Absolutely Fantastic

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

I watched this again with my twin brother today! We are 41 and it's been at least 30 years since I've seen it!OMGOSH, SO much fun and well worth watching it again if only for the laughs and nostalgia!!! We were obsessed with BMX bikes and building fancy bike tracks on our farm as kids and I swear it was because of this movie!!!!! Once those three put on their 'uniforms' it all came back to me!!!! We totally enjoyed watching this piece of Aussie cinematic history again!!!OK, true, the acting isn't that great, although you can see even here Nicole Kidman has 'it'. It's a complete laugh these days seeing what scrapes our BMXers get up to as they run from dodgy stupid robbers (it IS a kids movie) who, predictably, stuff up so bad u can only ROFL from laughing. BMX/car chases, foam, flour fights, hilarious walkie talkie conversations, dumb cops, cool BMX kids and riding and stunts (that my brother perfected)... it has it all!!!!If you are seeing this for the first time ever, keep your expectations LOW. If you are seeing it for nostalgic reasons like us, you will love it!!!!!

Spunky tomboy Judy (a winningly radiant portrayal by Nicole Kidman in her film debut), cheery hunk P.J. (the engaging Angelo D'Angelo), and pessimistic mope Goose (an equally likable turn by James Lugton) are a trio of ace BMX bicycle riders who stumble across a carton of walkie-talkies. However, said walkie-talkies belong to a gang of nefarious bank robbers who need them for their next big job. Director Brian Trenchard-Smith handles the amiably silly script by Patrick Edge and Russell Hagg with his trademark stylish brio and efficiency: the brisk pace rarely flags for a minute, the lighthearted tone keeps things bubbly and entertaining throughout, the stirring action set pieces are staged with real flair and skill (the bicycle stunts in particular are extremely agile, exciting, and impressive), and the amusing sense of goofy tongue-in-cheek humor delivers a substantial number of major belly laughs. The cast have a ball with the frothy material: David Argue and John Ley are hilarious as a couple of bumbling hoodlums, Bryan Marshall gives an excellent performance as hard-nosed British criminal ringleader the Boss, and Brian Sloman is suitably annoying as obnoxious fat jerk the Creep. John Seale's polished cinematography makes exquisite use of the widescreen Panavision format and offers plenty of breathtaking shots of the gorgeous Australian landscape. The funky synth score by Colin Stead and Frank Strangio hits the right-on groovy spot. The bouncy pop-rock soundtrack also smokes, with the catchy theme tune rating as a definite corker. Moreover, it's a total hoot to see a very cute, young, and scrappy pre-stardom Kidman sporting a huge poofy and overpermed 80's hairdo. A really fun film.

This movie should probably be given a 1 out of 10 by any conventional standards. The acting is terrible, the sound/picture quality is extraordinarily sub-par, and the music is torturous.The plot is very basic: These criminals decide they want to pull off a big robbery and have some elaborate plan all put together. For the plan to work, however, they need police-band radios so they can hear everything the police are doing. These BMX kids find and steal the radios and the criminals want them back. This is the point where the plot just steps out of the way for the real purpose of the movie: exhibiting "rad" BMX stunts (most of which are just jumping off conveniently placed ramps around the city).So, these criminals chase these three kids all over the city, basically destroying their own car in the process, to get these radios back; I guess it would be too much trouble to just buy new radios. They chase these kids through a water park, a mall, a soccer field, a warehouse, and a few other locations. This ends up being one of the longest chase scenes in cinematic history.With all that being said, the movie has great entertainment value because its just so damn cheesy. On top of that, you get to see Nicole Kidman before she knew anything about acting. She also has a stunt double which I'm pretty sure is a man. Oh, and she has one of the CREEPIEST kisses with a boy in an empty grave: I guess romance even strikes when you are sitting only feet away from a rotting corpse.

I'm sure that there have probably been a lot more adventure films centered around BMXing than just BMX Bandits or Rad, but those are all that I have seen as of this writing. And while I thought 'Rad' was far too embarrassingly cheesy and was initially skeptical when I picked up BMX Bandits, BMX Bandits blew 'Rad' right out the water as far as acting, story, humor, and even action sequences.BMX Bandits is something like an Australian version of the Hardy Boys (plus one girl) mystery on wheels. Three teens desperate for money to not only get new bikes, but also finally fulfill their ambitions for a neighborhood dirt course decide to try and make the cash on their own. Only, their brief, unsuccessful time as fishing entrepreneurs leads them instead to a boat with a mysterious box tied to it. So, they did what any honest citizen would: they cut the rope and claimed the abandoned treasure for themselves. A case full of sophisticated walkie talkies which yield not only a pretty penny as they sell them to the neighborhood kids, but also a lot of trouble as they are chased by their skilled, gangster owners who wish to retrieve their finds and punish the kids for taking them, as well as the cops who think something much more is going on when their radio frequencies are interrupted with the conversations of the three teens on their walkie talkies.Despite the family film theme, the movie lacks much of the corniness common to the genre, the decade, or the BMX theme. The filmmakers were willing to be a little more daring with the dialog and the story, probably trying to appeal to audiences older than just the pre-teen market and do so in an often humorous manner, thanks mostly to the witty retort of Goose (James Lugton), one of the three main teens. Although, at least for me, one of the drawbacks was a longer-than-necessary conclusion in which the teens and the gangsters duke it out more or less.Nonetheless, it is an old adventurous cult classic that is well worth checking out.