“How would you like to be the man responsible for bringing BMX to all the small towns in the USA?”
Utopia Distribution announced recently that the company will be re-releasing the 1986 BMX cult classic RAD for the first time on DVD and On Demand this summer. The film, which was scheduled to have a 4K Restoration World Premiere at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival, will launch across all TVOD and On Demand platforms on Friday, July 24th, with a ‘special edition’ premiere on the new digital streaming platform Altavod on Friday, July 10th and now available on Blu-ray directly through Vinegar Syndrome. Check out this new trailer:
Originally released in 1986 during the rise of the BMX bike craze, this powerful piece of pop cultural nostalgia is finally coming to disc, newly restored in 4K from its original negative by Fotokem. The film follows Cru Jones (Bill Allen), a small town kid determined to win an infamous BMX race set on a nearly impossible course known as Helltrack. A sleeper hit upon its initial release, RAD has become one of the iconic cult films of the 1980s and amongst BMX professionals, spawning fan clubs and repertory film screenings for decades.
Utopia Distribution’s Robert Schwartzman, son of RAD producer Jack Schwartzman. has taken the reins on the new restoration of RAD which co-starred his mother, the Oscar-nominated actress Talia Shire. Both Robert Schwartzman and Talia Shire took the time to talk to We Are Movie Geeks about RAD.
Interview conducted by Tom Stockman June 23rd, 2020
Tom Stockman: Hello Robert and Talia,
Robert Schwartzman Hi Tom
Talia Shire: Hi Tom
Tom: Talia, I recognize your voice right away and this is very exciting for me. I watched the 4K restoration of RAD the other night and it looks fantastic! Let me tell you a quick funny story. In the late 80’s I dated a young woman who had two little brothers, about 13 and 15 years old. Every time I’d go to pick her up, those boys would be lying on the floor watching their VHS tape of RAD. It was their favorite film.
Talia: Well, I hope those boys find this new version.
Tom: It looks great. Robert, where did you find the original elements for this transfer,
Robert: We, the Schwatrzman family, have had the elements stored properly for many years. They were recently put pulled out of storage and scanned at Fotokem, the company that handled all the post-production. I think they really went above and beyond for us. We were lucky that the elements were in such good shape. We had to do a little bit of cleanup here and there but everyone is really happy about the way this new transfer looks. Originally there was no 5.1 sound mix so I guess in its original theatrical run it was stereo. So we had to rebuild the 5.1 sound out of all the audio that we had. My mom felt strongly about the film and that we had to maintain all of these elements since this was made under sort of a family production company.
Tom: Talia, what are some of your memories about the filming of RAD?
Talia: I know young Robert does not remember, because he was only about three years old when we made the film, though he was there in Calgary when we shot RAD. We were shooting two movies at the same time up there then, RAD and HYPER SAPIEN. It was an exciting time and we all had a lot of fun. We all stayed in this hotel and we had all these terrifically gifted young riders and actors such as Bill Allen. You’d see them riding up and down the streets on their BMX bikes. It was like we took over the hotel. When we finally shot at Hell Track, that was scary. It was enormous. I went to the set and I was terrified, but director Hal Needham, who was known for stunts, handled it perfectly, but it was scary.
Tom: I was going to ask you about Hal Needham. I’m a big fan of his. What was Mr. Needham like?
Talia: A lovely man. Very kind, very serious, and very careful. The first day that we were all together, he had his mother there, and we stood in a circle and she led a prayer. I was in awe of him and a bit terrified to tell you the truth but he was very safety-conscious, because those stunts were scary.
Tom: Yes, he was known for directing stunts and had been a stunt man himself, really one of the best.
Talia: Oh yes. He had broken just about every bone in his body.
Tom: Was RAD a big success initially in the United States?
Robert: I think that RAD was not a commercial success, but it was definitely a success within the world of BMX bike riders and, as you pointed out earlier, a whole generation of up-and-coming young riders. And also for people who have discovered movies from the 80s and become somewhat obsessed with some of them. So, the movie became a success, but over time. It has sort of a cult-y nature to it. There was even a RAD convention
Tom: Yes it’s definitely a movie that people did not forget. RAD never had an official DVD release until now. Why did that take so long?
Talia: Jack Schwartzman, my late husband and Robert’s father, had just produced a very daring movie, NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN, the last James Bond movie with Sean Connery. At Warner Bros.,Terry Semel and Bob Daly had just started with that regime. When you just start being the head of the studio, you want to attract other people, so they did the domestic release of NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN which was wonderful for them and we all became friends. Later on, when RAD came out as well as two other movies that were part of this library, they were very generous and very kind. They became part of the distribution in certain territories. But then what what happened was Jack died and things became very murky and complex. Time went on, and I was trying so hard to keep everything together. I would ask them about a DVD release and they would assure me that one was coming but I kept asking and they told me that they had to rethink it. I think it became mired in the aftermath of the estate after his death. But now here we are and we finally have it and it looks great and what’s beautiful about that is that my son Robert has done that
Tom: I read on the Internet Movie Database at the original title was BALLS OUT.
