| | | | BMX Bandits
(1983) |
few years before the great film "RAD" the Australians were first with a BMX movie, BMX Bandits.
When P.J. and Goose (no their parents weren't weird, it's BMX talk) accidentally crash into a line of shopping trolleys that Judy (played by a young Nicole Kidman) is supposed to be taking care of but Fat Kid pushes them across the supermarket's carpark to annoy Judy, their bikes are totalled and Judy is sacked.
Taking refuge in a nearby café the three discuss what they can do with their now spare time, the boys have no wheels and Judy no more job. P.J. hits on the idea of fishing so they borrow a boat and go off looking for fish, but they find a little more than they bargained for at one spot, a sunken big orange package that contains a heap of illegal police band walkie talkies imported by the bad guys.
The bad guys are bank robbers and they were going to use the walkie talkies to snoop on the police so they wouldn't get caught on the job, only they're furious when they find out the kids took the walkie talkies to sell & pay for shiny new BMX bikes & gear.
So two of the goons set out to retreive the walkie talkies by any means necessary...
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Three words spring to mind after watching this a few times, "Live Action Cartoon", and there's no escaping from that idea because the characters are straight out of a Scooby-Doo style cartoon; three kids on expensive BMX's get chased halfway across the suburbs of Australia by a couple of incompetant goons working for a boss in the bank robbing trade, and every mishap during the chase you could think of in a cartoon is right here in the film; said goons driving a big black car crash into/through anything and everything in their way to get the kids, even when on foot they're stumbling over things and crashing through things.
Escaping from the goons the kids manage to go through a shopping mall, an industrial workplace, an empty warehouse, a waterslide park (no really!) and half the housing estates round the coast of Australia. Oh not forgetting the police who are as useful as a chocolate teapot and a spoilt rich fat kid who wants in on the action (the character has no name listed in the credits, just "Fat Kid").
This film is brill! so long as you don't take one ounce of it with any seriousness because it's full of great stunts, long chase scenes, a list of movie clichés as long as your arm, terrible one-liners & bad acting. Yet still it was one of those films that you wish would happen to you and your mates for real when you were younger, but really it just inspired me and probably many others to get into BMXing or ride ours even more.
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One of the goons is wearing a t-shirt from the 1979-1994 UK TV show "Minder", on the front is Terry McCann's (Dennis Waterman) face with the words "leave it out, Arthur!" and on the back is Arthur Daley's (George Cole) face with "it's alright" 
During the scene where the kids are going down the waterpark slides with their bikes, you can see one of the pedals + cranks on each bike has been removed, I'm guessing this is to stop it badly scratching the slide.
After taking a dip in interest over the years since the 80s, BMXing has been back now for a while with new bikes, new gear and a whole lot of new pro riders with new tricks. Original 80s BMXs in good condition can be worth a bundle now as they're sought after by people who were kids back then and now they're older and have money, want that bike they could never get.
The US bootleg title for this film was "Short Wave". It was also released under the name "BMX, The Movie" in Australia, so if you see a PAL VHS of that name it may not necessarily be a bootleg.
Australian socialite Angela Bishop (daughter of Australian MP Bronwyn Bishop - Minisher for Aged Care) had a tiny role in BMX Bandits. As the Bandits and the Crooks run into the waterslide Angela Bishop can be seen at the waterslide entrance looking 'confused and shocked'. She's about 16 in the movie and doesn't look too dissimilar to her 30 something self now... This has been confirmed by Angela Bishop on the TV show The Panel as she doesn't get a mention in the credits. -Thanks to Dave Gilbert
This is viewed by Nicole Kidman as one of her personal favourties. She quoted this recently to a Sydney newspaper that quizzed her on her early Aussie films. In fact, the hairstyle in this film gave Nicole an image in many Australians' heads as being 'the girl with the big red curly hair'. I don't think in any other film did she allow her hair to be such a unique part of her character. Most Aussie films she straightened her hair. Here, she let it spring to natural form! -Thanks to The Mighty Movie Guy
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|  |  |  | | BMX Bandits
Locations |
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The water slides part are filmed at the Manly waterworks. [Thanks to The Mighty Movie Guy]
The scene with PJ and Goose on the roof of the truck and the foam fight was shot in Tania Park in Balgowlah. [Thanks to Belinda]
The end scene was filmed in Garema Circuit Kingsgrove, Sydney (just off Wirega Ave). I know this because I was one of the extra's in this scene throwing flour at the bad guys. It was filmed right next to the old roller skating ring that use to be there. [Thanks to Tony]
Can you help? Do you know any of the Manly, NEW SOUTH WALES, Australia filming locations used for BMX Bandits? [Please send them in]
|  | | | | ![[NOT Widescreen]](4_3.gif) | ![[STEREO or SURROUND]](dd2.gif) | --- |
| | ![[16:9 -Widescreen Enhanced]](16_9.gif) | | Trailer |
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The music in this film is not listed in the credits and is nothing to write home about, although the track used for the end credits appears to be written especially for the film due to the BMX manufacture names in the song.
A Scottish pop group of the late '80s and early '90s took the name BMX Bandits in homage to this movie. They were an offshoot of the better-known band Teenage Fanclub and their best-known song was "Serious Drugs."
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| | "Riders ready, pedals ready, GO!"
| |  | | Goose, Judy & P.J. |
 | | James Lugton as Goose & Angelo D'Angelo as P.J. |
 | | The BMX Bandits |
 | | Chased by goons in a big black car |
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