Rad (international title: Hell Track) is a 1986 American sports film directed by Hal Needham from a screenplay by Sam Bernard and Geoffrey Edwards (son of Pink Panther creator Blake Edwards). The film stars Bill Allen, Lori Loughlin, Talia Shire, Jack Weston and Ray Walston, along with 1984 Olympic gymnastics champion Bart Conner.

The film underperformed at the box office, grossing $2 million against a budget of $3 million, and received mixed reviews from critics. However, it has developed a substantial and loyal following, and is now considered a significant Cult film.

Background

In the early 1980s, while looking for script ideas, co-writer and producer Sam Bernard noticed kids performing BMX tricks in a Los Angeles park. Bernard and Geoffrey Edwards pitched the project to Hal Needham by taking him to a BMX tournament; Needham signed on after watching the riders. In 2013, The Guardian writer Nick Evershed found it had the largest discrepancy between critical and audience response (which at that time was 0% based on 5 reviews, versus 91%, based on 7,165 user ratings) in the Rotten Tomatoes database, from a pool of 10,000 movies analyzed. Metacritic gives the film a score of 24 out of 100, based on reviews from 6 critics, indicating "Generally Unfavorable" reviews.

Film historian Leonard Maltin gave the movie a "BOMB" citation—the lowest possible rating in his annual Movie Guide—explaining, "Title is supposed to be short for Radical...as in, 'Radical, man!' Yeah, right...and we didn't see this same plotline used to death by 1950s hot-rod films, and also by 1970s roller-disco epics!"

The film has since gained notoriety as a Cult film. In reporting on the film's 2020 Blu-ray release, The A.V. Club referred to Rad as the "holy grail of ’80s cult movies" and noted its "large and loyal cult following.". On March 22 and 24, 2026, to celebrate the film's 40th anniversary, Rad played in hundreds of AMC Theaters nationwide. In reporting on this "fifth official celebration of Rad Day," Collider called Rad "The Greatest 1980s Cult Classic Sports Movie."

Home media

The film was released on VHS and LaserDisc in 1986 and became a top-ten video rental for two years.

Rad went more than 30 years without a DVD or Blu-ray release. Its distribution rights had been divided among multiple companies in the 1980s; over time, those rights reverted to executive producer Jack Schwartzman, who was married to Talia Shire until his death in 1994.

The film was released on iTunes on July 24, 2020.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released on 12" vinyl and cassette, by Curb Records in late 1986, and featured various artists including John Farnham in his pre-Whispering Jack days, 3-Speed, Sparks, Hubert Kah and Real Life. On February 9, 2014, it was released for digital download at the iTunes Store. It is also available to stream on Spotify. Farnham's "Break the Ice" was featured on a special list of the best songs from '80s action film montages that appeared on music website No Echo.

;US vinyl-LP and cassette track listing

See also

  • List of films about bicycles and cycling

References

  • Rad at the American Film Institute Catalog
  • Rad at the TCM Movie Database
  • Bill Allen's Book