy ready to sell merch like hell, is everything so tiny? If it’s a cool thing, why is the lead kid, Cru, treated like shit, and why are he and his friends made fun of until he wins the hometown entry race? Where did the other qualifier entrants come from? Does the small town think the Helltrack is actually going to bring in a continued cash flow? The shifty sponsor, representing Mongoose, a real company that had to sign off on it, has to be making some under-the-table tax write-off on this. How many times did George Lucas watch this, planning the podrace? Who thinks Ass Sliding looks fun? What is Ray Walston up to? He’s treating this like a very different movie than everyone else, with a bizarre performance. The script overall is something else: flat, strange writing by Sam Bernard and Geoffrey Edwards, off-kilter. I can’t imagine too many people being able to sell it, especially witha director who is better at making vehicles moving look cool than he is at having people interact
Why does Lori Loughlin, fresh from The New Kids, drop EVERYTHING to hook up with our sad-sack hero, played by Bill Allen? Lori Loughlin rides circles around everyone, although her performance slides between confusion, revulsion, and a “damn, do I want this guy who looks like a sad, melted oldest brother from the Brady Bunch.” What is her purpose on the “villain” (but barely villains) team? She comes in with the Mongoose team as the Best Female Rider but is mainly meant to be eye candy? Speaking of the women characters, cool to see Sandra from Friday the 13th Part II!
More questions: Why does Talia Shire (who produced this with her husband Jack Schwartzman) treat BMX like it killed the lead’s dad? How did they get Hal Needham to make this? Look, Hal is NOT a good director. He lucked out with Smokey and the Bandit 1, thanks to Burt Reynolds’ sheer charisma. The rest? Sorry, but both Cannibal Ball runs, the other SIX Smokey and the Bandits, the other Reynolds action flicks, and the Barry Bostwick cheesefest Megaforce? Not so good. However, it is very good at action and chases, thanks to his stuntman background. While Rad’s might be much lower-scale and a little off being on bikes and all (ET glares at me for that), it still has great moments when it’s movement-based over people, like, ugh, talking. Helltrack looks intimidating.
Rad falls into the semi-genre of films that take things far too seriously and get pushed off in the real world: Gymkata, BMX Bandits, Thrashin’, Breakin’, American Anthem, and the like. And I love it.
It’s Rad.
Trivia: The guys who play the Twins on the Mongoose Team went on to write The Conjuring movies.
Packaging and Presentation
Vinegar Syndrome puts Rad and its features on three discs: 1 4k UHD and two Blu-rays. The 4k and 1st Blu-ray are the same, with all non-commentary features on the 2nd Blu-ray. Two discs are on a flipper, with the third on the right side of the black 4k case. The image on all three discs is a checkerboard pattern. It has a reversible sleeve with original artwork and a new cover by JJ Henderson. It slides into a cardboard O-sleeve. One side of the O-sleeve is the Rad Racing logo, and the other is another poster of the film. This, along with the booklet (made to look like a Rad Racing magazine), goes inside a neat, oversized box. Said box closes with a magnetic
The transfer is scanned and restored in 4k from the 35mm, upgraded for Dolby Vision. It looks damned good. It’s cleaned up and sharp, but purposely retains enough grain to keep the 35mm lived-in look. Sound is 5.1 and 2.0 stereo in English, with English subtitles.
The Features
RAD, after decades of obscurity, has had a rash of releases. Vinegar Syndrome released a 4K UHD in 2020, and Mill Creek followed a year later. Now in 2026, VS upgrades their previous release. So some of the stuff here is archival, but it’s a solid set of new additions, including the Rad documentary. None of the new Mill Creek features made it to this release (3 interviews and a Q/A totaling about an hour). But no worries, so much otherwise to ride the Helltrack with.
The UHD Disc and the first Blu-ray contain the movie and five commentaries.
- Talia Shire and Robert Schwartzman (archival)
Shire and her late husband produced it, and she plays Cru’s mom. Robert is one of her sons. A solid chat, as she talks about working on both sides of the camera, the fun of the filming, and the film’s messages. She sounds lovely, and Robert does a good job of jogging her memory and steering the conversation. I loved the bits where they were just mom and son talking. Endearing.
