BMX Bandits

Released by: Severin Films
Released on: 3/15/2011
Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith
Cast: David Argue, John Ley, Nicole Kidman, Angelo D'Angelo, James Lugton, Bryan Marshall
Year: 1983
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The Movie:

Those of us who were old enough to ride bikes in the eighties but not so old that we were driving will undoubtedly remember that, before mountain bikes were all the rage, BMX's weren't so much a fad as they were a phenomena. Many a kid spent many a day building ramps out of plywood to jump off of, going over curbs, or zipping around whatever patch of dirt you could find a trail in, and despite plenty of injuries, the fun factor was through the roof. BMX bikes were awesome - if you had one, you know this, and if you didn't have one, you missed out - because they were the raddest of the rad. At any rate, so popular was the BMX that apparently the Australian film industry decided to cash in on it, and thus was born Brian Trenchard-Smith's BMX Bandits, a film that may have been all but forgotten about had it not starred a young actress named Nicole Kidman in the lead.

Kidman plays Judy, a grocery store employee who is responsible for keeping the carts in order. She loses her job when her two buddies, P.J. (Angelo D'Angelo) and Goose (James Lugton), show up on their BMX's and inadvertently cause an accident that wrecks some carts and their bikes. This is obviously a problem, because without their BMX bikes, they won't be able to hang out and zip around town so they decide to co-opt Goose's father's motorboat and pull in some lobster traps in hopes of selling the shellfish to some shops and restaurants to make some fast cash. Surprisingly enough, what they pull up from the sea floor isn't lobster, but a crate full of stolen walkie-talkies! Unbeknownst to our heroes, these walkie-talkies belong to a gang of hardened criminals who use them to outsmart the cops, but see they're going to sell them to earn some BMX money and before you know it, they've done just that. With new bikes and fancy new BMX riding outfits, they figure they're all set - that is until the local crime boss, known only as The Boss (Bryan Marshall), decides he's going to get his goods back and sends in a few thugs - Whitey (David Argue) and Moustache (John Ley) - to take care of business.

In an era where cell phones have made walkie-talkies obsolete and where BMX riding is a fringe sport on the best of days, BMX Bandits is a pretty awesome nostalgia trip back to a time when technology didn't rule the lives of every kid on the block. Sure, the plot is dopey and the story contrived, but Trenchard-Smith packs the film with so much good spirited fun and achingly bad dialogue that you can't help but love it. The cast of kids are all completely game for everything that the story throws at them, and the poofy haired Kidman, here a charmingly awkward version of the beautiful woman she'd become, is actually kind of endearing in the role that would help launch her career role.

Of course, the story isn't really what's important here, rather, it's all just a means to an end and that end is loads of BMX footage. We get a nice montage early in the film of Judy proving to her boy pals that she's just as good on two wheels as they are, but that's just the tip of the iceberg as the film frequently shows off all manner of trick riding, chases, races and jumps, the kind that would inspire some of us try to emulate similar feats of daring-do with far less impressive results. Throw in a super dated synthesizer soundtrack, the requisite funny fat kid, more big hair and bad fashions than you can shake a stick at and mix it all up with an Aussie twist and yeah, you've got BMX Bandits right there. You can't not have fun with this movie. It's just not possible.

Video/Audio/Extras:

BMX Bandits looks pretty damn good in this AVC encoded 2.35.1 1080p high definition widescreen transfer. All of the garish colors pop off the screen just as you'd want them to and there's enough texture and detail evident in the picture that you can basically count all of the springy poofy hairs on the kids' heads (you know, if you're into that). The blues in the sky look awesome while black levels stay pretty strong throughout, though some crushing can be seen once or twice if you really want to look for it. Skin tones look nice and natural and there are no problems with print damage, noise reduction or compression artifacts nor is where any obvious edge enhancement to complain about. Detail isn't on par with more modern features or bigger budgeted productions made around the same time frame, but for a kid's film fast approaching its thirtieth birthday, BMX Bandits looks awesome.

The English language DTS-HD 2.0 track isn't quite as impressive as the transfer is but it's problem free and offers up the film in quite good quality. Levels are properly balanced and dialogue is always easy to understand. The score sounds nice and there are no problems with hiss or distortion.

The supplements kick off with a commentary track that comes courtesy of the film's always entertaining director, Brian Trenchard-Smith, who wastes no time kicking in on how he wound up directing this, essentially a kids movie, after working on such classics as Escape 2000, Dead End Drive-In and Stunt Rock before. Trenchard-Smith has always got a good sense of humor about him and he has no false pretenses about his work, as here he speaks about casting the film, what it was like working with the now very famous Nicole Kidman, and how some of the film's many BMX jumping scenes were shot. If you've heard any of the other commentary tracks he's recorded in the past then you'll know what to expect - the right mix of educational information and good spirited humor.

From there we hit the first of the two featurettes on the disc, BMX Buddies, a thirty-eight minute retrospective piece that brings together most of the cast and crew of BMX Bandits to wax nostalgic about the film and the experiences that they shared together. Interviewed here are Trenchard-Smith along with Tom Broadbridge, Patrick Edgeworth, Russell Hagg, and James Lugton, all of whom are quite happy to look back on the film and tell their stories. The second featurette is an archival clip in which a teenage Kidman talks on Australian television for two and a half minutes about her work on the movie. Sadly, this is Kidman's only involvement in the release - how cool would it have been to get her on the commentary? Evidently she doesn't consider this a crown jewel in her filmography for some reason.

A trailer for the feature, trailers for a few other Severin releases (Birdemic, Inglorious Bastards and Eagles Over London), spiffy menus and chapter selection round out the extras. All of the extras on this disc are in high definition.

The Final Word:

You don't have to be a child of the eighties to enjoy BMX Bandits, though that probably wouldn't hurt. Regardless, Trenchard-Smith's ode to bright cloths, walkie-talkies and bike riding mayhem is as entertaining now as it was twenty plus years ago. Severin's Blu-ray offers up the film in excellent condition and throws in some pretty cool extras as the icing the cake. Nicole Kidman might seem embarrassed by it these days but who cares, this is good stuff!