Happy Hell Track Day

It's Hell Track Day today.

Last year I explained what Hell Track Day was and where it came from. I also put off the question of how we're supposed to celebrate it until this year.  I still don't know. I'll try to come up with something in 2026, I guess.

Rad References in Hot Rod

 

In a previous post I mentioned that "Rad" is available on AltaVod and that one of the special features is an interview between Jorma Taccone (of The Lonely Island) and the cast. Jorma makes it clear that he is a huge fan and says he put "a ton" of "Rad" references into his own works. I thought it would be fun to go through some of them.

First, the phrase "set to jet" used in the "Rad" dance scene is in "MacGruber."

"Hot Rod" and "Rad" are both bike movies, culminating in a big event at the end with crowded bleachers. 

Rod's uniform often has a big star on it, reminiscent of Cru's outfit for the big race.

Both Rod and Cru get special outfits before the big race replete with stars.

Rod's friends' "Team Rod" t-shirts, are clearly referencing "Rad Racing." In both movies, the friends wear them to show support in the big climactic event.

Wesley's "Charming-Check, Witty-Check, etc" shirt is recreated for Richardson in "Hot Rod."

And in both movies, the villains drive a red corvette.

There may be more references that I didn't catch and there are other cases where it's hard to tell the difference between a reference and a coincidence.

Finally, there's a similarity that's a bit of a riddle. In "Hot Rod," Rod gets gifted a new bike in honor of the big event at the end. When Cru is gifted a new bike for Hell Track only in the deleted scene that I grew up with and remembered. Did Jorma watch the same version that I did or is this just a complete coincidence?

Rad on AltaVod

Unbeknownst to me, a special "Superfan" edition of "Rad" was released on AltaVod in 2020. It includes "original bonus footage and an exclusive Q&A with the Rad cast, moderated by The Lonely Island's Jorma Taccone." I bought it, mostly to define exactly what the bonus footage is.

Before the bonus footage, obviously there is a remastered version of the movie. It looks good.

Bonus footage. First, there is the aforementioned interview with the cast. It includes Bart Conner, Bill Allen, the co-writer of the script Sam Bernard and the producer/actor Talia Shire. It's a fairly standard interview with many of the stories and factoids that we've heard already. There's one notable thing within it and I'll be making a post about that later.

Secondly, there is a promotional "making of" film from the time of the movie's release. Aside from the novelty of a 1980s documentary (it reminds me of "Plymouth International Ice Spectacular"), it's mostly just filler: how the movie was made, who's in it, constructing Hell Track, footage from the set. There is one gem. It contains an alternate angle of "Hollywood" Mike Moranda's second dramatic exit of the day. That is the gold nugget in the tons and tons of dirt. Will we ever again uncover more footage of his iconic wipeout? I doubt it. I would share a screenshot but the image is interlaced and so the still looks so bad it's not worth sharing.

Finally, there are interviews with Bart Conner, Bill Allen, Lori Loughlin and Hal Needham. The interviews were conducted at the time that the movie was being made. Aside from the fact that interviews with Hal Needham seem fairly rare, and you learn a little bit more about the actors, it's standard stuff.

And that's it. The movie and special features are all combined into a single video file, which is annoying, but in keeping with the experience of a VHS.

A Rad Documentary Trailer

A trailer for "A Rad Documentary" has been released on youtube.

Thanks to Vic for the news tip.

Rad Day is Next Week

 

You may recall that last year "Rad Remastered" was released to theaters on Rad Day. Well, they're doing it again. 

"Rad" will be re-re-released shown in theaters March 20th. Last year's iteration promised "new footage" and I speculated that the extra footage might be the Rad Documentary that was never released. While the extra footage last year turned out to be a new interview with some of the cast, this year's release will be a "double feature" alongside the world premiere of the never-before-seen documentary "A Rad Documentary."

I looked everywhere for a "A Rad Documentary" trailer and found nothing except this trailer for the double feature event has about 2 seconds of documentary footage.... in fact, it maybe 1 second.

I don't know how it's possible to release a movie in 2025 without a trailer on youtube, but ok, here's a BOOTLEG of the trailer that was shown in 2021:

The really exciting thing about the documentary, to me, is that, yes, it does include Hollywood Mike Miranda.

