BMX Bandits
Dir: Brian Trenchard-Smith
1983
****
BMX Bandits' concept was ready to go and a provisional script was written before Brian Trenchard-Smith was hired as director. I can't help but think he saved the project somewhat. Written purely to jump on the BMX trend of the early 80s, Bandits' didn't really have that much going for it until Trenchard-Smith injected some of his creative genius. The shoot was moved from Melbourne to Sydney to take advantage of many of the City's locations which proved effective for many of the stunt scenes. Trenchard-Smith really went to town with the stunt-ideas and to this day it is still my ambition to go down a water-slide on a BMX. Interestingly, Trenchard-Smith has said that he was highly influenced by the Ealing Comedies when writing the film, although this was mainly in making the bad guys a little more cartoonish and less threatening for a younger audience. It's a case of a few middle-age men trying to profit on a current kids craze and getting it right. It remains one of the coolest 80's films ever made, although I'm aware that that is completely dependent on one's taste but if you were born in the late 70's like myself, I'm in no doubt that you'd agree. It's a cult classic. It is also Nicole Kidman's first film although all her stunt scenes were actually done by a man in a wig.