Our new edition of RAD has been remastered in Dolby Vision from the original uncompressed TIFF sequences, which have not been accessed since our original UHD release in 2020. Side note: RAD was the original inspiration for our VSU line, so we are thrilled to finally bring RAD to the Sub-Label it helped kick off. Big thanks again to our partners at Utopia Distribution for helping us put together this special 40th anniversary package!
High schooler Cru Jones is the fastest and most talented BMX rider in his small logging town. When Duke Best, owner of the Mongoose bicycle company, decides to hold a competition at a nearly impossible-to-complete BMX course named Helltrack, Cru decides it's his destiny to compete in the race, which offers a $100,000 cash prize. But unknown to Cru, Duke only concocted the race as a publicity stunt to promote his own top rider, Bart Taylor, and plans to do everything in his power to keep the unsponsored Cru from entering. To make matters even more complicated, Cru soon learns that the race is scheduled the same day he's supposed to take the SATs and finds himself with a choice between his future in college and a race where all the odds are stacked against him...
Among the most beloved films to emerge from the mid '80s BMX bike craze, RAD has earned an ever-growing cult audience, and its stars include Bill Allen (Streamers), Lori Loughlin (The New Kids), two-time Academy Award nominee Talia Shire (Rocky, The Godfather), Golden Globe nominee Jack Weston (Dirty Dancing), Ray Walston (Fast Times at Ridgemont High), H.B. Haggerty (The Big Brawl), Marta Kober (Friday the 13th Part 2), and actual Olympic champion Bart Connor. Directed by prolific stuntman/filmmaker Hal Needham (Smokey and the Bandit) and featuring stunning photography by Richard Leiterman (Stephen King's It [1990]), this exuberant, fast-paced inspiration for scores of future BMX enthusiasts makes its long-awaited Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD debut from Vinegar Syndrome, in a brand new, breathtaking 4K restoration from its original 35mm camera negative.