Bear in mind that Rad Day is officially March 21st, though the Fathom theatrical event is March 20th.

Does Rad Take Place in Kentucky?

 

Early on in the film, Cru takes a consent form to his mom to allow him to race in Hell Track (really the qualifying race). 

The text is as follows:

HELL TRACK MINOR RELEASE FORM

(PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING BEFORE SIGNING)

In applying to enter any or all of the above mentioned races, I the racer & I/we the parent/guardian, hereby release all the rights and claims which I may have against you arising from conditions related to use of the track or track area or as a result thereof. Each of the undersigned expressly agree that the foregoing release waiver holds harmless and indemnifies National Bicycle League, Schwinn Bicycle Company, Levi Strauss & Co., its directors, owners and possessors of Derby City BMX Association, the Kentucky Department of Parks, and E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park.

Parent/Gdn. Signature _____

Date Signed: _____

Rider's Signature: _____

Date Signed: _____

Aside from the most important thing - that St. Louis beat Houston - there are some interesting nuggets here. I never knew that Hell Track was sponsored by Levi Strauss, all the signage in the movie says 7-11 and Chief Auto Parts. 

But then aside from that, why would they have to agree not to sue the Kentucky Department of Parks unless the race is supposed to take place in Kentucky?

Of course we know from the magazine article (and I think other places?), that the film takes place in Oregon. I suppose even within the props department, there was some disagreement. And by the way, E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park does exist in Kentucky (Louisville) but no Cochran or Cochrane Kentucky exists (at least on google maps), but there is a Cochran Oregon, of course.

The SATs in Rad

 

Ask anyone on the street what "Rad" is about and you're likely to be hear someone drone on about BMX bike racing and how Bart Taylor is "the man." But, at its core, "Rad" is essentially about the SATs - and specifically about scheduling the SATs.

Early in the movie, when Cru brings a consent form for his mother to sign. She looks at the form (which doesn't have a date on it, more on that later) and says "Isn't that the day you're supposed to make up your SATs?"

Did you ever notice that she says "make up." Doesn't this mean that he already missed them once? Later on in the movie, he's told that the conflict between Hell Track and the SATs could be resolved by simply taking the SATs at a later date and it seems like this is revelatory for him. But if he's rescheduled once, shouldn't it be obvious that he can reschedule again? 

So this is the second time he's putting them off. He's missing the SATs that he already missed.

And why didn't he take them the first time? What, the local yokel was too busy with his paper route? Pfff.

Happy Hell Track Day

 Earlier this year, we were told that Rad Day was March 21st, the day "Rad" was originally released. But today is Hell Track Day.

Near the beginning of the movie Cru sees the following sign on a picket fence: 

"7-11 (and) Chief Auto Parts 

Presents Hell Track

Coming to Cochrane." 

It looks like this (through cheap VHS):

But that differs from the original script which stated:

"7-11 & Chief Auto Parts

Presents

HELL TRACK!

Coming to Cochran, June 26th"

That's today.

Not only is there no date in the movie, it's pretty clear to me that it takes place in Fall - school is in session, the leaves are changing. On the other hand, SATs are given in the Spring. 

Not one to make unsubstantiated claims, I would link to the original script here but the uploaded script  has been completely scrubbed from the internet (as far as I can tell) and the only remaining information about it to determine what it said is my own blog...

Rad - Top Ten Script Anomalies (10-6)

Rad - Top Ten Script Anomalies (5-1)

So I remember the June 26th date and you'll just have to trust me.

Happy Hell Track Day. Today's the day where we ride bikes(?) or do back flips or eat Kix? Maybe we should make one or two dramatic exits. I haven't worked out all the details. Let's start building the mythology next year.

Rad Remastered (2024)

What is "Rad Remastered?" We were told that there was "additional footage" and that there was a Q&A hosted by Ed Helms. As it turns out, the Q&A WAS the additional footage. That was it. That was the whole thing.

The print was the same quality as the previous "Rad" releases in theaters. Evidently the sound was also different, they said that it was never 5.1 before and so that was new also. I can't confirm.

The Q&A included Bill Allen, Bart Conner and Jack Schwartzman's (the producer's) son.

