Rad Reviews

In an acting stretch, Olympic gymnast Bart Conner made his screen debut here as a BMX bike champion; what's more, the former national hero assumes the role of movie bad guy. The plot concerns a small town's effort to gain publicity and funds through the building of a BMX racing course and promotional race. Not realizing the bigwigs behind the competition are corrupt to the gills, a local BMX nut, young Cru (Bill Allen), enters tryouts for the race, convinced he has a chance to beat the BMX factory-sponsored champ, Bart Taylor (Conner). The whole town rallies behind Cru, giving him the financial sponsorship to compete in the big race, and when the big day arrives, both Cru and the unethical Bart learn a few things about themselves. Conner's screen debut is inauspicious--to put it kindly--in the quality of both his acting and the material chosen, and someone else is obviously doing his riding. The commercial endorsement-studded RAD was directed by Hal Needham, the brains behind such triumphs as CANNONBALL RUN, and as might be expected, the film's most entertaining aspects are the many good-looking stunts.