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In March of 1986, a sports movie calledRAD all damn caps hit U.S. theaters.
The movie waspanned, then bombed and disappeared.
Despite being a perfect relic of feel-good 80s underdog drama,RADnever quite cracked the cult-film canon, either.
RADwas and is a family affair.
He blows away all these pros.
His half-brother, the Oscar-winning cinematographer John Schwartzman, shot the intros mesmeric BMX footage.
It was all those years ago.
My God, all those years ago, says Shire.
But now its going to have its opportunity for its next incarnation.
This really is very meaningful to me.
Jack died in 1994, and I miss him every day.
And when you have a chance to revisit someones work, you have a chance to revisit them.
It was wonderful but also very stressful.
I didnt understand the complexities of putting a movie together, but Jack Schwartzman was a master at it.
I was always talking about the SATs [in the movie], she says, laughing.
Who didnt do the SATs!
In reality, her life revolved around her children.
I got my kids up, I made them lunch, and Jack and I carpooled.
She recalls one night, when she enthralled Jason withRomeo and Juliet.
Then I went to Roberts room.
Hes gonna kill me.
And I started reading Robert LowellsPrometheus Bound, which is heavy duty.
Cant somebody just get her a job?!
Case in point: Needham isthe acknowledged inspirationfor Brad Pitts stuntman character inOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood.
I cant move my leg!
He said, Oh, youll be fine!
Well shoot you from the waist up!
Well give you some Percodan!
Fresh-faced Bill Allen starred as Cru, who is in love with Lori Loughlins Christian Hollings.
He could stay up till four in the morning drinking and work all day.
We dont see people made like him too often.
I didnt see that!
It was very pure stuff.
Nonetheless, Needham lived up to his onetime-hotshot-stuntman reputation.
It featured a wall so tall the pro-BMX stunt riders on set initially refused to even try it.
That wall was massive, Conner says.
It was so steep.
I stood on that wall, Allen says.
Then a 15-year-old named Beatle Rosecrans volunteered to try it out.
Screw it, Im going, Conner remembers Rosecrans saying.
Once little Beatle did it, Allen says, they all had to do it.
Such was the way on a Needham set.
Everything was harmony through conflict, she says.
I loved that world that takes place in proscenium on the stage.
And I began to see my kids doing that.
We were so excited about this movie, she says.
We loved this terrific story with these nice kids.
And then it opened in the theaters.
You work so hard on something and nobody shows up.
I have loved the movieRADsince I was 9 years old, the Lonely Islands Jorma Taccone says.
There were hundreds of people from around the world, Allen says.
Thats when I got to see up wrap up the impact it had on people.
There were 5,000 people there, and when they introduced me, the place became unglued.
Ive racked myself up anumberof times, he says.
There must have been a thousand people from ten different countries, Conner says.
People made [replicas] of the bikes fromRAD.
I met people who had tattoos of me from the movie.
Among thoseRADfans, Conners Olympic glory is a footnote, if known at all.
My wife says you were a gymnast?!
Allen personally hears from fans on Twitter, Facebook, and his own website, MyRadCareer.com.
Ive seen entire families on bikes mom, dad, kids all in theirRADT-shirts, he says.
Its like puppies or kittens; its the cutest thing youll ever see.
He has also met children named Cru.
For me, someone who doesnt have any kids, thats a legacy Im really proud of.
For Shire, the return ofRADis, understandably, even more personal.
I may be saying too much Robert will say, Why did you say that?
but it really is exciting for me.
I loved Jack dearly.
Ive been waiting for this for a long time, she adds.
It gives me a chance to say, Ah!
All of you, here, take this man.
Know who he is.
Put this man in your hearts.
RADis available to rent courtesy ofAltavod.