When viewing movies on the big screen, I like to look at the edges of the screen to notice the finer details. Most of that work was done in the previous two times I saw "Rad" in the theater. But there was a thing or two. The last time I saw it, I wanted to get a better look at Cru's mom's license plate to see what state it was. I did that this time but the writing is just beyond the edge of discernment. At the bottom it says 3 words and the 3rd word is "county" I think.

The other small observation was that Rod and Rex's "girlfriend" has very distinctly brown hair in the dancing scene and then in the next scene, walking down the street, it's blonde.

There was a pre-movie trivia onscreen. One of the factoids (probably taken from imdb) says "The character of Cru is loosely based off of Eddie Fiola, who did most of Bill Allen's stunts in the film." The second part is undoubtedly true but the first part I don't believe for a second. I have never heard this. Can anyone confirm?

The first two times I saw "Rad," the theater was 25%-50% full. For some reason, this time it was 80% full. I couldn't figure out why or what made the difference. It couldn't have been the "additional footage" because the place cleared out after the movie as if they didn't know it was coming. The audience was also livelier - there were people laughing, singing along to the songs and there was applause when Cru won Helltrack (spoilers.) It could have been my imagination but I think some people behind me even reacted to the part where the race onlookers react to Cru wiping out before he actually wipes out. In both cases that takes a savvy audience.

Rad Remastered Trailer and Info

 The new trailer for Rad Remastered reveals that Rad Remastered will be the movie "Rad".

So... Not very helpful.

But then the Marcus Theaters page has one additional nugget:

"This special event will also include an exclusive Q&A moderated by RAD super fan Ed Helms (The Hangover)."

So is the Q&A going to fill 40 minutes? Q&A with who? More updates hopefully to come. 

Rad Remastered to be Released in Theaters; What is Rad Remastered?

 

Fandango, and other sites, confirm that "Rad Remastered" will be released to theaters March 21st. But what is that?

Not many details to go on. The runtime is listed as 2h15m which means it is about 40 minutes longer than the official version. Bill Allen confirmed on facebook that there will be "added footage".... which makes sense, I would assume they didn't make the runtime longer by playing it slower, but what is the footage? The first thing that comes to my mind would be to include the deleted scenes about which so much has been made, but even if that's the case, that would only account for 3 minutes of the 40.

At the 35th Anniversary release, they played a trailer for a new "Rad" documentary that was being made. That documentary, as far as I can tell, never came out. I wonder if this could be a way to hook people into seeing that in the theater as a pre-movie "extra." 

The poster states "Celebrate Rad Day March 21." It's my guess that "Rad Day" just means that it's going to be in theaters on the anniversary of the original release (March 21, 1986).

So, what is going on? I don't know. Will post again if additional information is released.

Thanks to Victor for the heads up.

A Few More Observations from Rad Live and a Letter Concerning Toleration

 Watching "Rad" on the big screen, especially in contrast to the letterboxed VHS tapes, you really see so many more details that you never have before. When I saw "Rad" last year I noted many such details. Seeing it again, I have just a few more...

First, the big one: in one of the "Rad" deleted scenes, in preparation for the big race, Cru is gifted "the Murray from your store." That Murray, the shop owner and the store are established in the opening "walk this sucker" montage. The store is 7-11. The bike:

The bike has a sign on it. I wish I had memorized it from the theater but it's like a prize for Hell Track or an advertisement or something.

The store owner is someone Cru delivers to on his route:

In the scene where Cru is tempted by The Devil and resists the temptation, the trash can in the background is Pac-Man themed. The opening on the left is Pac-Man, the opening on the right is Ms. Pac-Man. She has a bow in her hair.

The third thing is a repetition... I am once again reminded that every Rad shirt available for purchase on the web is inaccurate to the props in the movie. Oh well.

In the era before this blog, I did some in-depth research to try to figure out where Cochran was. I believe I found it was in Canada, perhaps because imdb lists one of the shooting locations for the movie as Cochrane, Canada. Of course that's a dead end of sorts because the fictional Cochran was in the U.S.. Regardless, the decoding of the BMX magazine has already revealed the Cochran of the movie is in Oregon. It should be noted that the spelling is not consistent even within the movie: sometimes "Cochrane," sometimes "Cochran."