Robert: No that’s not right. I believe the original title was HELL TRACK
Tom: OK, well I think RAD is better than HELL TRACK but anything would be better than BALLS OUT.
Talia: That sounds like some sort of British comedy.
Tom: When I was watching it the other night I recognized so many of the 80s songs. Was a difficult getting some of these music rights cleared from so long ago?
Robert: The musical rites follow the film from the original way that they were cleared. All of the songs are the way they were when the movie was released in 1986. Curb Records were the ones who handled the soundtrack, which is going to be released this summer. They’re putting it on vinyl.
Tom: How popular is BMX bicycle racing today?
Talia: It’s an Olympic sport. People compete for medals. It’s a global event, bigger now than ever, but we were really the first film to show the sport. Sam Bernard, our wonderful writer and producer, thought back then that this would be a good idea and a good draw for young people and now it’s an Olympic sport.
Tom: Robert, tell me about your company Utopia Distributing.
Robert: We are a full-service distribution company We have a really great team in LA and New York. We’ve been acquiring the rights to many feature films, especially a lot of documentaries. We have in-house theatrical booking, putting movies into theaters for limited release is really important to our company. We had a theatrical lineup for RAD this year but we’re pushing that back to next spring. We were going to have a big premiere but we had to push that back because of the corona, but we’re still keeping the release dates with the Blu-ray and the DVD and there will be some more announcements next year that we’re really excited about. It’s a filmmaker-first company, filmmaker co-founded. We really wanted to create a company that embraces and champions filmmakers. It’s not all about quantity like a lot of companies, we just want to get behind specific titles that we felt we could help be successful. We are very collaborative, a company that listens to directors. With my personal connection to RAD, I really wanted it to be an important and customized release, we didn’t want to just hand it off to another company. We were too sensitive to this particular film and water to make sure it was handled correctly and Utopia is the company allows us the most flexibility.
Tom: Are there other 80s cult movies that Utopia will be restoring in the near future?
Robert: We want to, but releasing library titles is just not Utopia’s business model Vinegar Syndrome is the company that is doing the special Blu-ray and DVD version and it’s a company that has a long history of being involved in backlog titles.
Talia: Tom, that’s the thing. There were other people that would have been going after RAD but it would have gotten lost. It would not have been so beautifully customized. Sometimes the rights will be signed for a title and then it will never see the light of day after everyone signed up. RAD was very special. Distribution is what my husband Jack Schwartzman was trying to build, and then Robert Schwartzman, his son, is seeing how important it is to have a product with customized distribution.
Tom: Talia, let me ask you about another movie you start in. I’m tied in with a horror movie community and PROPHECY from 1980 is a film that is really gaining ground as a cult film Give me a quick memory of that movie.
Talia: That was for Producer David seltzer and Director John Frankenheimer. What was interesting about PROPHECY was that it was really trying to have an ecological message about pollution contaminating the waters. It was a horror movie with a strong environmental message. It was a little tough to shoot because I was in the water a lot with monsters, not only in Canada, but also on Paramount’s soundstage, where they have a huge pool. I have heard that it is sort of coming back and that new audiences are starting to discover it, and that’s great because it’s a very well-done film. It wasn’t a huge success back then but is having a new life now.
Tom: Like RAD.
Talia: Yeah it’s so much fun making these movies that find a second audience.
Tom: I’ve so enjoyed you in so many films over the years, the Rocky films and of course the Godfather films.
Talia: Thank you, actually the GODFATHER Pt III is currently being reworked. Francis is very proud of that movie. It’s actually a fascinating movie that wasn’t received as well as it should have been. That movie was really about money laundering.
Tom: So your brother Francis Coppola is re-editing and tinkering with the GODFATHER Pt III?
Talia: Yes, I think that’s what’s fun about being a filmmaker. You can go back and refine some thing or adjust something, so yes he is doing that with Godfather III
Tom: Robert, do you have any memories at all of being on the set of RAD?
Robert: I can’t really say I have vivid memories of being there but I do remember when the movie came out and the effect it had in the years that followed. It was run like an independent movie in a way. You really have to roll up your sleeves and figure out how you are going to get to people to see a certain movie. RAD captured the underworld competitiveness of a lifestyle sport. We had so much talent. Lori Loughlin was a TV star and my mom was a movie star but most of these were new up-and-coming names. Bart Conner was an Olympic gold medalist.
Talia: Robert, you probably don’t remember being in that Christmas parade with Bart Conner on our float and all the bike riders were going around us down Hollywood Boulevard.
Tom: Did they have a big Hollywood premier for RAD when it was new?
Talia: We had these two big black vans with giant televisions in them. And we had two guys who crisscrossed the United States and they would open the doors of the van and play parts of the movie. We knew we had to bring it to the audience’s attention.
Tom: Well good luck with the RAD restoration. Robert, good luck with Utopia Distributiion and Talia, it’s been such a treat getting to talk with you.
Robert: Thanks
Talia: Thank you Tom, I’ve enjoyed this.