2. Bill Allen (archival)
An actor solo track can sometimes be a gulp to be ready for awkwardness. But Allen is great! He’s well aware of the film’s silliness and leans into it, but he also shares great stories from the set and the excitement of making it.
3. Bill Allen, Bart Connnor, BMX Riders, and writer Sam Bernard (archival)
A highly entertaining track. The set of seven guys has a blast goofing off and chatting. With so many, they have a ton of great stories and build off one another. Solid riffing and honest storytelling.
4. Joe Lynch and Becca Howard (new)
The new commentary gives the outsider talk, giving the wider fan appreciation of the film’s history and reputation. They give the who’s who, much trivia, and bring yet another fun commentary.
- How Did This Get Made? (new; to this release from the June 22, 2018 episode)
What’s up, jerks!?! I didn’t see Rad as a kid, or as a bad-movie-enthusiast adult, until I got to this episode of one of my favorite podcasts. Not a new release, but the episode devoted to the film put over the film.
Disc 3
The Rad Documentary (new)
This 2025 retrospective is a solid look back at the film, its creation, and continued cult success. It’s a ton of fun and provides even more insight and BTS than the commentaries. It seems like everyone had a great time, if not a little grueling, with the filming of the biking sequences. The sheer enjoyment of everyone working together shines through the film. (63m)
Trailer for The Rad Doc- focuses on the wild aspects of the film (1:25)
Rad Day Q&A (new)
Ed Helms leads a video call between Bill Allen, Bart Connor, and Rob Schwartzman. After so many commentaries and the doc, a bit repetitive to the others, but Helms focuses slightly differently. Didn’t know Robert is the lead singer for Rooney and was the love interest in Princess Diaries. Never made that connection. (43m)
Revisiting Rad (new)
The Confused Breakfast podcast episode from March of 2025, just before the Rad Documentary premiered. The group covered Rad in 2022 and returns with the documentary’s context. They show real appreciation and, like the fan commentary, offer the perspective of people who grew up with the film and love off-kilter movies. (67m)
The Stuntman Directs (archival)
Hal Needham, who died in 2013, gives an interview at a BMX event. Needham talks about working the stunts, a love of how it works, and filmmaking. I might not be a fan of his movies, but I love hearing him talk (he’s all over the doc with this same interview) (16m)
Write Something Rad (archival)
The writers reflect on their process in crafting the film, working with the producers, and the film’s history (17m)
Rad at 25 (archival)
Clips and bits from a 25th anniversary event. Fun stuff. (9m)
Cast and crew (archival)
From the previous event, a handful of the actors and stunt riders reflect the film and their parts within. (25m)
Archival EPK (1986)
Starting with some fun, silly bike history, folks reporting from the set. (5m)
Archival interviews (1986)
Awesome to see the same folks we see as older folks looking back, giving their contemporary thoughts on set. As noted in the documentary, they seemed to have a great time. (11m)
Break the Ice video (1986)
Cheese-tastic 80s Movie Inspirational Power Ballad. Love it. (4m)
Photo gallery
Two of the bike riders share their photos (4m)
Intro by Bill Allen (2020)
Allen gives a quick how ya do (1m)
Trailer
Deliciously cheesy (2m)
Booklet
A wonderful 80-page bound booklet made to look like a RAD RACING magazine. Fun to see the replications of the articles seen in the film’s magazines. Featuring the standard cast and crew, it also includes fake ads, track maps, faux contemporary bits, and a few essays. The essays discuss Hal Needham and his career, how it relates to Rad, and a love letter to film from Kentucky Audley, who watched it too much in their youth and grew up to direct Strawberry Mansion.
Final Notes
Rad is, well, rad. I love this ridiculous cult-sensation B-movie. While I also came to it late, I’m glad it’s finally getting more due with more readily available discs and streams. This disc, building from Vinegar Syndrome’s previous edition, is awesome, filled to the brim with features and appreciations. If you like your movies with a whole lot of lovin’ goofy “I can’t believe this exists”, Rad is for you.