That said, seeing the movie on the big screen, I noticed the license plates in a way I never have before:

You can see how front-and-center this one is but it just blends into the VHS brown fuzz. I was able to find Oregon license plates from the past that look like that but not from the 1980s and not for passenger vehicles. This one is left to the viewer. Someone with access to the higher res will hopefully be able to take a look.

Finally, in preparation for this post, I found an old email of mine that notes there is a sign in the film that labels the date of Hell Track as June 26th. I don't have the original source on this, I don't know where I got it from but I trust myself. Somehow I never followed through with commemorating that day... we should all add it to our calendars.

Reminder: Rifftrax Live: Rad in 1 Week

 

Just a reminder that "Rifftrax Live: Rad" is showing in theaters in one week, 8/17. Get your tickets.

Don't get left out... If I were you, I'd go over there and buy as many as you can!

Rifftrax Live is Doing Rad

 Rifftrax has announced a new Kickstarter - they will be riffing over the 1986 BMX classic "Rad." Does anything else need to be said?

One thing that should be said is the tier that allows you to contribute a riff is already sold out. That was probably my only purpose in life and I didn't get a chance.

The live event is August 17th, so still a lot of time.

I wanted to list the stretch goals but don't see any listed.

Ask Max (1986) and its Place in the BMX Movie Pantheon

Somewhere on the internet someone suggested that there was this movie, "Ask Max," about a kid who invents a bike that can jump by the press of a button. This sparked my memory as something I had seen...

The movie stars Chunk from "The Goonies" as the kid inventor and aired as a Disney made-for-tv movie in November of 1986. It has a super-rare running time of 44 minutes, which turns out to be a great length for a children's movie, in my opinion.

The story is a standard setup which launches a somewhat unconventional story. Max is a kid inventor who's unrealistically smart but his inventions are always getting him into trouble. Max is also bullied by the jocks and has his eye on the prettiest girl in school. He's also fatherless which isn't explained and his mom sometimes has trouble paying the bills.

So he invents a bikes that's super rad because it does sweet jumps over cars and stuff.

So this is where things turn. In order to help his mom with the bills, he sells his bike invention to a major corporation and he includes in the contract that he gets to be on the Board of Directors. So you can imagine it's a slight oddity that this Disney movie... meant for kids... then turns its attention away from the sweet BMX bike in order to have discussions on breech of contract, gross profits, product lines and layoffs.

Then, with his newfound money, the story becomes a Richie Rich/Blank Check story, as a kid is suddenly able to buy anything he wants. Then, the story returns back to the corporate world as Max tries to save a plant from being shut down.

Nothing about the movie sparked any memory whatsoever except for the idea of a bike that jumps automatically, which, strangely, accounts for a very minor amount of running time. It feels like the bike that jumps is featured for 5 minutes before getting to the real meat of corporate greed. Still, assuming there isn't a second movie with this exact plot device, I am left to assume that this is the movie I remember from childhood.

So, if you're having trouble keeping track, here is the rundown:

• "Rad" is a movie about a high-school kid who races against the pros in a BMX race. It features Ray Walston.
• "Ask Max" is a movie about a little kid who builds a BMX bike that can jump. It features Ray Walston.
• "The Dirt Bike Kid" is a movie about a little kid who gets a magical dirt bike that can fly.
• "The Skateboard Kid" is a movie about a little kid who gets a magical skateboard that can fly (and talk).
• "BMX Bandits" is a movie I've never seen.

Rad Pitt

 

Who is that Pitt? What studio's he with? What do you mean you don't know, it's your job to know; find out kchhhf!

Rad in Theaters: An Addendum to the Retrospective

 Remember how I said that at my screening of "Rad" in theaters, I saw Justin Silverman of the Cinemassacre Podcast? Well, they talked about it today on that same podcast. And they mention that Kieran was also there. I was unable to confirm it was him because he was wearing a mask so I didn't mention it. This blog has journalistic integrity.

Hey maaaan, see how they discuss people seeing "Rad" with Rad t-shirts on? Maan, they're talking about ME, maaannnn!

Skip to 7:58.

The Rad/Full House Connection

Forgive me, I'm sure this is common knowledge to some people, but I recently learned that Becky (Marta Kober) from "Rad" actually went on to be a fairly successful actress. Her biggest credit (aside from "Rad" and "Magnum P.I.") is probably being one of the teens in "Friday the 13th Part 2." I had no idea.

