They said, “Okay, enough bikes-we’ll buy you a car when you’re 16.” But that didn’t have a lot of meaning to an 8-year-old kid, and it made me different in a lot of ways. They saw my brother nearly get killed on his bicycle and that was it. Was there a reason your parents wouldn’t let you ride? Play icon The triangle icon that indicates to play It’s kind of funny-it’s something I always aspired to but never really had the opportunity to until just recently. I rode my friends’ bikes often and without my parents’ permission, so I’d always dreamed of having a bicycle and being a cyclist for many years then it just happened by accident. I was over-protected as a child and wasn’t even allowed a bicycle. They had me sit on a Mongoose bicycle, and probably six weeks later I was up in Calgary shooting. Hal Needham saw me on that show and brought me in to read for RAD, which consisted of just a quick read. Plus, he shares a few details about a third BMX film on the way.īicycling: Were you a BMX rider before getting cast in RAD?īill Allen: No I came out to Los Angeles as an actor with no real experience with BMX, and I was on an episode of Hill Street Blues, which is an old cop show. Here he talks about how he started riding BMX, what it’s like to be a cult hero, and some of the biggest changes in the sport since RAD came out. Now, after a 30-year drought in BMX film, the 52-year-old actor has a new role in Heroes of Dirt, the first cinematic BMX movie to be released since. Next thing we know they might put it on T-shirts at Sam Goody & take all the fun out of it.Since 1986, Bill Allen has been primarily recognized for one iconic part-the role of BMX racer Cru Jones in the cult classic RAD. (And so is everyone else you've shown it to.) Either way you'd better get your insider-status and enjoy this movie now. It's got that same sort of odd quality that a "Duck Tales" or a "Saved by the Bell" episode has: You can't explain why on earth you're still watching & enjoying it as an intelligent adult. And it's too bad this movie was made before the era of "goof reels" during the end credits, because they probably got some real whoppers on film during this production.) I can quote every line of this movie, but I still can't put my finger on what aspect of it makes it hold up so well. (Think: "Jackass" but not so intentional. And for that 13-year-old, it's plenty of fun watching a character in "Rad" just trying to learn an (outdated) backflip move in the schoolyard using a hockey helmet & some old bed mattresses. In real life the average 13-year-old spends weeks teaching himself to do a decent bunny hop. Yes, of course it's outdated now, and modern X-games riders like Dave Mirra can demonstrate a lot more technical skill on multi-directional spins & stuff, but ultimately that's beside the point. The bicycle stuntwork in "Rad" is stellar. The whole thing feels sorta like a cheesy 80's sitcom doing its big 2-hour episode for sweeps week, and the network gave it some money for a real location shoot & some extra cuss words. everything about the production is reasonably serviceable for the era, but certainly not GOOD either. The plot, the acting, the characters, the one-liners. It's one of those movies that unintentionally became a cult flick just by being so straightforward. Nothing particularly original or interesting about it, but for some reason it withstands repeated viewings and still seems like fun. It's your basic "High-school dork beats bully & gets girl using his worthless social-outcast skill that everyone in this little universe is oddly obsessed with" (happens all the time in the 80's).
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