But what I was most tickled by was that she appeared in an episode of "Full House." In the Season 6, Episode 1 episode entitled "Come Fly with Me," Marta appears very briefly as Brandy, a woman who Uncle Jesse mistakes for an autograph seeker.

Sorry, this is the best picture I could get - she's scowling throughout the entire shot.

And, of course, she appears in the same scene as Lori Loughlin:

So two cast members of "Rad" appearing together in the same episode, same scene of "Full House." Moreover in both cases one of them is playing a character named Becky. The imdb Trivia page for this episode makes no note of this, by the way.

Rad in Theaters: A Retrospective

 I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make a post about going to see Rad in theaters - I was sure I wouldn't need to talk about seeing a movie - but there were so many interesting things that happened, I have to now...

Some thoughts:

• Going into the theater a guy held the door for me wearing the same Rad t-shirt that I was wearing. Nice.
• In the theater, before the previews, there was Rad Trivia. I have to say I was stumped on a few.
• There was a commercial advertising that bikes exactly like Cru's Murray will be available next year.
• Before the film there was a trailer for the new cut of "Rocky IV" which was peculiar because that movie and Rad are both from around the same time, both coming back to theaters in 2021 and both star Talia Shire.
• The original Fathom announcement advertised: "fans will see for the first time 'A Rad Documentary – Inside the BMX Movie That Changed Everything.' ...the documentary gives audiences an inside look into the making of the film that helped catapult the extreme popularity of the 1980s BMX fad." It's amazing how misleading that statement is and yet it's not false - every word matters and is probably calculated. After the credits, they did not show a special documentary per se, they showed a sneak-peek at a Rad documentary that is coming out at a later date. Bad news, good news...Yes, a full-length "Rad" documentary is coming.
• I was surprised at how many people were laughing at parts of the movie which were not intended to be comedic. The art of serious cinema is just not appreciated these days.
• One person (who wasn't me) remarked that they should have played "The Dirt Bike Kid" trailer before the movie. That was the line of the night.
• In the restaurant where Cru works, there's an advertisement for strawberries and I think that's it. Just strawberries.
• With the large picture size, the difference between Sgt. Smith and his stunt man was pretty apparent. In fact, all the shots of stuntmen are pretty easy to pick out but Sgt. Smith is the funniest.
• The Reynolds Twins' criticisms of Cochrane are even more stinging on the big screen.
• The woman who has to get through the parade because she has cakes in the oven appears to also be handing out small American flags even as she's panicking. Watch it again, it makes no sense at all.
• With the enlarged detail, it occurred to me that every Rad shirt I've ever seen is inauthentic. It makes sense, in the movie, the logo is stenciled so there can be no totally enclosed empty space. The "R", "a", "d", etc have breaks in the lines.
• Cru should not be riding his bike into the river before the big race, he's risking injury. That's very self-destructive!
• Right before the first qualifier, someone's wearing a Captain's Hat. Nice:
• It really is a perfectly constructed movie in the sense that every plot twist is foreshadowed.
• The guy who works at 7-11 is wearing a shirt that has a "7-11" print. On VHS it just looks like a green shirt.
• I never noticed before (again, greater detail) that during Hell Track Becky is wearing a...like, a Pith Helmet.

• The credits end with a warning about kids not trying stunts. Never saw that before.
• Sitting there, waiting for the movie to start, in walks this guy:

It's Justin, of Cinemassacre Podcast fame. If you want to hear his thoughts on "Rad," here they are:

Convenient.

Finally, the people in the theater were all a pretty similar bunch: people who looked like me. But walking out of the theater I spied a lovely woman in a lovely dress. Then, coming out into the parking lot, I noticed she was not accompanied by a middle-aged schlub, or any schlub at all. What I'm saying, assuming it wasn't a hallucination, is that an attractive woman went to see "Rad" alone. There's a story and a mystery there more interesting than anything projected onto the movie screen.

Rad - In Theaters Tonight

Camera, curtains, lights!

This is it, we'll hit the heights!

Oh what heights we'll hit!

On with the show this is it!

Just a reminder that Rad is back in theaters for one night only and it's tonight. Even if you have your SATs tonight, I say this is more important.